Domain WHOIS Lookup

Introduction:

WHOIS is the public registration database that records who owns each internet domain, when it was created, and which registrar maintains it. Registrars publish this information under contract with the relevant top-level-domain registry, letting anyone confirm administrative contacts, technical delegates, critical lifecycle dates, and renewal obligations.

This tool submits your entered domain to a privacy-respecting WHOIS gateway, formats the returned JSON, and highlights the most useful fields—registrar, status codes, creation and expiry dates, nameservers, and registrant geography. Behind the scenes a proxy wrapper bypasses cross-origin restrictions, while a lightweight reactive engine updates the summary list instantly as soon as fresh data arrives.

Use it during security audits to confirm that a brand’s web presence is genuinely theirs, or before negotiating a domain purchase to inspect how close the registration is to expiring. WHOIS data may lag by several hours; always double-check critical deadlines directly with the registrar if an action window is narrow.

Technical Details:

Concept Overview

WHOIS queries traverse a hierarchical network of registries. A thin registry returns only referral pointers, while a thick registry stores full contact and lifecycle details. Each record follows RFC 3912 and the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, exposing domain name, registrar, status flags, timestamp trio (creation, update, expiry) and authoritative nameservers. Although privacy services can mask contact names, lifecycle timestamps and registrar identity remain public, enabling compliance checks and transfer planning.

Core Process

1. Validate domain format (d) – must match the RFC-1035 hostname rules.
2. Create endpoint – https://api.ip2whois.com/v2?key=k&domain=d wrapped by a CORS proxy.
3. Request JSON – the gateway contacts the authoritative WHOIS server and serialises the reply.
4. Parse important fields – registrar, status array, timestamps, registrant block, nameservers.
5. Render summary – a reactive engine populates list rows and optional raw JSON view.

Interpretation of Status Codes

Status flags originate from the Extensible Provisioning Protocol. Multiple flags may coexist; the strictest one governs transfer or update actions.

Variables & Parameters

• domain – fully-qualified domain name to query (string).
• registrar – registrar of record returned by the registry (string).
• status[] – array of lifecycle flags (string list).
• timestamps – create, update, expire ISO-8601 dates.
• nameservers[] – authoritative DNS hosts (string list).

Worked Example

Assumptions & Limitations

• Proxy availability is assumed; outages will block queries.
• Registries may throttle excessive requests rate-limited.
• Privacy services can conceal registrant identity.
• ccTLDs sometimes provide partial or non-standard responses.

Edge Cases & Error Sources

• Newly registered domains may not propagate instantly.
• IDN domains require Punycode conversion.
• Expired yet un-deleted domains can still resolve in DNS.
• Network interruptions during fetch return “Network error”.

Scientific Validity & References

Concept is grounded in RFC 3912 (WHOIS Protocol) and ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement amendments (2013, 2023). Empirical studies on domain life-cycle behaviour by Verisign and CENTR corroborate status transitions and expiry timelines.

Privacy & Compliance

Only public registry information is processed; no personal data is stored or transmitted beyond the WHOIS gateway.

Step-by-Step Guide:

Follow these actions to retrieve a clean WHOIS summary.

1. Enter the target name (e.g. example.net) in the Domain field.
2. Select Lookup; the button disables while the query runs.
3. Review highlighted fields for registrar, creation and expiration dates.
4. Expand Nameservers for delegation checks.
5. Toggle Raw JSON to copy precise registry values when needed.

FAQ:

Glossary:

Registrar

Company authorised to manage domain registrations.

Registry

Central database operator for a specific top-level domain.

Status Code

Lifecycle flag indicating transfer, renewal or deletion state.

Nameserver

Host that answers DNS queries for the domain.

Expiry Date

Registry cutoff after which the domain lapses if unpaid.