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DomainTools API Guide: Get Started

The DomainTools API provides direct access to the same data that drives the powerful research tools on DomainTools.com. It is designed for server-to-server communication between your system and the DomainTools network using standard HTTP requests. The API can provide responses in both JSON and XML formats and offers a RESTful URL structure for most queries. You can authenticate securely using HMAC authentication (described in detail below) or with simple key/value pairs in the request.

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API Endpoint

The API endpoint for all requests described in this document is: 

  http://api.domaintools.com/v1/

We do not currently support SSL requests. We recommend you use the HMAC authentication scheme to protect your API credentials.

Response Formats

The API provides responses in JSON format by default. Other formats are available by adding the optional format parameter to your request.

API Response Formats
Value
Response Format
json
Structured data in Javascript Object Notation
http://api.domaintools.com/v1/domaintools.com
xml
Structured data in XML format
http://api.domaintools.com/v1/domaintools.com?format=xml
html
Human-friendly view useful for debugging and previewing
http://api.domaintools.com/v1/domaintools.com?format=html

Development Access

Most API products provide free, unauthenticated access when you request data on these domain names or IP addresses:

  • DomainTools.com
  • DailyChanges.com
  • NameIntel.com
  • ReverseWhois.com
  • 66.249.17.251

You can use this to evaluate the products in your environment and for low-volume automated testing after you go live. Unless stated otherwise, all example URLs in this document will function normally without authentication. If you provide your authentication credentials for these sample URLs, your account will not be charged (and the authentication will not be validated).

Product Service Levels

A product service level authorizes your API account to access an API product and defines the price and usage limits for that access. If your account is not authorized to access a certain product, contact DomainTools member services for help.

To protect your account from unexpected fees, we apply a usage limit to each product that controls how many requests the API will serve per minute and per month. If the default limits are too restrictive for your needs, contact us and we'll make adjustments.

DomainTools API Guide