WhoisXML API Blog

Upgraded Web Interfaces for All Lookup Tools

We’re excited to introduce upgraded web tool interfaces with enhanced data access across all our lookup tools. The improved GUIs are designed to make your lookup reports richer and simpler to use for investigations and testing, improving how technical and nontechnical users access and utilize domain, DNS, IP, and other cyber data accessible through this complete list of our lookup tools.

Here are the new features available to all logged-in users with credits.

Subdomain Database Coverage Expands from 2.3B to 9.6B Subdomains

In line with our commitment to continuous improvement, we recently expanded the data coverage of Subdomains Database Download from an average of 2.3 billion to more than 9.6 billion subdomain records, as seen in our latest weekly full files. This coverage enhancement is a direct result of techniques employed to optimize data processing and storage efficiency, with our development team focusing on improving data indexing and retrieval, as well as enhancing resolving processes—overall enabling faster lookups and more accurate results for our database.

Catch Domain Events Earlier with the includeCandidates Parameter in Real-Time Domain Registration Streaming

We are excited to announce that our development team has upgraded Real-Time Domain Registration Streaming to include a feature called “includeCandidates,” an optional Boolean parameter that allows users to immediately obtain simplified domain records directly from zone files before they undergo newly registered domain (NRD) processing.

The candidate records only have two fields, namely, “domainName” and “reason,” where the latter field can be “added” for NRDs or “dropped” for recently removed domains. 

Newly Registered Domains (NRD) Data Feed Now Offers Up to One Year of Historical Files

We are excited to share that Enterprise and Ultimate subscribers of the Newly Registered Domains (NRD) Data Feed will now have access to past data feed files, giving security professionals deeper context to help trace threat patterns and evolution. 

In particular, NRD Enterprise users can access files produced in the past 30 days from their subscription date, while NRD Ultimate users can go as far back as 365 days. With this new enhancement, WhoisXML API users can now use NRD data feeds to:

Enhance Response Speed for Historical Domain Records with the skipLiveWhois API Parameter

We are thrilled to announce that WHOIS History API has been upgraded to include a feature called “skipLiveWhois,” an optional parameter that enables users to skip WHOIS API requests when the latest indexed record is not fresh (i.e., there is no current WHOIS record from the past 24 hours). 

This enhancement is designed to improve the speed of historical WHOIS lookup requests by close to 90%—from 3.5 seconds to an average of 370 milliseconds.

WHOIS API Now Enhanced with RDAP-Ready Features

We’re excited to announce that WHOIS API is RDAP-ready, following the WHOIS port 43 shutdown and the expected transition from WHOIS to RDAP or the Registration Data Access Protocol—the next-generation system for accessing domain registration data developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). 

Our development team implemented several developments to ensure users can continue to access fast, accurate, and up-to-date domain registration information with WHOIS API. Among the improvements made were:

ICANN's WHOIS Port 43 Shutdown: What It Means for You

Written by Ching Chiao, Head of APAC and Global Data Partnership & Alexandre François, Product Marketing Director
WhoisXML API

On January 28, 2025, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will officially sunset the WHOIS Port 43 services. This decision marks a pivotal moment for the cybersecurity industry, domain registries, and anyone who relies on domain data for operational or investigative purposes. But what does this change mean, and how will it impact the broader ecosystem?

Our Passive DNS APIs Are Now Enriched with Wildcard and Active Output Parameters

We are thrilled to announce that several of our APIs have been upgraded to include new data points, namely, wildcard and active. In particular, both fields are now optional output parameters for Reverse IP API, Reverse DNS API, Reverse MX API, and Reverse NS API. Our newly launched DNS Chronicle API, meanwhile, has a wildcard field as part of its default output format.