> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.server.express/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Look up a WHOIS / RDAP record

> Registry record for a domain, an IP address or an AS number. Tries RDAP first and falls back to port-43 WHOIS, following referrals. Answers are cached in memory for an hour; `cached` says whether this one was. 404 means the domain isn't registered. Limited to 20 requests per minute per IP.



## OpenAPI

````yaml /api-reference/openapi.yaml get /v1/public/whois
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Server.Express API
  version: 1.0.0
  description: >-
    The customer-facing Server.Express API: auth, billing, tickets, cloud and
    dedicated servers, hosting, reselling and account management. Every response
    uses the `{ success, data | error }` envelope.
  contact:
    name: Server.Express
    url: https://server.express
servers:
  - url: https://my.server.express/api
    description: Production
security:
  - bearerAuth: []
  - apiToken: []
tags:
  - name: API Tokens
  - name: Account
  - name: Auth
  - name: Cloud
  - name: Coupons
  - name: Credits
  - name: Dashboard
  - name: Dedicated
  - name: Health
  - name: Hosting
  - name: Integrations
  - name: Invoices
  - name: Livechat
  - name: Notifications
  - name: Passkeys
  - name: Payments
  - name: Products
  - name: Public
  - name: Public Invoices
  - name: Public Tools
  - name: Reseller
  - name: SSH Keys
  - name: Services
  - name: Tasks
  - name: Teams
  - name: Tickets
  - name: Web Hosting
  - name: Webhooks
paths:
  /v1/public/whois:
    get:
      tags:
        - Public Tools
      summary: Look up a WHOIS / RDAP record
      description: >-
        Registry record for a domain, an IP address or an AS number. Tries RDAP
        first and falls back to port-43 WHOIS, following referrals. Answers are
        cached in memory for an hour; `cached` says whether this one was. 404
        means the domain isn't registered. Limited to 20 requests per minute per
        IP.
      operationId: publicAuthWhoisLookup
      parameters:
        - name: q
          in: query
          required: true
          description: >-
            A domain, IP address or AS number (e.g. `AS16276`). Up to 253
            characters.
          schema:
            type: string
            maxLength: 253
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The record.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                required:
                  - success
                  - data
                properties:
                  success:
                    type: boolean
                    const: true
                  data:
                    $ref: '#/components/schemas/PublicAuthWhoisResult'
        '400':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'
        '404':
          description: The domain isn't registered.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '429':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/TooManyRequests'
        '500':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/ServerError'
        '502':
          description: >-
            A registry server refused the query or the RDAP directory couldn't
            be read.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '504':
          description: A registry server didn't answer in time.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
      security: []
components:
  schemas:
    PublicAuthWhoisResult:
      type: object
      required:
        - query
        - kind
        - source
        - servers
        - record
        - summary
        - truncated
        - cached
      properties:
        query:
          type: string
          description: The normalised query.
        kind:
          type: string
          enum:
            - domain
            - ip
            - asn
        source:
          type: string
          enum:
            - rdap
            - whois
          description: RDAP is structured; whois is a text blob.
        servers:
          type: array
          description: Every server that answered, in the order they were asked.
          items:
            type: string
        record:
          type: string
          description: The final record text.
        summary:
          type: object
          required:
            - registrar
            - created
            - updated
            - expires
            - status
            - nameservers
          properties:
            registrar:
              type:
                - string
                - 'null'
              description: >-
                Registrar for a domain; the holding organisation for an IP or
                ASN.
            created:
              type:
                - string
                - 'null'
            updated:
              type:
                - string
                - 'null'
            expires:
              type:
                - string
                - 'null'
            status:
              type: array
              items:
                type: string
            nameservers:
              type: array
              items:
                type: string
            dnssec:
              type:
                - boolean
                - 'null'
              description: Known from RDAP; usually absent or null from WHOIS.
        truncated:
          type: boolean
          description: True when the record was cut short.
        cached:
          type: boolean
          description: Served from the one-hour cache.
    ErrorResponse:
      type: object
      required:
        - success
        - error
      properties:
        success:
          type: boolean
          const: false
        error:
          type: string
          description: Human-readable error message.
      additionalProperties: true
  responses:
    BadRequest:
      description: Validation failed or the request is malformed.
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
    TooManyRequests:
      description: Rate limit exceeded.
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
    ServerError:
      description: Unexpected server error.
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      bearerFormat: JWT
      description: >-
        Session access token (JWT) from POST /v1/auth/login or /v1/auth/refresh.
        A session satisfies every API scope.
    apiToken:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      bearerFormat: se_live_<prefix>_<secret>
      description: >-
        Personal API token created under Settings → API tokens. Only routes
        guarded by verifyApiAuth accept it, and the token must carry the scope
        named in the operation's x-required-scope.

````

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