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API.RDAP Usage Guide

Overview

API.RDAP provides a PowerShell-native interface to any RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) server. It replaces ad-hoc Invoke-RestMethod calls against RDAP endpoints with typed cmdlets that return structured objects you can pipeline, filter, and export without manually parsing JSON.

All cmdlets default to https://rdap.org as the upstream server and accept a -Server parameter to target any RFC 7480-compliant endpoint.

Key Features

  • 10 cmdlets covering lookup (Get-), search (Search-), and utility (Test-*, Get-RDAPHelp) operations
  • Typed return objects — RdapDomain, RdapNameserver, RdapEntity, RdapIpNetwork, RdapAutnum, RdapHelp
  • Configurable server — point any cmdlet at a registry-specific RDAP server
  • Pipeline support — pipe domain names, handles, or IP ranges through lookup cmdlets
  • RFC compliant — built against RFC 7480, RFC 7481, RFC 9082, and RFC 9083

Core Functions

Cmdlet Description
Get-RDAPDomain Look up a domain name
Get-RDAPNameserver Look up a nameserver by handle
Get-RDAPEntity Look up an entity (registrar, registrant) by handle
Get-RDAPIpNetwork Look up an IP network by address or CIDR prefix
Get-RDAPAutnum Look up an autonomous system number
Search-RDAPDomain Search domains by name, NS name, or NS IP
Search-RDAPNameserver Search nameservers by name or IP
Search-RDAPEntity Search entities by full name or handle
Get-RDAPHelp Retrieve server capabilities and conformance data
Test-RDAPObject Test whether a domain, entity, IP, or ASN exists (returns bool)

Complete Workflow Example

Import-Module API.RDAP

# 1. Check server capabilities
$help = Get-RDAPHelp
$help.RdapConformance

# 2. Look up a domain
$domain = Get-RDAPDomain -Name 'example.com'
$domain.Name
$domain.Status
$domain.Nameservers

# 3. Look up the registrar entity from the domain result
$registrarHandle = ($domain.Entities | Where-Object { $_.Roles -contains 'registrar' })[0]
Get-RDAPEntity -Handle $registrarHandle.Handle

# 4. Check IP ownership
$network = Get-RDAPIpNetwork -Address '8.8.8.8'
$network.Name
$network.StartAddress
$network.EndAddress

# 5. Look up the ASN for the same network
Get-RDAPAutnum -Asn 15169

Pipeline Examples

Bulk domain existence checks from a list:

@('example.com', 'iana.org', 'doesnotexist.invalid') |
    ForEach-Object {
        [pscustomobject]@{
            Domain = $_
            Exists = Test-RDAPObject -Type Domain -Handle $_
        }
    }

Export domain registration status to CSV:

'example.com', 'iana.org' |
    Get-RDAPDomain |
    Select-Object -Property Name, Status, @{ n='Expiry'; e={ $_.Events | Where-Object Action -eq 'expiration' | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Date } } |
    Export-Csv -Path domains.csv -NoTypeInformation

Search all domains delegated through a nameserver pattern and collect statuses:

$results = Search-RDAPDomain -NsName '*.iana-servers.net'
$results | Select-Object Name, Status

Error Handling

All cmdlets throw on HTTP errors so you can catch them with standard PowerShell error handling:

try {
    Get-RDAPDomain -Name 'doesnotexist.invalid'
} catch {
    if ($_.Exception.Response.StatusCode -eq 404) {
        Write-Warning 'Domain not found in RDAP registry.'
    } else {
        throw
    }
}

Use Test-RDAPObject for safe existence checks without try/catch:

if (Test-RDAPObject -Type Domain -Handle 'example.com') {
    Get-RDAPDomain -Name 'example.com'
}

Best Practices

  • Use Test-RDAPObject before bulk lookups to skip non-existent records and avoid exception noise.
  • Cache Get-RDAPHelp output — server capabilities rarely change mid-session. Store the result in a variable rather than calling it repeatedly.
  • Prefer registry-specific servers for authoritative data. For example, use https://rdap.arin.net/registry for ARIN-managed resources rather than the global redirect at rdap.org.
  • Inspect $result.RawResponse when you need fields beyond the typed properties. Every return object carries the full API response.

Security Considerations

  • All requests use HTTPS. Do not override -Server with an HTTP endpoint — RDAP over plain HTTP is not compliant and exposes responses to tampering.
  • RDAP responses are public registration data. No credentials are sent or stored.
  • Rate-limiting is enforced server-side. Space bulk queries appropriately or target multiple registries to avoid throttling.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Likely Cause Resolution
404 error on a valid domain Registry redirects differ from rdap.org Try registry-specific server via -Server
Empty Nameservers or Entities RDAP server omits optional fields Check $result.RawResponse for raw JSON
Test-RDAPObject returns $false for known domain TLD RDAP service unreachable Verify with Get-RDAPHelp -Server <tld-rdap-url>
Invoke-RestMethod timeout RDAP server slow or unavailable Retry with -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Resources