DNS Lookup Actor

A versatile Apify Actor for quickly retrieving DNS records (A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, NS, SOA) for a list of domain names, as well as performing reverse DNS lookups. Ideal for DNS validation, cybersecurity audits, domain management, market intelligence, and competitive research.

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🛠️ How the DNS Lookup Actor Works

✅ Standard DNS Lookup

Provide a list of domain names (without protocol prefixes like https:// or subdomains like www.), and the Actor retrieves DNS records including:

• A
• AAAA
• MX
• CNAME
• TXT
• NS
• SOA
• DMARC * Adds the _dmarc subdomain automatically *

Optionally specify which DNS record types to retrieve using the dnsRecordTypes parameter. If omitted, all common DNS types above are fetched by default.

💡 Note: Only valid domain names should be used. Protocols like https:// or ports (e.g. :443) are not supported.

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🔁 Reverse DNS Lookup

Set the optional parameter reverseLookup to true and provide IP addresses (IPv4 or IPv6) instead of domain names to perform reverse DNS (PTR) lookups.

⚠️ Only IP addresses are allowed when reverseLookup is true.

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📥 Input Parameters

The Actor accepts the following JSON input:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
domains	array	✅ Yes	List of domain names or IP addresses to query.
dnsRecordTypes	array	❌ No	Specific DNS record types to retrieve. Ignored for reverse lookups. Default: ["A", "AAAA", "MX", "CNAME", "TXT", "NS", "SOA"].
reverseLookup	boolean	❌ No	Set to true to enable reverse (PTR) lookups. Default: false.

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💡 Sample Inputs

Standard DNS Lookup

1{
2  "domains": ["example.com", "apify.com"],
3  "dnsRecordTypes": ["A", "MX"]
4}

Reverse DNS Lookup

1{
2  "domains": ["8.8.8.8", "1.1.1.1"],
3  "reverseLookup": true
4}

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📤 Output Format

Each result includes the queried domain/IP, the DNS records, and the status of the lookup.

1[
2  {
3    "domain": "example.com",
4    "dnsRecords": [
5      { "type": "A", "ttl": 300, "address": "93.184.216.34" },
6      { "type": "MX", "ttl": 3600, "exchange": "mail.example.com", "priority": 10 }
7    ],
8    "status": "Success"
9  }
10]

Reverse Lookup Output

1[
2  {
3    "domain": "8.8.8.8",
4    "dnsRecords": [
5      { "type": "PTR", "hostname": "dns.google" }
6    ],
7    "status": "Success"
8  }
9]

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🔍 Technical Use Cases

• ✅ DNS auditing and validation
• ✅ DNS propagation troubleshooting
• ✅ Domain migration checks
• ✅ DNSSEC verification
• ✅ Infrastructure and email provider identification
• ✅ IP-to-hostname mapping (PTR)

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💼 Business Use Cases

• Sales & Marketing Intelligence

  • Identify email hosting providers for targeted outreach.
  • Recognize DNS patterns linked to specific technologies.

• Competitive Intelligence

  • Analyze competitor DNS infrastructure.

• Market Research

  • Discover technology stacks and providers used by prospects.

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🔄 Integration with Automation Tools

This Actor can easily be integrated with automation platforms like Clay or used within custom Apify workflows.

📘 Sample Call from Another Apify Actor:

1import { Actor } from 'apify';
2
3await Actor.init();
4
5const dnsResults = await Actor.call('xyzzy/dns-lookup', {
6    domains: ['apify.com', 'google.com', 'microsoft.com'],
7    dnsRecordTypes: ['A', 'AAAA', 'MX', 'TXT', 'NS', 'SOA', 'CNAME']
8});
9
10const { items } = await Actor.openDataset(dnsResults.defaultDatasetId).getData();
11console.log('DNS Results:', items);
12
13await Actor.exit();

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