# Bulk Domain Availability Checker (RDAP) + Name Ideas (`dennydevelops/bulk-domain-checker`) Actor

Check hundreds of names across any TLDs straight from registry RDAP servers, get available variations (get-, -hq, hyphenated) and track domains that change status.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dennydevelops/bulk-domain-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [Musedenny](https://apify.com/dennydevelops) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 domain lookups

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Bulk Domain Availability Checker (RDAP) + Name Ideas

Check **hundreds or thousands of names across any TLDs** in one run, straight from the official registry servers, and get **available variations** (get-, try-, -hq, -labs, hyphenated) when your first choice is taken. A monitoring mode reports only domains that **changed status since the last run**, e.g. a domain you want that just dropped.

- **Official data, no scraping**: each TLD's registry RDAP server, found through the IANA RDAP bootstrap file. Taken domains include the registrar, creation and expiry dates, status codes and nameservers.
- **Fast**: about 25 domains per second on .com/.net/.org.
- **Fair billing**: you pay per lookup actually sent to a registry. Domains skipped because a registry is down, rate-limiting, or has no lookup server are free.
- WHOIS fallback for ccTLDs without RDAP: .us, .de, .uk, .ca, .eu, .nl, .fr, .me.

### Input

```json
{
  "names": ["brightloom", "Blue Bottle", "quillmoss"],
  "tlds": ["com", "io", "ai", "app", "dev"],
  "suggestVariations": true,
  "variationTlds": ["com"],
  "maxVariationsPerName": 5,
  "onlyAvailable": false
}
```

| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `names` | – | Up to 5,000 names. "Blue Bottle" becomes `bluebottle`; non-ASCII names are converted to punycode. |
| `tlds` | com, net, org, io, co, ai, app | Checked for every name. |
| `suggestVariations` | false | Also check variations of each name. |
| `variationTlds` | com | TLDs the variations are checked on. |
| `prefixes` / `suffixes` | get, try, use, my, go / app, hq, labs, hub, now | Variation building blocks. |
| `hyphenate` | true | `blue-bottle` for multi-word names. |
| `maxVariationsPerName` | 10 | Cap per name (0–50). |
| `onlyAvailable` | false | Leave taken domains out of the results (they are still checked and billed). |
| `onlyChanges` | false | Monitoring: after the first run, output only domains whose status changed. |
| `stateStoreName` | bulk-domain-checker-state | Named store for monitoring state; use one per watch list. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | off | Optional Apify Proxy, see "Rate limits". |
| `maxConcurrency` | 20 | Parallel lookups. |

### Output

One item per domain:

```json
{
  "inputName": "Blue Bottle",
  "domain": "getbluebottle.com",
  "tld": "com",
  "status": "available",
  "available": true,
  "source": "rdap",
  "registrar": null,
  "createdAt": null,
  "expiresAt": null,
  "domainStatus": [],
  "nameservers": [],
  "note": "Not registered (may still be reserved or premium-priced at the registry).",
  "isVariation": true,
  "variationType": "prefix:get",
  "checkedAt": "2026-11-01T08:30:00Z"
}
```

A taken domain looks like `{"domain": "bluebottle.ai", "status": "registered", "available": false, "registrar": "NameCheap, Inc.", "createdAt": "…", "expiresAt": "…", …}`.

`status` values: `available`, `registered`, `unknown` (no lookup server for the TLD, or the registry is rate-limiting), `invalid` (not a valid domain label). In `onlyChanges` mode each item also has `previousStatus` and `changed`.

The run's `OUTPUT` record has totals and `availableByName` (name → list of available domains), which is handy for a quick shortlist.

### Pricing (pay per event + usage)

| Event | Price | When |
|---|---|---|
| `apify-actor-start` | $0.001 | Apify built-in event, charged once per run (per GB of memory above 1 GB). Covers start-up cost and deters empty runs. |
| `domain-check` | $0.0015 | One domain (name + TLD) looked up at the registry. Lookups skipped because a registry is down, blocking, or has no server are free. |

Examples: 500 names × .com = $0.001 + $0.75. 100 names × 5 TLDs + 5 .com variations each = 1,000 lookups = $1.50.

Plus Apify platform usage for the run itself (server time), typically **$0.0002–0.0005 per run** because the Actor is lightweight and capped at 512 MB. The run stops cleanly when your maximum cost per run is reached.

### Rate limits (read this if you check .ai or .io in bulk)

Registries protect their RDAP servers. Verisign (.com/.net) and PIR (.org) handled 300+ quick lookups without complaint in testing. **Identity Digital**, which runs .ai, .io and about 450 other TLDs, blocks an IP for roughly 24 hours after a short burst. The Actor therefore:

- paces Identity Digital lookups to one every 1.5 seconds (so 100 .ai names take about 2.5 minutes);
- stops querying any registry that asks it to wait more than 2 minutes, and returns `unknown` (free) for the rest of that registry's domains, with a clear note;
- can route lookups through Apify Proxy (`proxyConfiguration`), which spreads them over many IPs. Proxy traffic is billed by Apify to your account.

### Limitations

- "Available" means the registry has no registration. Some names are reserved or premium-priced; confirm at a registrar before you buy.
- TLDs with neither RDAP nor a supported WHOIS server are returned as `unknown` and are not billed.

### Local development

```bash
pip install -r requirements.txt pytest pytest-asyncio respx
pytest          # HTTP mocked, no credentials
python -m src   # reads storage/key_value_stores/default/INPUT.json
```

The RDAP code is shared with the Brand Name Checker Actor: edit `../shared/rdap.py`, then run `python ../scripts/sync_shared.py`.

# Actor input Schema

## `names` (type: `array`):

Names to check, one per line (up to 5,000). Spaces and punctuation are removed: 'Blue Bottle' -> bluebottle. You can also paste labels like 'acme' or 'example.com' (the .com is ignored; set TLDs below).

## `tlds` (type: `array`):

Extensions to check for every name, without the dot.

## `suggestVariations` (type: `boolean`):

Also check variations (hyphenated, prefixes like get/try, suffixes like hq/labs) on the variation TLDs.

## `variationTlds` (type: `array`):

Variations are only checked on these TLDs (keeps cost down).

## `prefixes` (type: `array`):

Words put in front of the name for variations, e.g. get -> getacme.

## `suffixes` (type: `array`):

Words added after the name for variations, e.g. hq -> acmehq.

## `hyphenate` (type: `boolean`):

For multi-word names, also check blue-bottle.

## `maxVariationsPerName` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of variations checked per name (0-50).

## `onlyAvailable` (type: `boolean`):

Taken domains are still checked (and charged) but left out of the results.

## `onlyChanges` (type: `boolean`):

Monitoring mode: the first run outputs everything; later runs output only domains that became available or got registered. State is kept in the named store below.

## `stateStoreName` (type: `string`):

Named key-value store for monitoring state. Use one name per watch list.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many lookups run in parallel.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Usually not needed. Some registries (notably Identity Digital: .ai, .io and ~450 other TLDs) rate-limit IPs after many lookups; a proxy spreads lookups across IPs. Apify Proxy usage is billed to your account.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "names": [
    "brightloom",
    "Blue Bottle"
  ],
  "tlds": [
    "com",
    "net",
    "org",
    "io",
    "co",
    "ai",
    "app"
  ],
  "suggestVariations": false,
  "variationTlds": [
    "com"
  ],
  "prefixes": [
    "get",
    "try",
    "use",
    "my",
    "go"
  ],
  "suffixes": [
    "app",
    "hq",
    "labs",
    "hub",
    "now"
  ],
  "hyphenate": true,
  "maxVariationsPerName": 10,
  "onlyAvailable": false,
  "onlyChanges": false,
  "stateStoreName": "bulk-domain-checker-state",
  "maxConcurrency": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per domain: status, registrar, dates.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Totals for this run (JSON).

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "names": [
        "brightloom",
        "Blue Bottle"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dennydevelops/bulk-domain-checker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "names": [
        "brightloom",
        "Blue Bottle",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("dennydevelops/bulk-domain-checker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "names": [
    "brightloom",
    "Blue Bottle"
  ]
}' |
apify call dennydevelops/bulk-domain-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,dennydevelops/bulk-domain-checker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/YaRGxHsjlQhGAxVlU/builds/uzCLhkTJIgrOJwNZx/openapi.json