DNS Lookup

Retrieve DNS records (A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, NS, SOA, DMARC) for a list of domain names, or perform reverse DNS lookups. Ideal for DNS validation, cybersecurity audits, domain management, market intelligence, and competitive research.

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How it 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

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

{
  "domains": ["example.com", "apify.com"],
  "dnsRecordTypes": ["A", "MX"]
}

Reverse DNS Lookup

{
  "domains": ["8.8.8.8", "1.1.1.1"],
  "reverseLookup": true
}

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Output Format

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

[
  {
    "domain": "example.com",
    "dnsRecords": [
      { "type": "A", "ttl": 300, "address": "93.184.216.34" },
      { "type": "MX", "ttl": 3600, "exchange": "mail.example.com", "priority": 10 }
    ],
    "status": "Success"
  }
]

Reverse Lookup Output

[
  {
    "domain": "8.8.8.8",
    "dnsRecords": [
      { "type": "PTR", "hostname": "dns.google" }
    ],
    "status": "Success"
  }
]

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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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Integrations

This Actor integrates with automation platforms like Clay, Make, Zapier, and n8n.

Sample call from another Apify Actor:

import { Actor } from 'apify';

await Actor.init();

const dnsResults = await Actor.call('superlativetech/dns-lookup', {
  domains: ['apify.com', 'google.com', 'microsoft.com'],
  dnsRecordTypes: ['A', 'AAAA', 'MX', 'TXT', 'NS', 'SOA', 'CNAME']
});

const { items } = await Actor.openDataset(dnsResults.defaultDatasetId).getData();
console.log('DNS Results:', items);

await Actor.exit();

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