RDAP Domain Monitor API | Ownership + Expiry

Monitor domain registration data at scale using the RDAP protocol (the official successor to WHOIS). Track ownership changes, expiry dates, nameserver updates, and registrar transfers across hundreds of domains — automatically.

Store Quickstart

• Start with store-input.example.json for a low-friction dataset run on two well-known domains.
• If that matches your workflow, switch to store-input.templates.json and pick one of:
• Quickstart (Dataset) for first-run validation
• Portfolio Watch for larger domain lists
• Webhook Alert for expiry or ownership change automation

The Store example keeps concurrency moderate and enables snapshot tracking so users can see change detection without extra setup.

What does this actor do?

This actor queries RDAP servers directly (via the IANA bootstrap) to retrieve structured domain registration data. Unlike WHOIS scrapers, RDAP is an official IETF standard (RFC 7480-7484) with JSON responses — meaning reliable, consistent data with zero anti-bot risk.

Key Features

• 🔍 Bulk domain lookup — Check up to 500 domains per run
• 🔄 Change detection — Automatically detects registrar, nameserver, expiry date, and status changes between runs
• ⏰ Expiry warnings — Get alerted when domains expire within your configured threshold
• 🪝 Webhook notifications — Send results to Slack, Discord, or any webhook endpoint
• 📊 Structured JSON output — Clean, consistent data ready for spreadsheets or databases
• 🛡️ Zero anti-bot risk — RDAP is an open protocol; no CAPTCHAs, no blocks

Use Cases

Who	Why
Domain investors	Monitor portfolio expiry dates and competitor domain changes
Brand protection teams	Detect unauthorized registrar transfers or nameserver hijacking
IT/Security teams	Track domain configuration changes across your organization
M&A due diligence	Verify domain ownership and registration history

Input Example

{
  "domains": ["example.com", "github.com", "google.com"],
  "expiryWarningDays": 30,
  "checkOwnership": true,
  "delivery": "dataset",
  "concurrency": 3
}

Output Example

Each domain returns a structured result:

{
  "domain": "google.com",
  "status": "initial",
  "rdap": {
    "registrar": "MarkMonitor Inc.",
    "registrationDate": "1997-09-15T04:00:00Z",
    "expiryDate": "2028-09-14T04:00:00Z",
    "nameservers": ["ns1.google.com", "ns2.google.com", "ns3.google.com", "ns4.google.com"],
    "status": ["client delete prohibited", "client transfer prohibited"],
    "dnssec": false
  },
  "changes": [],
  "warnings": [],
  "checkedAt": "2026-02-21T06:40:17.813Z"
}

Change Detection

On subsequent runs, changes are automatically detected:

{
  "status": "changed",
  "changes": [
    {
      "type": "nameservers_changed",
      "from": ["ns1.old.com", "ns2.old.com"],
      "to": ["ns1.new.com", "ns2.new.com"]
    }
  ]
}

A fuller ready-to-share payload is available in sample-output.example.json for Store and README proof.

How It Works

1. Loads the IANA RDAP Bootstrap to find the correct RDAP server for each TLD
2. Queries each domain's RDAP server with automatic rate limiting (500ms between requests)
3. Parses the standardized JSON response into clean structured data
4. Compares with previous run snapshots to detect changes
5. Delivers results to Apify Dataset and/or webhook

Cost

This actor uses zero external APIs or proxies. You only pay for Apify compute time. A typical run checking 100 domains takes ~30 seconds.

Rate Limiting

Built-in rate limiting protects against RDAP server throttling:

• 500ms minimum delay between queries
• Automatic retry with exponential backoff on 429/503 errors
• Configurable concurrency (1-10 parallel requests)

Commercial Ops

Set up .env first:

$cp -n .env.example .env

Cloud Task/Schedule setup (idempotent):

$npm run apify:cloud:setup

Daily reliability checks:

npm run canary:check
npm run contract:test:live

OpenClaw cron commands:

• openclaw-cron-commands.md

Related actors

• ssl-certificate-monitor — pair ownership and registrar changes with certificate lifecycle alerts.
• dns-dmarc-security-checker — audit email and DNS posture for the same domains.
• security-headers-checker — extend the same domain watchlist into HTTP security hygiene.