# how.is WHOIS / RDAP Domain Lookup

> how.is WHOIS / RDAP Domain Lookup is a paid API for AI agents from how.is, paid per call via x402, $0.005/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-31).

Returns registrar, creation/expiry dates, nameservers, and status codes for a given domain via WHOIS/RDAP.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://how.is/v1/domain/whois?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.005/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-31
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/how-is-whois-rdap-domain-lookup-b188da52
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_8Py6Obx9ivDmAVxCP4-_e

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability how-is-whois-rdap-domain-lookup-b188da52 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you pull the full WHOIS record for stripe.com — I want to know the registrar, when it was registered, when it expires, and what nameservers it's using?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need structured, parsed WHOIS/RDAP data (registrar, dates, nameservers, status) for a specific domain, especially within an agentic workflow that can handle x402 micropayments. Prefer it over raw WHOIS CLI tools when you need a clean JSON response with a payment receipt, or when querying as part of a domain-vetting or security-analysis pipeline using how.is's suite of domain intelligence tools.

## Known failure modes

- Domain not found in RDAP/WHOIS — returns empty or error if domain is unregistered or RDAP data is unavailable
- Invalid domain format — rejected if the input is not a valid bare domain name (e.g. includes http:// or a path)
- RDAP server unavailable for the TLD — some ccTLDs lack RDAP support
- Rate limiting or payment failure — x402 payment not settled, resulting in 402 response

## How this service works

Registrar, creation and expiry dates, nameservers and status codes for a domain.

## Output

A parsed WHOIS/RDAP record including the registrar name, domain creation date, expiry date, nameservers, and domain status codes, along with a payment receipt confirming the charge of $0.005 USDC.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "domain": {
   "type": "string",
   "maxLength": 253,
   "description": "A bare domain name, e.g. example.com"
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "data": {
   "_shape": "data.data.data: the parsed WHOIS/RDAP record (registrar, dates, nameservers, status)."
  },
  "result": "WHOIS / RDAP for the requested subject",
  "receipt": {
   "rail": "x402",
   "tool": "whois",
   "charge_usd": 0.005,
   "settlement_tx": "0x…"
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/how-is-whois-rdap-domain-lookup-b188da52/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from how.is](https://www.zero.xyz/host/how.is/llms.txt)