# PennyRail DNS CNAME Lookup

> PennyRail DNS CNAME Lookup is a paid API for AI agents from pennyrail.vercel.app, paid per call via x402, $0.001/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Performs a DNS CNAME record lookup for a given domain name and returns the canonical name chain

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://pennyrail.vercel.app/api/p/nano/dns.records--cname-lookup
- Price: $0.001/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/pennyrail-dns-cname-lookup-35a0620b
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_UcR4CIqxRL8jHz4ciBYOj

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 pennyrail-dns-cname-lookup-35a0620b -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you look up the CNAME record for api.example.com and tell me what canonical name it resolves to?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need a quick, paid-API DNS CNAME resolution without managing your own DNS resolver infrastructure. Prefer this over general-purpose DNS APIs when you are already operating within the PennyRail/x402 micropayment ecosystem and want per-call billing at $0.001 USDC. Useful for agents that need on-demand DNS lookups as part of domain validation or infrastructure auditing workflows.

## Known failure modes

- Domain has no CNAME record (returns empty or null result)
- Invalid or malformed hostname input causes a query error
- DNS resolution timeout if upstream nameservers are slow
- Non-existent domain (NXDOMAIN) returns an error or empty response
- Payment failure via x402 protocol prevents request from being processed

## How this service works

Machine-readable settlement service

## Output

Returns the DNS CNAME record response for the queried domain, including the canonical name (alias target) and potentially the full CNAME chain, formatted as a JSON object.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object"
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "additionalProperties": true
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/pennyrail-dns-cname-lookup-35a0620b/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from pennyrail.vercel.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/pennyrail.vercel.app/llms.txt)