RDAP for domain owners: what you can read and what you cannot

RDAP gives you registrar, dates and status straight from the registry. It also has limits.

2026-10-15 · Namelizer

RDAP is the structured, machine-readable way to look up domain registration data. It is the modern replacement for the older WHOIS text format, and registries publish it directly.

For a registered name you can usually read the registrar, the creation date, the expiry date, the registry status codes such as client transfer prohibited, and the nameservers. Status codes like pending delete or redemption are worth watching on names you own or want.

There are limits. Some registries publish no expiry date, and some country-code registries have no RDAP service at all. Public RDAP servers can also rate-limit heavy use, so a failed lookup does not mean anything about the domain.

Namelizer's Portfolio monitor reads RDAP when you press Scan, saves a dated snapshot, and lists what changed since the previous scan. A lookup that fails is saved as Unknown and is never reported as a change. There is no automatic schedule yet.