DNS

Every DNS record for your domain, live

DNS is where most "the site is down" incidents actually live. This tool queries your domain's records directly from your browser and shows you exactly what is published.

Runs DNS-over-HTTPS from your browser. Your domain is never sent to our servers.

Queries run as DNS-over-HTTPS requests from your browser against Cloudflare's public resolver. Records are displayed exactly as returned. Because the lookups happen in your browser, nothing about the domain you check reaches Live Ajans.

The guide behind this tool DNS Records Explained: The Ones That Matter and the Ones That Break Things A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CAA and SOA — what each does, the mistakes that take sites offline, and the TTL technique that makes migrations painless. Read the guide · 5 min read →

What this tool checks

Seven record types, queried live from your browser. Nothing about the domain you check reaches us.

  • A and AAAA

    Where the domain points, over IPv4 and IPv6.

  • MX

    Which servers accept mail, and at what priority.

  • NS

    The authoritative nameservers — and whether there is more than one.

  • TXT

    SPF, domain verifications, and everything else that has accumulated there over the years.

  • CAA

    Which certificate authorities may issue for your domain. Almost nobody sets this, and it takes two minutes.

  • SOA

    Zone metadata, including the serial number that tells you whether your change actually published.

  • TTL

    How long resolvers may cache each record — the number that decides how painful your next migration is.

How to read your result

A single nameserver is a single point of failure for your entire domain, email included. Two is the minimum.

No CAA record means any public certificate authority may issue a certificate for your domain. Adding one restricts that to the authorities you name. It is a genuine security control, it costs nothing, and it is the most commonly skipped record on this list.

No IPv6 is increasingly a speed issue rather than a coverage one. In several markets a large share of mobile traffic is IPv6-only and reaches IPv4 sites through carrier translation, which adds latency to every connection.

A TTL above one hour means a record change can take that long to reach everyone, and there is no way to speed it up afterwards. Before any migration, lower it to 300 seconds at least 48 hours in advance — that is the single most useful DNS practice, and it cannot be applied retroactively.

If different tools show different answers, that is caching, and it resolves as TTLs expire. If it persists beyond the TTL, two sets of nameservers are probably still active after an incomplete migration.

What each record type does

A and AAAA — where the site lives

A maps the domain to an IPv4 address, AAAA to IPv6. If these are wrong or missing, nothing else matters. Multiple A records provide crude load balancing, with the client picking one.

MX — where mail arrives

Lists the servers that accept email for the domain, each with a priority number where lower wins. A missing MX record means inbound mail bounces. Note that MX controls incoming mail only — outgoing authentication is SPF, DKIM and DMARC, which live in TXT records.

NS — who answers for the domain

The authoritative nameservers. These have to match what is set at your registrar; a mismatch after a hosting migration is one of the most common causes of a site that resolves for some people and not others, because the old records are still cached.

TXT — the catch-all

Arbitrary text, used for a growing list of verification and policy purposes: SPF, DMARC, DKIM, Google Search Console verification, Microsoft 365 domain ownership, and more. TXT records accumulate — it is worth periodically removing verification records for services you stopped using years ago.

CAA — who may issue certificates for you

The most under-used record type. CAA declares which certificate authorities are permitted to issue certificates for your domain. Without it, any public CA may issue one for you. With it, only the ones you name.

example.com. CAA 0 issue "letsencrypt.org"

This is a genuine and cheap security control against mis-issuance, and almost nobody sets it.

SOA — the zone's metadata

Serial number, refresh intervals and the negative-caching TTL. The serial number is useful during a migration: if it has not incremented, your change did not publish.

TTL and why changes take time

Every record carries a Time To Live — how long resolvers may cache it. A record with a 24-hour TTL can take a full day to update worldwide after you change it.

The practical technique before any migration: lower the TTL to 300 seconds at least 48 hours in advance. Then the actual cutover propagates in five minutes instead of a day. Raise it again afterwards, because a low TTL means more lookups and marginally slower first connections.

Frequently asked questions

Why do I see different results from different tools?

DNS caching. Different resolvers hold different cached copies depending on when they last asked and what TTL they were given. Right after a change this is normal and resolves as the TTL expires. If it persists beyond the TTL, something is publishing inconsistent answers — usually two sets of nameservers still active.

How long does DNS propagation take?

Up to the TTL of the old record, which is commonly 1 to 24 hours. There is no way to force it faster after the fact, which is why lowering the TTL before a migration is the only real control you have.

Should I set a CAA record?

Yes. It takes two minutes, costs nothing and stops any certificate authority other than the ones you name from issuing certificates for your domain. Remember to include every CA you actually use, including any your CDN or hosting provider issues on your behalf.

Do I need IPv6 (AAAA) records?

Increasingly yes. A large share of mobile traffic in some markets is IPv6-only and reaches IPv4 sites through carrier translation, which adds latency. If your host supports it, adding AAAA is free and removes that hop.

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