Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)

RDAP is the modern computer parseable protocol defined within the IETF to offer a secure data-rich replacement for the insecure plain text-based WHOIS protocol which dates from 1982 and has historically used by domain registries.

Like the WHOIS protocol, RDAP requires both client and server software. While WHOIS provides a plain text unformatted output usually accessed with either a command line client or a web interface acting like a command line client, RDAP provides a structured data format that enables a web client to provide a modern user experience. Nominet will be launching a web based RDAP client later in 2022.

Nominet’s RDAP server follows the following standards:

RDAP service
RFC 7480 HTTP Usage in the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)  
RFC 7481 Security Services for the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)  
RFC 7482 Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) Query Format Errata
RFC 7483 JSON Responses for the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) Errata
RFC 7484 Finding the Authoritative Registration Data (RDAP) Service Errata, Updated by RFC 8521
RFC 8056 Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) and Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) Status Mapping  
RFC 8605 vCard Format Extensions: ICANN Extensions for the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)  
Profile February 2019 ICANN gTLD Profile, February 2019.  

More information on gTLD RDAP can be found on the ICANN web site https://www.icann.org/rdap

Finding the Authoritative Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) Service

Nominet offers an RDAP service for all top level domains we operate.

We recommend using the approach defined in RFC9224 using the IANA bootstrap to determine the current location of the RDAP server for all top level domains. This will be the mechanism by which we announce updates to our server locations should that ever occur.

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