dns-tools

name: dns-tools description: DNS resolution and propagation debugging. Use when looking up A/AAAA/MX/TXT records, verifying DNS changes across resolvers, or querying via DoT/DoH. user-invocable: false allowed-tools: Bash(dig *), Bash(nslookup *), Bash(host *), Bash(whois *), Read, Grep, Glob, TodoWrite created: 2026-01-01 modified: 2026-04-25 reviewed: 2026-04-25

DNS Tools

When to Use This Skill

Core Expertise

dog is a modern, Rust-based DNS client that serves as a user-friendly alternative to dig. Key advantages:

• Readable output: Colorized, human-friendly formatting by default
• Modern protocols: Native support for DNS-over-TLS (DoT) and DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH)
• JSON output: Machine-parseable output for scripting and automation
• Fast: Compiled Rust binary with minimal dependencies
• Cross-platform: Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows

Installation

# macOS
brew install dog

# Cargo (any platform)
cargo install dog

# Arch Linux
pacman -S dog

Essential Commands

Basic Queries

# Query A record (default)
dog example.com

# Query specific record type
dog example.com MX
dog example.com AAAA
dog example.com TXT

# Query multiple record types
dog example.com A AAAA MX

# Query multiple domains
dog example.com example.org

Specifying DNS Server

# Use specific resolver
dog @8.8.8.8 example.com
dog @1.1.1.1 example.com MX

# Use system resolver explicitly
dog @/etc/resolv.conf example.com

Output Formats

# JSON output for parsing
dog --json example.com

# Short output (answers only)
dog --short example.com

# Quiet mode (minimal output)
dog -q example.com

DNS-over-TLS and DNS-over-HTTPS

Modern encrypted DNS protocols prevent eavesdropping and tampering.

DNS-over-TLS (DoT)

# Query via DoT (port 853)
dog --tls @dns.google example.com
dog --tls @1.1.1.1 example.com

# Explicit TLS server specification
dog --tls @dns.quad9.net example.com

DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH)

# Query via DoH
dog --https @https://dns.google/dns-query example.com
dog --https @https://cloudflare-dns.com/dns-query example.com

# Quad9 DoH
dog --https @https://dns.quad9.net/dns-query example.com

Protocol Comparison

Advanced Features

Query Options

# Force TCP instead of UDP
dog --tcp example.com

# Set query timeout (seconds)
dog --timeout 5 example.com

# Disable recursion (query authoritative only)
dog --no-recurse example.com

# Query specific class
dog --class CH version.bind TXT  # Chaos class for version info

Reverse DNS

# PTR lookup for IP address
dog -x 8.8.8.8
dog --reverse 1.1.1.1

DNSSEC Queries

# Request DNSSEC records
dog --dnssec example.com

# Query DNSKEY records directly
dog example.com DNSKEY
dog example.com DS

Common Patterns

Troubleshooting DNS

# Check propagation across multiple resolvers
dog @8.8.8.8 example.com A
dog @1.1.1.1 example.com A
dog @9.9.9.9 example.com A

# Verify MX records for email
dog example.com MX --json | jq '.answers[].data'

# Check SPF/DKIM/DMARC for email auth
dog example.com TXT | grep -E 'spf|dkim|dmarc'
dog _dmarc.example.com TXT
dog selector._domainkey.example.com TXT

Automation and Scripting

# Extract IP addresses from JSON
dog --json example.com A | jq -r '.answers[].data'

# Check if domain resolves
dog --short example.com && echo "Resolves" || echo "No resolution"

# Batch queries
for domain in example.com example.org; do
  dog --json "$domain" A
done

Alternative Tools

dig (Traditional)

Still valuable for DNSSEC validation and advanced debugging:

# DNSSEC validation
dig +dnssec example.com

# Trace delegation path
dig +trace example.com

# Query with specific options
dig +noall +answer example.com MX

drill (LDNS Project)

DNSSEC-focused tool from NLnet Labs:

# DNSSEC chase
drill -S example.com

# Trace from root
drill -T example.com

Agentic Optimizations

Quick Reference

Record Types

Common Flags

Error Handling