domains

name	domains
description	Use when searching for domains, checking availability, buying or registering domains, configuring DNS records, managing a domain portfolio, listing domains for sale, responding to offers, contacting sellers, generating AI landing pages, backordering expiring domains, renewing domains, or troubleshooting Unstoppable Domains MCP/CLI/API errors.

Unstoppable Domains — User API

Complete reference for the Unstoppable Domains User API via MCP server, CLI, or REST API. For the full tool catalog with descriptions, see tools-full.md.

General Notes

• All prices in cents USD (e.g., 5000 = $50.00)
• All timestamps in UTC (ISO 8601) — convert to user's local timezone for display
• Magic link URLs (from ud_cart_get_url, ud_cart_add_payment_method_url, ud_authenticated_url_get, signatureNote fields) are single-use, valid 60 seconds
• Most bulk operations: max 50 per call
• 12 tools support applyToAllDomainsInPortfolio: true for portfolio-wide operations
• Domain names are case-insensitive (API normalizes to lowercase)

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Search & Purchase

ud_domains_search accepts up to 10 queries and 5 TLDs per call (defaults: com, net, org, ai, io). ud_tld_list shows all supported TLDs. For pending-delete/expiring inventory, use ud_expireds_list (up to 500/call).

Domain Naming Principles

When suggesting domain names to a user, apply these rules to every candidate:

Hard blockers (never propose these):

• No hyphens — single-dash (brew-haven.com), multi-dash (the-best-coffee-shop.com), trailing or leading dash. Hyphens signal low quality and hurt type-in recall.
• No digits — no digit substitution (4you, 2fast), no suffix numbers (coffee24, domain365), no leet (c0ffee). Digit names read as spammy and date the brand.
• No trademark-adjacent names — avoid names one letter off a well-known brand (gooogle, amaz0n), even if technically available. Registrar support will field takedown complaints.
• If the only available candidate is hyphenated, numeric, or trademark-adjacent, discard it. Re-run the search with a different seed or TLD.

Quality guidelines:

• Length: prefer 3–12 characters in the SLD (second-level domain). Sub-15 is passable; longer loses memorability.
• Pronounceability: should be sayable in a single beat. Test: can you spell it to a stranger over a phone call?
• Brandability over description: prefer invented-but-pronounceable (brewhaven) or meaningful compounds (cozycoffee) over literal descriptions (coffeeshopportland). Descriptive names don't scale with the brand.
• TLD coherence: match TLD to pitch. .store for e-commerce, .io for tech, .design for studios. A .biz on a tech startup reads as low quality.

Good examples: brewhaven.com, cozycoffee.co, roasted.studio. Bad examples: brew-haven.com, brew2haven.com, coffeeshopindowntownportland.com.

Cart Tool Selection (Critical)

After searching, use marketplace.source and marketplace.status to pick the correct cart tool:

source	status	Action
unstoppable_domains	available	ud_cart_add_domain_registration
unstoppable_domains	registered-listed-for-sale	ud_cart_add_domain_listed
unstoppable_domains	registered-listed-for-offers	Cannot cart. Share purchaseUrl for offers.
afternic	registered-listed-for-sale	ud_cart_add_domain_afternic
sedo	registered-listed-for-sale	ud_cart_add_domain_sedo
any	registered-not-for-sale	Not purchasable. Use ud_lead_get to contact seller.

Using the wrong cart tool will fail. Always check marketplace.source first.

Registration Workflow

DNS domains (.com, .org, .net, etc.) require an ICANN contact before checkout.

1. ud_domains_search              -> Find available domains
2. ud_contacts_list               -> Check for existing ICANN contacts
3. ud_contact_create              -> Create if none (suggest account email for instant verification)
4. ud_cart_add_domain_registration -> Add to cart (max 50 domains)
5. ud_cart_get_payment_methods    -> Verify payment method or sufficient credits
6. ud_cart_checkout               -> Complete purchase (pass paymentMethodId if credits insufficient)

Draft contacts (ID starts with draft-) are still syncing. Wait a few seconds and re-check ud_contacts_list.

Marketplace Purchase

1. ud_domains_search          -> Note marketplace.source and marketplace.status
2. Correct cart tool          -> See table above
3. ud_cart_get                -> Verify cart contents and pricing
4. ud_cart_get_payment_methods -> Check payment
5. ud_cart_checkout           -> Or ud_cart_get_url for browser checkout

Lease-to-Own

Only UD marketplace listings support LTO. Check search results for listingSettings.leaseToOwnOptions:

• type: equal_installments or down_payment_plus_equal_installments
• termLength: 2-120 months (must not exceed maxTermLength)
• downPaymentPercentage: 10-90% (only for down_payment type)

Pass leaseToOwnOptions to ud_cart_add_domain_listed.

Backorders

For pending-delete/coming-soon domains:

1. ud_expireds_list or ud_domains_search -> Find domain + availability timestamp
2. ud_contacts_list / ud_contact_create  -> Ensure ICANN contact exists
3. ud_backorder_create                   -> Place backorder (needs contactId + availableAfterTimestamp)

Registration fee charged only on successful catch. Domainer Club members get up to $500 overdraft. Others must prepay at unstoppabledomains.com/account-prepay. Manage with ud_backorders_list and ud_backorder_cancel.

Cart Tools

Tool	Purpose
ud_cart_get	View cart with pricing breakdown
ud_cart_remove	Remove items from cart
ud_cart_get_url	Magic link for browser checkout (60s, single-use)
ud_cart_add_payment_method_url	Magic link to add payment method
ud_cart_add_domain_renewal	Add renewals (1-10 years, max 50 domains)
ud_cart_add_ai_credits	Add AI credit packs

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DNS Management

Always check nameservers first. DNS record management only works with UD default nameservers.

1. ud_dns_nameservers_list     -> Check nameserver status
2. ud_dns_records_list         -> View current records
3. ud_dns_record_add           -> Add records (upsert modes: append, replace, disallowed)
4. ud_domain_pending_operations -> Verify changes (DNS changes are async)

Record types: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SRV, CAA. TTL: 60-86400 (default: 3600).

ud_dns_record_update updates by record ID. ud_dns_record_remove deletes by record ID. ud_dns_records_remove_all requires confirmDeleteAll: true — destructive.

Common DNS Recipes

Google Workspace email: MX records at root (@): 1 aspmx.l.google.com., 5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com., 5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com., 10 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com., 10 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com. + TXT: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

Point to web server: A record at @ with server IP, plus CNAME www -> example.com.

Nameservers

• ud_dns_nameservers_set_custom — 2-12 hostnames. Disables DNS record management.
• ud_dns_nameservers_set_default — Re-enables record management. External records do NOT carry over.

Hosting & Forwarding

• ud_dns_hosting_add — LISTING_PAGE (for-sale page), REDIRECT_301, REDIRECT_302. forceCompatibility: true auto-switches nameservers.
• ud_dns_hosting_list / ud_dns_hosting_remove — view/remove configs.

DNS Presets

ud_presets_list, ud_presets_save, ud_presets_apply, ud_presets_delete — reusable nameserver, record, and forwarding configs.

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Portfolio Management

ud_portfolio_list for portfolio-wide scans/stats. Filters: searchTerm, status, expiringWithinDays, expired, minLength, maxLength, autoRenewal, tagFilters. Sorting by name/length/purchasedAt/expiresAt/listingPrice/offers/leads/watchlistCount. pageSize up to 500.

ud_domain_get for deep inspection of up to 50 named domains — lifecycle, flags, DNS, marketplace metrics, tags, pending operations.

Renewals

1. ud_portfolio_list           -> Check expiration dates
2. ud_cart_add_domain_renewal  -> Add renewals (1-10 years, max 50)
3. ud_cart_get_payment_methods -> Verify payment
4. ud_cart_checkout            -> Complete

Auto-Renewal

ud_domain_auto_renewal_update — enable/disable. Needs valid payment method on file.

Tags & Flags

• ud_domain_tags_add / ud_domain_tags_remove — max 10 tags/call, 20 chars each. Auto-creates. Idempotent.
• ud_domain_flags_update — WHOIS privacy (DNS_WHOIS_PROXY: ENABLED recommended), transfer lock (DNS_TRANSFER_OUT: DISABLED = locked, recommended).

Domain Transfer (Push)

ud_domain_push — requires targetAccountId (format: adjective-noun-xxx), otpCode (6-digit MFA). Max 50 domains. Recipient accepts within 4 hours. User must have MFA enabled.

Portfolio-Wide Operations

12 tools support applyToAllDomainsInPortfolio: true, bypassing the 50-domain limit: generate_lander, remove_lander, tags_add, tags_remove, flags_update, auto_renewal_update, hosting_add, hosting_remove, nameservers_set_default, nameservers_set_custom, records_remove_all, record_add.

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Marketplace & Offers

Listing Domains for Sale

1. ud_portfolio_list   -> Confirm ownership
2. ud_listing_create   -> Create listing (price, offers, validity, LTO)
3. ud_offers_list      -> Monitor incoming offers
4. ud_offer_respond    -> Accept or reject

Listing settings: priceInCents ($11-$2M, 0 = offers-only), expiresAt (default 90 days), isOfferFeatureEnabled, minOfferAmountInCents, isEmailAliasUsed, leaseToOwnOptions. ud_listing_update / ud_listing_cancel support bulk (max 50). Listings may require signing — signatureNote URLs are magic links.

Offers

• ud_offers_list — filter by domainName, group (active/sold)
• ud_offer_respond — accept/reject, up to 50. Acceptance may require signing.
• Counter-offers: use conversations to message buyer with counter price.

Buyer-Seller Conversations

ud_leads_list (filter by domain), ud_lead_get (get or create), ud_lead_messages_list (newest-first, cursor pagination), ud_lead_message_send (max 1000 chars). Display messages in chronological order.

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AI Landing Pages

Each generation costs 1 AI credit. New accounts get 5 free. ud_ai_credits_get checks balance. ud_cart_add_ai_credits to purchase more.

• ud_domain_generate_lander — async, custom instructions (tone/colors/content), max 50, supports applyToAllDomainsInPortfolio
• ud_domain_lander_status — pending/generating/processing/hosted/failed/none
• ud_domain_download_lander — htmlContent (single-page) or zipContent (base64 multi-file)
• ud_domain_upload_lander — HTML or zip, requires Domainer Club, max 1MB, replaces existing
• ud_domain_remove_lander — destructive, supports applyToAllDomainsInPortfolio

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Troubleshooting

Cart Add Failures

Error	Fix
"Expected a domain" / cart tool mismatch	Check marketplace.source from search results. Use matching cart tool.
Domain not available	Re-run ud_domains_search. Suggest alternatives.

Checkout Failures

Error	Fix
Missing ICANN contact	ud_contacts_list then ud_contact_create. Use account email for instant verification.
Contact in draft (draft-* ID)	Wait a few seconds, re-check ud_contacts_list.
No payment method / insufficient balance	ud_cart_get_payment_methods to check. Pass paymentMethodId or use ud_cart_add_payment_method_url.

DNS Issues

Error	Fix
Cannot modify records	Domain uses custom nameservers. Switch to UD defaults or manage at external provider.
Changes not appearing	DNS is async. Use ud_domain_pending_operations.
Record already exists	Use upsertMode: "append" or "replace".
NO_CHANGE	Domain expired or in redemption. Check ud_domain_get.

Auth / Connection

Error	Fix
401 Unauthorized	Re-authenticate: ud auth login or reconnect OAuth.
403 Forbidden	Missing OAuth scope. Check Account Settings > Connected Apps.
MCP not connecting	Verify with claude mcp list. Check Desktop config file path. Restart after changes.

Domain Push

Error	Fix
MFA not enabled	Must enable in account security settings first.
Invalid OTP	Time-based — ask for fresh code.
Domain ineligible	Check ud_domain_get — expired, pending transfer, or non-ICANN domains can't be pushed.

CLI Debugging

ud auth status          # Check authentication
ud --env sandbox ...    # Test in sandbox (no charges)
ud --output json ...    # Raw JSON for debugging