| name | DomainHunt |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| description | Pick brandable available domains via RDAP, detect broker listings, plan brand families, and choose registrars without overpaying premium tiers. USE WHEN picking a domain, naming a project, checking domain availability, registering a domain, brand research, TLD hack, ccTLD pricing. |
DomainHunt
A workflow for picking brandable, available domains without overpaying brokers or premium-tier registries. Wraps the check-domain CLI with strategy: candidate generation, RDAP probing, broker detection, brand-family pairing, and registrar selection.
@TldHacks.md
@BrokerDetection.md
@RegistrarGuide.md
@BrandFamilyPairing.md
Workflow
- Frame the brand. Decide the apex word, the feeling, the audience. A short seed list of 5-10 names is enough — pruning happens at the next step.
- Probe with
check-domain. Run candidates in parallel against RDAP. Filter on AVAIL first, then triage NO-RDAP ccTLDs via direct whois.
- Detect broker traps. For interesting
TAKEN candidates, inspect nameservers. Afternic, Daaz, Dan.com, Sedo, nameshift, and trademarkarea signal active resale (typical ask $500-$50k). See BrokerDetection.md.
- Look for TLD hacks. A ccTLD that completes the word (
for.ge reads as "forge") or a TLD that doubles as a file extension (.md for Markdown, .rs for Rust) can be the cleverest available solution. See TldHacks.md.
- Plan a brand family. Pick an apex on the strongest TLD and pair companions on thematic or cheap TLDs (
apex.ai + apex.dev + apex.world) rather than chasing a single perfect domain. See BrandFamilyPairing.md.
- Pick registrars. Verify the registry actually sells each TLD at acceptable prices. Some TLDs (
.md, .au, .py) are restricted, gated, or premium-priced even when listed as available. See RegistrarGuide.md.
The check-domain tool
Location: bin/check-domain (bundled with this module) or installed separately from https://github.com/N4M3Z/check-domain.
check-domain example.ai example.dev example.io
check-domain forge.{ai,dev,world,build,tools}
check-domain -q -f candidates.txt
The tool queries each TLD's authoritative RDAP endpoint via the IANA bootstrap registry, caches the bootstrap for 24h at ~/.cache/check-domain/, and runs lookups in parallel.
Intent-to-flag mapping
| Intent | Flag | Example |
|---|
| Check one or several names | (positional args) | check-domain forgeworld.ai forgeworld.dev |
| Filter to available only | -q / --quiet | check-domain -q forge.{ai,dev,build} |
| Probe a curated list | -f / --file | check-domain -f candidates.txt |
| Show usage | -h / --help | check-domain --help |
Output legend
| Status | Meaning |
|---|
AVAIL | RDAP returned 404 — not registered |
TAKEN | RDAP returned 200 — registered (parked or actively used) |
HTTP-XXX | Registry returned unexpected status (rate limit, throttling) |
NO-RDAP | TLD has no public RDAP endpoint — verify manually via whois |
NO-RDAP does not mean available. Common ccTLDs (.io, .sh, .so, .gg) lack public RDAP but most popular names on those TLDs are taken — always verify before assuming a NO-RDAP is winnable.
Red Flags
| Thought | Reality |
|---|
"First AVAIL hit — done." | Premium TLDs (.build, .gold, .cars) often show available but list at $500-$1500. Check checkout. |
"NO-RDAP means I can probably get it." | Query the ccTLD whois directly. Most desirable names are taken even where RDAP is silent. |
| "I'll just email the parked owner." | Brokered domains have published or quoted asks on the Afternic/Daaz landing page. Read those first. |
| "Eligibility looks soft — I'll just register." | .eu requires EU/EEA, .au requires Australian presence, .py is gated. Suspended domains aren't a refund. |
| "One perfect domain solves everything." | A 3-property brand family on mid-tier TLDs often costs less than one premium domain and reads stronger. |
Constraints
- Bash, curl, and python3 required for
check-domain (macOS 12.3+ and most Linux distros ship them).
- RDAP queries are rate-limited per-IP at most registries. For sweeps over 50 domains expect occasional
HTTP-429 and slow the run.
- Brand decisions deserve an ADR — when the result lands on a multi-domain family, capture rationale in the project's
docs/decisions/.
