Whois MCP

The WHOIS MCP server bridges the gap between traditional domain lookup services and modern AI‑powered assistants by exposing WHOIS functionality through the Model Context Protocol. Developers can now embed authoritative domain metadata—registrant details, expiration dates, name server information, and more—directly into AI workflows without leaving the chat or IDE environment. This capability is especially valuable for security analysts, compliance teams, and automation scripts that need to validate domain ownership or track lifecycle changes in real time.

At its core, the server receives a domain name via an MCP request, sanitizes and validates it using Apache Commons Validator, then consults a cached mapping of top‑level domains to the appropriate WHOIS servers. If no specific server is found, it gracefully falls back to the IANA WHOIS service. The lookup itself is performed with Apache Commons Net, ensuring reliable TCP communication even across multiple registries. Results are returned as structured JSON over the same MCP channel, allowing downstream tools to parse and act on the data with minimal effort.

Key features include:

• Domain validation & sanitization – guarantees that malformed inputs do not trigger erroneous queries.
• Server caching – reduces latency by reusing known WHOIS endpoints for common TLDs.
• Automatic IANA fallback – ensures coverage even when a specialized server is unavailable.
• Robust error handling – custom exceptions surface clear messages to the client, simplifying debugging.
• Standardized MCP integration – works seamlessly with Claude Desktop, VS Code Copilot, or any other MCP‑compatible client.

Typical use cases span from automated compliance checks that flag expired domains, to real‑time threat intelligence pipelines that correlate domain registration dates with suspicious activity. In a CI/CD pipeline, the server can validate that newly minted domains meet corporate naming conventions before deployment. For chatbots or virtual assistants, users can ask for “who owns example.com?” and receive a concise, authoritative answer without leaving the conversation.

Because it operates over standard input/output, the WHOIS MCP server can be launched as a lightweight Java process on any platform that supports Java 21+. Its modular architecture allows developers to extend or replace components—such as swapping the underlying networking library—without disrupting the MCP contract. This combination of protocol‑level consistency, domain‑specific expertise, and developer‑friendly integration makes the WHOIS MCP server a powerful addition to any AI‑centric toolkit.