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  ExploreDNS v1.0.0 Stable

  gary released this 2026-07-07 12:19:08 +00:00 | 9 commits to main since this release

  First stable release. ExploreDNS is a self-contained Go reimplementation of
  James Ponder's classic dnstraverse
  (the engine behind dns.squish.net): it walks the DNS delegation tree from the
  root down and, instead of stopping at the first answer, explores every
  resolution path a real iterative resolver could take — reporting each
  outcome with the probability that a real-world query would end up there, so
  broken delegations, lame referrals, and missing glue surface even when a
  domain "mostly works".

  Highlights

  Faithful dnstraverse traversal semantics. The engine was verified against
  live runs of the original Ruby engine across answered, NXDOMAIN, null-MX,
  CNAME-restart, and glueless-delegation domains, with matching results:

  • Strictly non-recursive (RD=0) queries at every delegation step
  • Per-nameserver and per-IP branching with probability split 1/n at each
    fan-out; aggregated outcomes always sum to 100%
  • Bailiwick-aware response caching — out-of-bailiwick records are discarded,
    lame referrals are detected and reported
  • Glueless NS resolution via sub-traversals from the branch cache (never the
    local resolver), with no glue and loop dead-ends carrying their
    probability into the results
  • CNAME chains followed in-message; out-of-zone targets restart from the
    deepest cached zone with full-chain loop detection
  • Fast mode (default) memoizes completed subtrees (completed earlier);
    --fast=false re-walks every branch independently
  • EDNS0 with automatic 512-byte fallback, UDP→TCP retry on truncation, and a
    per-run packet cache so no server is asked the same question twice

  CLI. dnstraverse-style output: refid-numbered progress lines, a
  Results: section of aggregated outcomes with probabilities and dig-style
  records, Summary Results: grouped by status and answer content, optional
  server/version listing, JSON output (--json) as a single deterministic
  document, colour only on a TTY.

  Web interface. The same engine behind a browser SPA and JSON REST API:
  async jobs, live progress over Server-Sent Events (with refid and status per
  event), aggregated results with probabilities, and a one-hour job retention
  window.

  Deployment. Safe to expose publicly by default — hard per-traversal
  timeout (EXPLOREDNS_JOB_TIMEOUT, 5m), concurrent-job cap
  (EXPLOREDNS_MAX_JOBS, 8), CORS off unless EXPLOREDNS_CORS_ORIGIN is set.
  Ships with fly.toml and a tag-triggered deploy workflow; the reference
  deployment runs on Fly.io with machines in Sydney and Virginia.

  Install

  go install gitea.hansenits.com.au/hits/ExploreDNS/cmd/exploredns@v1.0.0
  go install gitea.hansenits.com.au/hits/ExploreDNS/cmd/server@v1.0.0
  

  Downloads

  • Source Code (ZIP)
  • Source Code (TAR.GZ)