Several DNSBuddy tools let you choose which DNS resolver performs a lookup. The value is always the resolver's display name (case-sensitive), not an IP address or hostname.

On the public API (/api/v1/tools/*), provider and providers are optional. When omitted, requests default to Cloudflare.

On the web tools (/api/tools/*), bulk and domain-digger requests also default to Cloudflare when provider is omitted. Interactive DNS lookup omits providers to query all resolvers at once.

Accepted values

Provider	Resolver	Best for
`Cloudflare`	1.1.1.1	Default. Fast global anycast resolver; good baseline for API integrations.
`Google`	8.8.8.8	Widely used public resolver; useful when comparing against Cloudflare.
`Quad9`	9.9.9.9	Security-focused resolver with malware blocking.
`OpenDNS`	208.67.222.222	Cisco Umbrella public resolver; enterprise-friendly filtering options upstream.
`Authoritative`	Domain's NS	Queries the domain's authoritative name servers directly (no recursion). Useful for seeing what the zone owner publishes, not what a public cache returns.

Which endpoints use providers

Endpoint	Field	Default (public API)
`POST /api/v1/tools/dns-lookup`	`providers` (array)	`["Cloudflare"]`
`POST /api/v1/tools/domain-digger`	`provider`	`Cloudflare`
`POST /api/v1/tools/bulk-dns-lookup`	`provider`	`Cloudflare`
`POST /api/v1/tools/bulk-fcrDNS-lookup`	`provider`	`Cloudflare`

WHOIS, IP lookup, subdomain finder, typosquat check, and SPF expand do not take a provider field.

Examples

DNS lookup with default resolver (Cloudflare):

{
  "domain": "example.com",
  "record_type": "A"
}

DNS lookup against Google and Quad9:

{
  "domain": "example.com",
  "record_type": "A",
  "providers": ["Google", "Quad9"]
}

Bulk DNS lookup with explicit provider:

{
  "domains": ["example.com", "example.net"],
  "record_type": "MX",
  "provider": "Google"
}

Tips

Compare multiple resolvers when debugging propagation or split-horizon DNS. Use the web DNS lookup tool or pass several names in providers.
Authoritative can fail or return empty results when NS records cannot be resolved or the zone is misconfigured — that is expected behavior.
Invalid provider names return 400 with "Invalid provider".

See the API reference for request schemas on each tools endpoint.