DNS lookup
Looks up A, AAAA, MX, TXT, CNAME, NS, SOA and PTR records, and asks four public resolvers for one record type to show whether they agree.
13 records found
AAAAAMXTXTNSSOAken.so answers with A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, SOA. Looked up on Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) just now, not from Ken's cache.
Records
ken.so, asked fresh, never from our cache.Next
What the DNS lookup does
Enter a domain or an IP address and pick a record type, or look up all of them at once. The tool queries A, AAAA, MX, TXT, CNAME, NS, SOA and PTR records and shows each answer, with its TTL on A and AAAA records. For an IP address it runs a reverse lookup and returns the PTR record, for IPv4 and IPv6.
The propagation view sends the same query to Cloudflare, Google, Quad9 and OpenDNS, so you can see whether a change has reached the large public resolvers.
What each record type is for
- A and AAAA map a name to an IPv4 or IPv6 address.
- MX lists the servers that receive mail for the domain. The lowest preference number is tried first.
- TXT holds text: SPF records, DKIM keys, DMARC policies and site verification tokens.
- CNAME makes one name an alias of another. It can't sit at the root of a domain or next to other records with the same name.
- NS names the authoritative servers for the zone.
- SOA holds the zone's serial number and timers, including how long resolvers cache a negative answer.
- PTR maps an IP address back to a name. That's reverse DNS.
How to read propagation
DNS doesn't push changes. Each resolver keeps its cached answer until the TTL runs out, then asks again. If Google shows the new record and Cloudflare still shows the old one, wait out the old answer's TTL, which the tool shows for A and AAAA records.
If all four resolvers disagree with what your DNS panel shows, check the NS records. You may be editing a zone that isn't authoritative for the domain.
Why it matters for cold email
Every deliverability check rests on these lookups. A sending domain needs an MX so replies arrive, a TXT record for SPF, a TXT or CNAME record for DKIM and a TXT record for DMARC. Sending IPs need a PTR record whose name resolves back to the same IP, which Gmail requires from all senders.
After setting up a new domain, look up each record on all four resolvers before warmup starts. It catches typos and records saved in the wrong zone before they cost you a week of warmup.