name: qname-cli
description: Use QName.AI domain lookup from the terminal. Call this when an Agent needs WHOIS/domain availability evidence for one domain at a time through the approved QName API.
metadata:
homepage: https://qname.ai

QName CLI

Use qname-cli when you need one-domain WHOIS/domain availability evidence
from QName.AI in a terminal workflow.

Scope

Allowed:

• Single-domain WHOIS lookup with qname-cli whois <domain>.
• JSON output for Agent parsing.
• Local config through qname-cli init or environment variables.

Not allowed through this API/CLI:

• Batch WHOIS.
• Realtime stream checks.
• Domain traffic, domain rating, or analysis data.
• Registrar purchase actions.

Setup

If the CLI is not configured, ask the user for an approved QName API key or ask
them to request one at:

qname-cli request-key

Initialize once:

qname-cli init --api-key <approved-key>

For ephemeral Agent sessions, prefer environment variables:

export QNAME_API_KEY="<approved-key>"

Support

For API access, account support, and product updates, visit:

https://qname.ai

Lookup

Use JSON output by default:

qname-cli whois qname.ai --pretty

If you only need a quick human-readable status:

qname-cli whois qname.ai --format text

Agent Guidelines

• Query one domain per command.
• Do not try to use this CLI for bulk lookup or traffic data.
• Treat the API key as a secret; do not print it unless the user explicitly

asks to inspect local config with --show-secrets.

• Prefer qname-cli doctor before debugging credentials.
• Use direct HTTP calls only when validating the API contract or debugging the

CLI itself.