DANE Record Validator API

About the DANE Record Validator API

DANE Record Validator checks a DANE TLSA record before you publish it in DNS. Paste a full zone-file line or just the usage, selector, matching type and certificate data, and get back each field parsed out, along with checks on the certificate data's hexadecimal format and on its length for the chosen hash. Mistakes such as a truncated SHA-256 digest or an impossible usage value are caught before they break TLS for mail or web clients that enforce DANE.

Mail server operators use it when setting up DANE for SMTP, DNS and security teams use it to review TLSA records in change requests, and hosting tools use it to validate records customers enter before saving them.

The Free plan returns the parsed record, including port, protocol, hostname, TTL, class and the three numeric fields, plus the validation results. Paid plans add a plain-language interpretation of the usage, selector and matching type, a security level for the combination, and a recommendation that points toward the commonly advised DANE-EE, SPKI, SHA-256 setup.

How it works

The validator works on the record text you POST as record; it does not query DNS or fetch the server's certificate, so it checks syntax and internal consistency, not whether the record matches a live certificate. Parentheses are removed and the text is split on whitespace. If the first token starts with an underscore it is read as the owner name, such as _25._tcp.mail.example.com., and split into port, protocol and hostname, with the trailing dot removed from the hostname. A following number is treated as the TTL only when it is followed by a class or TLSA keyword or by the three numeric fields, so a short-form record is not misread. Class defaults to IN. Without an owner name the input is read as usage selector matching data, and name, port, hostname and ttl are null.

Certificate association data split across several tokens, as dig prints it, is joined before checking. usage must be 0 to 3, selector 0 or 1 and matching 0 to 2. The data must be hexadecimal with an even number of digits, exactly 64 for SHA-256 (matching 1) and 128 for SHA-512 (matching 2); full data (matching 0) may be any even length. Any failure returns a 400 that names the problem, so a successful response always has validation.is_valid true.

interpretation names each field (PKIX-TA, PKIX-EE, DANE-TA, DANE-EE; Cert or SPKI; Full, SHA-256 or SHA-512) and rates the combination: 3 1 1 is Recommended, any other DANE-EE or DANE-TA record is Good, and PKIX usages are Basic. It is null on the Free plan.

What people use it for

DANE Configuration

Validate DANE/TLSA record configuration to ensure proper certificate association and DNS security implementation

Authentication Audit

Audit DNS-based authentication of named entities (DANE) for email servers and web services security compliance

Security Scanning

Build DNS security scanning tools that validate TLSA records for certificate pinning and trust anchor verification

Certificate Pinning

Verify certificate pinning implementation using TLSA records to protect against man-in-the-middle attacks and CA compromise

Ways to call it

One endpoint, many ways in — REST with JSON, XML, YAML and CSV, plus GraphQL and an MCP interface for AI agents.

JSON

Default REST response

XML

Markup format

YAML

Human-readable

CSV

Tabular export

Beta

GraphQL

Query language

New

MCP

For AI agents

Request parameters — POST /v1/danevalidator

Sent as JSON in the request body. Premium parameters are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them. Anything not listed here is dropped rather than passed through.

Required

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curl -X POST "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/danevalidator" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"record":"_443._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN TLSA 3 1 1 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF"}'

Authentication

Send your key in the x-api-key header. That is the only auth step — no token exchange, and no per-endpoint scope to configure.

Response — POST /v1/danevalidator

Every APIVerve endpoint returns the same three top-level keys, so one response handler covers your whole integration: status, error and data. Only data changes shape.

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{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "raw_record": "_443._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN TLSA 3 1 1 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF",
    "parsed": {
      "name": "_443._tcp.example.com.",
      "port": 443,
      "protocol": "tcp",
      "hostname": "example.com",
      "ttl": 86400,
      "class": "IN",
      "usage": 3,
      "selector": 1,
      "matching": 1,
      "certificate_data": "0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF",
      "certificate_data_length": 64
    },
    "interpretation": {
      "usage": {
        "name": "DANE-EE",
        "description": "Domain-issued certificate",
        "full_description": "Certificate must exactly match the provided association data (most common)"
      },
      "selector": {
        "name": "SPKI",
        "description": "SubjectPublicKeyInfo",
        "full_description": "Match against the Subject Public Key Info (recommended)"
      },
      "matching": {
        "name": "SHA-256",
        "description": "SHA-256 hash",
        "full_description": "SHA-256 hash of the selected content (recommended)"
      },
      "security_level": "Recommended",
      "recommendation": "This is the recommended DANE configuration (DANE-EE + SPKI + SHA-256)"
    },
    "validation": {
      "is_valid": true,
      "certificate_data_format": "Valid hexadecimal",
      "certificate_data_length_valid": true
    }
  }
}

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Premium fields are absent rather than zeroed on plans that do not include them, so check for presence instead of comparing to 0.

Response headers

Every response carries your balance, so your own code always knows where it stands without polling anything. All four are exposed to browsers through CORS.

Errors

Read the HTTP status first, then error for the specific reason. The body names the parameter that has to change.

What a call costs — 2 credits per call

Credits are shared across every APIVerve API — one balance, one key, one bill. Failed requests never count against it, so a rejected input costs nothing.

Calls are what the credits buy at this API's rate — spend them here, on any of the other APIs, or across both. Nothing is reserved per endpoint.

Zero-code embed — one snippet, no backend

Drop an interactive DANE Record Validator form onto any page. The widget calls the API for you, so no key ever appears in your markup and there is nothing to deploy.

Changelog — DANE Record Validator API

Every change to this endpoint, newest first. Breaking changes ship as a new version and the previous one keeps serving — response fields are added, never removed or retyped in place, so an integration written against v1 keeps working.

Currently v1Data refreshed realtime