Numa
DNS you own. Everywhere you go.
A portable DNS resolver in a single binary. Block ads on any network, name your local services (frontend.numa), and override any hostname with auto-revert — all from your laptop, no cloud account or Raspberry Pi required.
Built from scratch in Rust. Zero DNS libraries. RFC 1035 wire protocol parsed by hand.

Quick Start
# Install
|
# Run (port 53 requires root)
# Try it
Open the dashboard: http://numa.numa (or http://localhost:5380)
Or build from source:
&&
Why Numa
- Ad blocking that travels with you — 385K+ domains blocked via Hagezi Pro. Works on any network: coffee shops, hotels, airports.
- Local service proxy —
https://frontend.numainstead oflocalhost:5173. Auto-generated TLS certs, WebSocket support for HMR. Like/etc/hostsbut with a dashboard and auto-revert. - Developer overrides — point any hostname to any IP, auto-reverts after N minutes. REST API with 22 endpoints.
- Sub-millisecond caching — cached lookups in 0ms. Faster than any public resolver.
- Live dashboard — real-time stats, query log, blocking controls, service management.
- macOS + Linux —
numa installconfigures system DNS,numa service startruns as launchd/systemd service.
Local Service Proxy
Name your local dev services with .numa domains:
- HTTPS with green lock — auto-generated local CA + per-service TLS certs
- WebSocket — Vite/webpack HMR works through the proxy
- Health checks — dashboard shows green/red status per service
- Persistent — services survive restarts
- Or configure in
numa.toml:
[[]]
= "frontend"
= 5173
How It Compares
| Pi-hole | AdGuard Home | NextDNS | Cloudflare | Numa | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ad blocking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited | 385K+ domains |
| Portable (travels with laptop) | No (appliance) | No (appliance) | Cloud only | Cloud only | Single binary |
| Developer overrides | No | No | No | No | REST API + auto-expiry |
| Local service proxy | No | No | No | No | .numa + HTTPS + WS |
| Data stays local | Yes | Yes | Cloud | Cloud | 100% local |
| Zero config | Complex | Docker/setup | Yes | Yes | Works out of the box |
| Self-sovereign DNS | No | No | No | No | pkarr/DHT roadmap |
How It Works
Query → Overrides → .numa TLD → Blocklist → Local Zones → Cache → Upstream
No DNS libraries. The wire protocol — headers, labels, compression pointers, record types — is parsed and serialized by hand. Runs on tokio + axum, async per-query task spawning.
Roadmap
- DNS proxy core — forwarding, caching, local zones
- Developer overrides — REST API with auto-expiry
- Ad blocking — 385K+ domains, live dashboard, allowlist
- System integration — macOS + Linux, launchd/systemd, Tailscale/VPN auto-discovery
- Local service proxy —
.numadomains, HTTP/HTTPS proxy, auto TLS, WebSocket - pkarr integration — self-sovereign DNS via Mainline DHT (15M nodes)
- Global
.numanames — self-publish, DHT-backed, first-come-first-served
License
MIT