shohei
shohei — Rust library for infrastructure diagnostics: DNS, DNSSEC, TLS certificates, email security, DNS propagation, and DANE/TLSA validation. MCP-integrated for AI agent automation. Built on hickory-dns with structured async APIs and a CLI for manual inspection.
- DNSSEC chain tree — see every DS, DNSKEY, and trust step from
.to your domain; per-zone validation runs in parallel; add-vfor key tags and algorithm names - Iterative resolution trace — watch queries travel from root servers to TLD to authoritative NS
- Authority + Additional sections — see NS referrals and glue records when querying authoritative servers directly
- N-way server comparison — diff any number of resolvers simultaneously with
--compare - DoH, DoT, and DoQ — DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-TLS, and DNS-over-QUIC built in
- Zone transfer (AXFR) — dump an entire zone from an authoritative server with
--axfr - Multiple record types —
--type a --type aaaa --type mxqueries all types concurrently in a single invocation - Reverse DNS —
-x 1.2.3.4resolves PTR records for IPv4 and IPv6 - Stdin and file batch mode — pipe a list of domains or use
-f domains.txt - Human-readable TTL —
300displayed as5m,3600as1h - JSON output — pipe-friendly for scripting and automation
- Watch mode — auto-refresh at a set interval with
--watch - Short output — data values only, one per line, with
--short - Interactive TUI — browse records, DNSSEC chain, and trace in a single terminal window (
--features tui)
Why shohei?
Most DNS tools are CLI-only and manual. shohei is different:
- Library-first design: Import into your Rust projects, CI/CD pipelines, or automation
- Structured output: JSON + serde types for agents and automation (not just colored tables)
- Trust chain validation: The only open-source library that validates DNS → DNSSEC → TLS → HTTP in one call
- Built for agents: MCP server integration lets Claude and other AI agents run automated infrastructure diagnostics
- Modern protocols: DoH, DoT, DoQ, DNSSEC, DANE/TLSA all built in
- Automation-friendly: Concurrent queries, batching, multi-resolver checks, and programmatic APIs
Compared to CLI-only alternatives (dog, drill, dig), shohei is composable—use it in tests, monitoring, CI/CD, or hand it to agents for automated diagnosis.
| Feature | shohei | dig | dog | doggo | q | delv | drill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colored output | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| DNSSEC chain-of-trust tree | ✓ | ||||||
| DNSSEC validation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Iterative resolution trace (visual) | ✓ | ||||||
| Authority + Additional sections | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
N-way server comparison (--compare) |
✓ | ||||||
| Zone transfer (AXFR) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
Watch / auto-refresh (--watch) |
✓ | ||||||
Script-friendly output (--short) |
✓ | ||||||
Multiple record types (--type a --type mx) |
✓ | ✓ | |||||
Reverse DNS shorthand (-x 1.2.3.4) |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
Force TCP (--tcp) |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
Disable recursion (--no-recurse) |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Query latency display | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| DNS-over-TLS (DoT) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| DNS-over-QUIC (DoQ) | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| JSON output | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Interactive TUI | ✓ |
dig = BIND utils 9.16+; q = natesales/q; delv = BIND DNSSEC-validating resolver; drill = ldns-based
Demo
Iterative Resolution Trace

Watch Mode

Interactive TUI

Installation
As a library (Rust projects)
Add to your Cargo.toml:
[]
= "0.4"
Then import and use:
use query;
async
For full API documentation: cargo doc --open or docs.rs/shohei.
As a CLI (manual diagnosis)
Or download a pre-built binary from the releases page.
For the interactive TUI mode:
Library Examples
shohei is designed to be imported and composed in Rust projects. See the examples/ directory:
- propagation_check.rs — Check if a domain is propagated globally
- tls_chain_verify.rs — Validate TLS certificate chains (Phase 2)
- email_security.rs — Check email security records (Phase 1)
Run examples:
CLI Usage
The CLI is a convenient wrapper around the library for manual inspection and testing.
DNS record query
# Multiple record types in one command
# Security / DNSSEC-related record types
Reverse DNS
Resolve the PTR record for an IP address. IPv4 and IPv6 are both supported.
DNSSEC chain of trust
Validate the full DNSSEC chain from the root trust anchor down to the target domain. Each zone's DS and DNSKEY records are checked individually.
# Verbose: show key tags, algorithm names, and KSK/ZSK roles
Iterative resolution trace
Step through the full resolution path — root servers → TLD nameservers → authoritative nameservers.
Modern transports
# DNS-over-HTTPS
# DNS-over-TLS
# DNS-over-QUIC
# Custom resolver
Authority and Additional sections
When querying an authoritative server directly, shohei displays the Authority Section (NS referrals) and Additional Section (glue A/AAAA records) — matching dig's default behavior.
# Query the .com TLD nameserver for google.com — shows NS referral + glue records
# Query an authoritative nameserver directly
Force TCP
Force DNS queries over TCP instead of UDP. Useful for large responses that get truncated (TC bit set) or environments that block UDP/53.
Short output
Strip all decoration and return just the record data — one value per line. Ideal for shell scripting.
Compare resolvers
Query the same domain from multiple DNS servers simultaneously and diff the results. Useful for detecting CDN anycast differences or verifying a new resolver. Repeat --compare for N-way comparison.
# Show that both servers return the same NS records
# Reveal CDN-induced A record differences
# N-way comparison across three resolvers
Zone transfer (AXFR)
Fetch the complete zone from an authoritative server. Requires -s to specify the authoritative nameserver.
Batch / stdin mode
Pipe a newline-separated list of domains and shohei queries each one in sequence.
Lines starting with # are ignored as comments. You can also read targets from a file with -f.
|
|
Watch mode
Repeat the query every N seconds and auto-refresh the display. Press Ctrl+C to stop.
Output formats
Interactive TUI (requires --features tui)
Pre-loads records, DNSSEC chain, and trace in parallel, then presents all three as navigable views.
shohei — google.com
┌─ Records ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Query: google.com (A IN) │
│ │
│ NAME TTL TYPE DATA │
│ ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ google.com. 120 A 142.250.x.x │
│ ... │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[r] Records [d] DNSSEC [t] Trace [↑↓/jk] Scroll [q] Quit
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
r |
Records view |
d |
DNSSEC chain view |
t |
Iterative trace view |
↑ / k |
Scroll up |
↓ / j |
Scroll down |
q / Esc |
Quit |
Options
| Flag | Short | Description |
|---|---|---|
--type <TYPE> |
-t |
Record type (repeatable): a, aaaa, mx, ns, txt, cname, soa, ptr, srv, https, svcb, naptr, dnskey, ds, rrsig, caa, tlsa, sshfp, nsec, nsec3, any |
--reverse <IP> |
-x |
Reverse DNS — auto-converts IP to PTR query (IPv4 and IPv6) |
--file <FILE> |
-f |
Read domains from a file (one per line), like dig -f |
--dnssec |
-d |
DNSSEC chain-of-trust validation tree |
--verbose |
-v |
Show verbose detail (key tags, algorithms) in DNSSEC chain |
--trace |
Iterative resolution path from root servers | |
--no-recurse |
Clear RD bit — query authoritative servers directly; shows Authority + Additional sections | |
--axfr |
Full zone transfer from the server specified with -s |
|
--tcp |
Force TCP instead of UDP (requires -s; useful for large/truncated responses) |
|
--timeout <SECS> |
DNS query timeout in seconds (default: 5, max: 60) | |
--short |
Output data values only, one per line (script-friendly) | |
--watch <SECS> |
Repeat query every N seconds; Ctrl+C to stop | |
--compare <ADDR> |
Query an additional server and diff; repeat for N-way comparison | |
--doh <URL> |
DNS-over-HTTPS (e.g. https://dns.google/dns-query) |
|
--dot <IP:PORT> |
DNS-over-TLS (e.g. 1.1.1.1:853) |
|
--doq <IP:PORT> |
DNS-over-QUIC (e.g. 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.8.8:853) |
|
--server <ADDR> |
-s |
Custom DNS server (8.8.8.8 or 8.8.8.8:53) |
-4 |
Force queries over IPv4 transport | |
-6 |
Force queries over IPv6 transport | |
--output <FORMAT> |
-o |
colored (default) · plain · json |
--tui |
Interactive TUI (requires --features tui) |
Trust States
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
✓ SECURE |
DNSSEC-validated, full chain of trust verified |
⚠ INSECURE |
Zone unsigned, but parent has no DS delegation (expected) |
✗ BOGUS |
Validation failed — signature mismatch or broken chain |
? INDETERMINATE |
DNSSEC not requested, or result unclear |
Integrations & AI Agents
Current (v0.4.0+)
- Library: Rust projects via
use shohei; - CLI: Manual diagnosis via terminal
- JSON output: Scripting and tooling
Planned (v0.5.0+)
- MCP Server: AI agents (Claude, etc.) can call shohei diagnostics
- GitHub Actions: Automated DNS/TLS checks in CI/CD workflows
- Terraform Module: Infrastructure validation
- Ansible Module: Playbook integration
See docs/INTEGRATIONS.md for full details.
Built with
- hickory-dns — DNSSEC, DoH, DoT support
- clap — CLI argument parsing
- ratatui — TUI framework (optional
tuifeature) - owo-colors — Terminal colors
- comfy-table — Record table rendering
License
MIT — see LICENSE