A Description of RDAP JSON Messages Using JSON Content Rules

The JSON responses of the Registration Data Access Protocol are officially defined with English prose. Those definitions contain imprecise or ambiguous JSON structures and require lengthy, tedious examples in the attempt to offer clarification. The English prose can be difficult for non-native English readers, and the examples create their own confusion. This document describes the JSON found in RDAP with JSON Content Rules (JCR). JCR overcomes some of the obstacles of describing JSON with English prose, reducing the tediousness of the prose and accompanying lengthy examples to understandable data structures. Additionally, JCR has mechanisms which can be used by software developers to create test harnesses and technology compatibility kits. Though this document describes all of the JSON found in , it presents the structures in a different order. The rules defined here use the JCR mixin style of specification, where common structures are defined in group rules instead of separately, distinct objects.

describes ten distinct JSON response: five entity class response, an error response, a help response, and three search responses.

entity_response @{root} { response_mixin, entity_mixin } nameserver_response @{root} { response_mixin, nameserer_mixin } domain_response @{root} { response_mixin, domain_mixin } network_response @{root} { response_mixin, network_mixin } autnum_response @{root} { response_mixin, autnum_mixin } error_response @{root} { response_mixin, error_mixin } help_response @{root} { response_mixin } domainSearch_response @{root} { response_mixin, domainSearchResult } nameserverSearch_response @{root} { response_mixin, nameserverSearchResult } entitySearch_response @{root} { response_mixin, entitySearchResult } All of the responses have a common set of object members described by response_mixin.

response_mixin ( ? rdapConformance, ? "notices" notices, lang )

The primary data structures in RDAP are called object classes. These are first order object instances with identifiers. They are JSON objects which contain other JSON data types.

The Entity object class represents persons or organizations. It incorporates jCard (vCard in JSON) for contact information. The rules supplied here only provide for a basic validation of jCard, as the validation of jCard is beyond the scope of this document.

entities "entities" [ * entity_oc ] entity_oc { entity_mixin } entity_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "entity", common_mixin, ? "vcardArray" [ :"vcard", [ * vcard ] ] ? "asEventActor" [ * event ] ? "roles" [ * :string ], ? publicIds, ? entities, ? "networks" [ * network_oc ], ? "autnums" [ * autnum_oc ] ) vcard @{unordered} [ [ :"version", {}, :"text", :"4.0" ], [ :"fn", {}, :"text", :string ], * [ :string, { */.*/:any }, :"text", ( :string | [ * :string ] ) ] ]

The nameserver object class represents DNS nameservers in registries.

nameservers "nameservers" [ * nameserver_oc ] nameserver_oc { nameserver_mixin } nameserver_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "nameserver", common_mixin, "ldhName" : fqdn, ? "unicodeName" : idn, ? "ipAddresses { ? "v4" [ * ip4 ], ? "ip6" [ * ip6 ] }, ? entities )

The Domain object class is the most complex of all the object classes defined in RDAP. It represents both forward and reverse DNS delegations. It's complexity is mostly due to the DNSSEC provisions of the object class.

domain_oc { domain_mixin } domain_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "domain", common_mixin, "ldhName" : fqdn, ? "unicodeName" : idn, ? "variants" [ * variant ], ? nameservers, ? secureDns ) variant { ? "relation" [ * : string ], ? "idnTable" : string, "variantNames" [ * { "ldhName" : fqdn, "unicodeName" : idn } ] } secureDNS "secureDNS" { ? "zoneSigned" : boolean, ? "delegationSigned" : boolean, ? "maxSigLife" : integer, ? "dsData" [ * dsData_obj ], ? "keyData" [ * keyData_obj ], ? entities, ? publicIds, ? "network" network_oc } dsData_obj { "keyTag" : integer, "algorithm" : integer, "digest" : string, "digestType" : integer, ? events, ? links } keyData_obj { "flags" : integer, "protocol" : integer, "publicKey" : string, "algorithm" : integer, ? events, ? links }

The IP Network object class represents IP network registrations in RIRs.

network_oc { network_mixin } network_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "ip network", common_mixin, ? "startAddress" : ( :ip4 | :ip6 ), ? "endAddres" : ( :ip4 | :ip6 ), ? "ipVersion" : ( :"v4" | :"v6" ), ? "name" : string, ? "type" : string, ? "country" : /[A-Z]{2}/, ? "parentHandle" : string, ? entities )

The Autnum object class represents an autonomous system number or blocks of autonomous system numbers in an RIR.

autnum_oc { autnum_mixin } autnum_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "autnum", common_mixin, ? "startAutnum" : integer, ? "endAutnum" : integer, ? "name" : string, ? "type" : string, ? "entities )

Search results in RDAP are merely arrays of object classes.

domainSearchResult "domainSearchResult" [ * domain_oc ] nameserverSearchResult "nameserverSearchResult" [ * nameserver_oc ] entitySearchResult "entitySearchResult" [ * entity_oc ]

Section 4 of describes eight common structures used throughout the JSON in RDAP. Most of these common structures are grouped together in a rule called common_mixin.

common_mixin ( ? "handle" : string ? "remarks" [ * notice ], links, ? events, ? status, ? port43, lang )

The rdapConformance array is the versioning and capabilities negotiation mechanism of RDAP.

rdapConformance "rdapConformance" [ * :string ]

Structures in RDAP may link to information in other data systems using links. Additionally, RDAP uses "self" links to identify instances of RDAP object classes. The data found in each link is described by . RDAP links are an array of distinct objects, each representing a separate link.

links ( ? "links" [ * link ] ) ; see RFC 5988 link { ? "value" : uri, ? "rel" : string, "href" : uri, ? "hreflang" [ * lang_value ], ? "title" : string, ? "media" : string, ? "type" : /[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*\/[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*/ }

In RDAP, notices and remarks share the same structure. The difference is that notices are meta-data regarding the entirety of a response whereas remarks are meta-data covering a specific instance of an object class.

notices [ * notice ] notice { ? "title" : string, "description" [ * :string ], ? "type" : string, links, lang }

The "lang" member occurs many RDAP data structures. And the same construct is used in the links structures.

lang_value : /[a-z]{2}(\-[A-Z][a-zA-Z]*(\-[A-Z]{2})?)?/ lang ( ? "lang" lang_value )

RDAP events note when a specific action has occured on an object instance, and by whom. The same structure appears in all object classes, as well as being re-used by entities embedded by other objects.

events "events" [ * event ] event { "eventAction" : string, ? "eventActor" : string, "eventDate" : date-time, links, lang }

The status of RDAP object instances is indicated by an array of strings, where the value of the strings are registered in an IANA registry.

status "status" [ *: string ]

RDAP object classes reference their corresponding Whois representation using the "port43" object member. This is simply a string holding the hostname of the Whois service.

port43 "port43" : string

Some RDAP services are required to identify entities and domains by public identifiers, such as ICANN Registrar IDs. The publicIds object member is an array of objects to represent these identifiers.

publicIds "publicIds" [ * publicId ] publicId { "type" : string, "identifier": string }

The following is the complete ruleset of JSON Content Rules for RDAP. ; ; Response ; entity_response @{root} { response_mixin, entity_mixin } nameserver_response @{root} { response_mixin, nameserer_mixin } domain_response @{root} { response_mixin, domain_mixin } network_response @{root} { response_mixin, network_mixin } autnum_response @{root} { response_mixin, autnum_mixin } error_response @{root} { response_mixin, error_mixin } help_response @{root} { response_mixin } domainSearch_response @{root} { response_mixin, domainSearchResult } nameserverSearch_response @{root} { response_mixin, nameserverSearchResult } entitySearch_response @{root} { response_mixin, entitySearchResult } response_mixin ( ? rdapConformance, ? "notices" notices, lang ) ; ; RFC 7483 Section 4.1 - RDAP Conformance ; rdapConformance "rdapConformance" [ * :string ] ; ; RFC 7483 Section 4.2 - Links ; links ( ? "links" [ * link ] ) ; see RFC 5988 link { ? "value" : uri, ? "rel" : string, "href" : uri, ? "hreflang" [ * lang_value ], ? "title" : string, ? "media" : string, ? "type" : /[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*\/[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*/ } ; ; RFC 7483 Section 4.3 - Notices ; notices [ * notice ] notice { ? "title" : string, "description" [ * :string ], ? "type" : string, links, lang } ; ; RFC 7483 Section 4.4 - Language Identifier ; lang_value : /[a-z]{2}(\-[A-Z][a-zA-Z]*(\-[A-Z]{2})?)?/ lang ( ? "lang" lang_value ) ; ; RFC 7483 Section 4.5 - Events ; events "events" [ * event ] event { "eventAction" : string, ? "eventActor" : string, "eventDate" : date-time, links, lang } ; ; RFC 7483 Section 4.6 - Status ; status "status" [ *: string ] ; ; RFC 7483 Section 4.7 - Port43 ; port43 "port43" : string ; ; RFC 7482 Section 4.8 - Public Ids ; publicIds "publicIds" [ * publicId ] publicId { "type" : string, "identifier": string } ; ; Common Object Class Structures ; common_mixin ( ? "handle" : string ? "remarks" [ * notice ], links, ? events, ? status, ? port43, lang ) ; ; RFC 7483 Section 5.1 - Entity Object Class ; entities "entities" [ * entity_oc ] entity_oc { entity_mixin } entity_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "entity", common_mixin, ? "vcardArray" [ :"vcard", [ * vcard ] ] ? "asEventActor" [ * event ] ? "roles" [ * :string ], ? publicIds, ? entities, ? "networks" [ * network_oc ], ? "autnums" [ * autnum_oc ] ) ; See RFC 7095 vcard @{unordered} [ [ :"version", {}, :"text", :"4.0" ], [ :"fn", {}, :"text", :string ], * [ :string, { */.*/:any }, :"text", ( :string | [ * :string ] ) ] ] ; ; RFC 7483 Section 5.2 - Nameserver Object Class ; nameservers "nameservers" [ * nameserver_oc ] nameserver_oc { nameserver_mixin } nameserver_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "nameserver", common_mixin, "ldhName" : fqdn, ? "unicodeName" : idn, ? "ipAddresses { ? "v4" [ * ip4 ], ? "ip6" [ * ip6 ] }, ? entities ) ; ; RFC 7483 Section 5.3 - Domain Object Class ; domain_oc { domain_mixin } domain_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "domain", common_mixin, "ldhName" : fqdn, ? "unicodeName" : idn, ? "variants" [ * variant ], ? nameservers, ? secureDns ) variant { ? "relation" [ * : string ], ? "idnTable" : string, "variantNames" [ * { "ldhName" : fqdn, "unicodeName" : idn } ] } secureDNS "secureDNS" { ? "zoneSigned" : boolean, ? "delegationSigned" : boolean, ? "maxSigLife" : integer, ? "dsData" [ * dsData_obj ], ? "keyData" [ * keyData_obj ], ? entities, ? publicIds, ? "network" network_oc } dsData_obj { "keyTag" : integer, "algorithm" : integer, "digest" : string, "digestType" : integer, ? events, ? links } keyData_obj { "flags" : integer, "protocol" : integer, "publicKey" : string, "algorithm" : integer, ? events, ? links } ; ; RFC 7483 Section 5.4 - IP Network Object Class ; network_oc { network_mixin } network_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "ip network", common_mixin, ? "startAddress" : ( :ip4 | :ip6 ), ? "endAddres" : ( :ip4 | :ip6 ), ? "ipVersion" : ( :"v4" | :"v6" ), ? "name" : string, ? "type" : string, ? "country" : /[A-Z]{2}/, ? "parentHandle" : string, ? entities ) ; ; RFC 7483 Section 5.5 - Autnum Object Class ; autnum_oc { autnum_mixin } autnum_mixin ( "objectClassName" : "autnum", common_mixin, ? "startAutnum" : integer, ? "endAutnum" : integer, ? "name" : string, ? "type" : string, ? "entities ) ; ; RFC 7483 Section 6 - Error ; error_mixin ( "errorCode" : integer, ? "title" : string, ? "description" [ * : string ] ) ; ; RFC 7483 Section 8 - Search Results ; domainSearchResult "domainSearchResult" [ * domain_oc ] nameserverSearchResult "nameserverSearchResult" [ * nameserver_oc ] entitySearchResult "entitySearchResult" [ * entity_oc ]