DNS Record Types Reference

How to use

1. 1Search by record type (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) or by behaviour (apex, dnssec, dane, service). Typing an exact type pins it as the active selection.
2. 2Use the property filter chips to narrow the catalog to apex-safe records, multi-value records, or specific families like mail, security, or service.
3. 3Click any record card to pin it. The detail panel shows family, apex support, multi-value behaviour, the RFC, the wire format, an example record, when to use it, pitfalls, and the recommended TTL.
4. 4Open the Compare two record types panel and pick any two records (A vs AAAA, CNAME vs ALIAS, MX vs SRV, SPF vs DKIM) to print a row-by-row diff. Rows where the records disagree are highlighted.
5. 5Use Copy type to grab the record name, Copy example to grab the full example record, Copy format to grab the wire format, or Copy table TSV at the bottom to drop every record into a spreadsheet.

About this tool

DNS Record Types Reference is a browser-only cheat sheet for the DNS record types you actually meet in production. Every entry covers the canonical RFC, a one-line meaning, a detailed paragraph that explains how the record is used in real systems, the on-the-wire format you would type into a zone file, a worked example value, the standard use cases, the gotchas and pitfalls operators run into, a recommended TTL, whether the record can be set on the zone apex, and whether multiple values can share the same name. Records are grouped into families: address (A, AAAA, PTR), name and delegation (CNAME, ALIAS or ANAME, NS, SOA), mail (MX), policy carried by TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI), service discovery (SRV, SVCB and HTTPS, NAPTR), security and DNSSEC (CAA, DS, DNSKEY, TLSA), and legacy types (HINFO, LOC). The search box accepts a record type (A, MX, TXT) or a behaviour keyword (apex, dkim, dnssec, dane, service), and typing an exact record name auto-pins it as the active selection. Property filter chips narrow the catalog to records that are apex-safe, records that can have multiple values at the same name, or specific families like mail, security, or service, which is the fastest way to answer questions like which DNS record to use at the apex of a zone or which records belong in an email setup. A side-by-side compare panel lets you pick any two record types (A vs AAAA, CNAME vs ALIAS, MX vs SRV, SPF vs DKIM) and prints a property-by-property diff with rows that disagree highlighted, so the difference is unambiguous. A reference table at the bottom summarises every record on a single line for quick scanning, and a Copy table TSV button drops the whole catalog into a spreadsheet or wiki. This is a reference tool, not a resolver: it never sends DNS queries, never connects to a name server, and works offline once the page has loaded, so your lookups are private. Useful for SREs and devops engineers wiring up a new zone, frontend and backend developers debugging why a CNAME at the apex is rejected, email administrators publishing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, security teams adding CAA to lock down certificate issuance, network engineers reviewing DNSSEC delegations, technical writers documenting a hosting setup, students learning DNS for the first time, and anyone settling a debate about which record type to use.

Free to use. Works in your browser. No signup, no login.