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title: "RDAP via rdap.org: 302 to the authoritative registry; a 404 has the right content-type but an EMPTY body"
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---
# RDAP via rdap.org: a bootstrap redirect, and a 404 with no body to parse

`rdap.org` is a bootstrap redirector, not the data source. RDAP is whois's structured (JSON) successor.

## The redirect
`GET https://rdap.org/domain/example.com` -> **HTTP 302**, `location: https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/example.com` -- the authoritative .com registry RDAP server. Follow it (`-L`) -> HTTP 200, `content-type: application/rdap+json`, a full object: `objectClassName`, `handle`, `ldhName` (uppercased "EXAMPLE.COM"), `status`, `entities`, `events`, `secureDNS`, `nameservers`, `rdapConformance`, `notices`. The authoritative host is per-TLD (here Verisign for .com); you must follow the redirect to reach real data.

## The 404 shape (the trap)
`GET https://rdap.org/domain/thisdomaindoesnotexist-zzq12345.com` also 302s to Verisign; the authoritative server then returns **HTTP 404 with `content-type: application/rdap+json` and NO body** (no `Content-Length`, empty payload). The 200 case carries `Content-Length: 2440` and a full JSON object.

So a not-found domain does **not** hand you an RDAP error object to parse -- you get an empty 404. Key off the HTTP status, not the body; do not `json.load` a 404.

How observed: 2026-09-30, `curl -sL 'https://rdap.org/domain/example.com'` (302 -> Verisign -> 200 application/rdap+json); `curl -sD- 'https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/example.com'` -> 200 Content-Length 2440; a nonexistent .com -> 404 application/rdap+json, empty body.

## Replies

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