q
A tiny and feature-rich command line DNS client with support for UDP, TCP, DoT, DoH, DoQ, and ODoH.
Examples
q example.com Lookup default records for a domain
q example.com MX SOA ...or specify a list of types
q example.com MX @9.9.9.9 Query a specific server
q example.com MX @https://dns.quad9.net ...over HTTPS (or TCP, TLS, QUIC, or ODoH)...
q @sdns://AgcAAAAAAAAAAAAHOS45LjkuOQA ...or from a DNS Stamp
q example.com MX --format=raw Output in raw (dig) format
q example.com MX --format=json ...or as JSON (or YAML)
Usage
Usage:
q [OPTIONS] [@server] [type...] [name]
All long form (--) flags can be toggled with the dig-standard +[no]flag notation.
Application Options:
-q, --qname= Query name
-s, --server= DNS server
-t, --type= RR type (e.g. A, AAAA, MX, etc.) or type integer
-x, --reverse Reverse lookup
-d, --dnssec Set the DO (DNSSEC OK) bit in the OPT record
-n, --nsid Set EDNS0 NSID opt
--subnet= Set EDNS0 client subnet
-c, --chaos Use CHAOS query class
-C= Set query class (default: IN 0x01) (default: 1)
-p, --odoh-proxy= ODoH proxy
--timeout= Query timeout (default: 10s)
--pad Set EDNS0 padding
--http3 Use HTTP/3 for DoH
--no-id-check Disable checking of DNS response ID
--no-reuse-conn Use a new connection for each query
--txtconcat Concatenate TXT responses
--recaxfr Perform recursive AXFR
-f, --format= Output format (pretty, json, yaml, raw) (default: pretty)
--pretty-ttls Format TTLs in human readable format (default: true)
--color Enable color output
--question Show question section
--answer Show answer section (default: true)
--authority Show authority section
--additional Show additional section
-S, --stats Show time statistics
--all Show all sections and statistics
-w Resolve ASN/ASName for A and AAAA records
-r, --value Show record values only
--aa Set AA (Authoritative Answer) flag in query
--ad Set AD (Authentic Data) flag in query
--cd Set CD (Checking Disabled) flag in query
--rd Set RD (Recursion Desired) flag in query (default: true)
--ra Set RA (Recursion Available) flag in query
--z Set Z (Zero) flag in query
--t Set TC (Truncated) flag in query
-i, --tls-no-verify Disable TLS certificate verification
--tls-server-name= TLS server name for host verification
--tls-min-version= Minimum TLS version to use (default: 1.0)
--tls-max-version= Maximum TLS version to use (default: 1.3)
--tls-next-protos= TLS next protocols for ALPN
--tls-cipher-suites= TLS cipher suites
--http-user-agent= HTTP user agent
--http-method= HTTP method (default: GET)
--quic-alpn-tokens= QUIC ALPN tokens (default: doq, doq-i11)
--quic-no-pmtud Disable QUIC PMTU discovery
--quic-no-length-prefix Don't add RFC 9250 compliant length prefix
--default-rr-types= Default record types (default: A, AAAA, NS, MX, TXT, CNAME)
--udp-buffer= Set EDNS0 UDP size in query (default: 1232)
-v, --verbose Show verbose log messages
--trace Show trace log messages
-V, --version Show version and exit
Help Options:
-h, --help Show this help message
Demo
Protocol Support
- UDP/TCP DNS (RFC 1034)
- DNS over TLS (RFC 7858)
- DNS over HTTPS (RFC 8484)
- DNS over QUIC (RFC 9250)
- Oblivious DNS over HTTPS (RFC 9230)
Installation
q
is available in binary form from:
- apt/yum/brew from my package repositories
- GitHub releases
- q-dns-git in the AUR
go install github.com/natesales/q@latest
To install q
from source:
git clone https://github.com/natesales/q && cd q
go install
# Without debug information
go install -ldflags="-s -w -X main.version=release"
Server Selection
q
will use a server from the following sources, in order:
@server
argument (e.g.@9.9.9.9
or@https://dns.google/dns-query
)Q_DEFAULT_SERVER
environment variable/etc/resolv.conf
TLS Decryption
q
supports TLS decryption through a key log file generated when
the SSLKEYLOGFILE
environment variable is set to the absolute path of a
writable file.
The generated file may be used by Wireshark to decipher the captured traffic.
Feature Comparison
DNS Transport Protocols
Protocol | q | doggo | dog | kdig | dig | drill |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RFC 1034 UDP/TCP | + | + | + | + | + | + |
RFC 7858 DNS over TLS | + | + | + | + | - | - |
RFC 8484 DNS over HTTPS | + | + | + | + | - | - |
RFC 9250 DNS over QUIC | + | + | - | - | - | - |
RFC 9230 Oblivious DNS over HTTPS | + | - | - | - | - | - |
Output Formats
Format | q | doggo | dog | kdig | dig | drill |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Raw (dig-style) | + | - | + | + | + | + |
Pretty colors | + | + | + | - | - | - |
JSON | + | + | + | - | - | - |
YAML | + | - | - | - | + | - |
Output Flags
Option | q | doggo | dog | kdig | dig | drill |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Toggle question section | + | - | - | + | + | - |
Toggle answer section | + | - | - | + | + | - |
Toggle authority section | + | - | - | + | + | - |
Toggle additional section | + | - | - | + | + | - |
Show query time | + | - | - | + | + | - |
Query Flags
Flag | q | doggo | dog | kdig | dig | drill |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AA | + | - | + | + | + | + |
AD | + | - | + | + | + | + |
CD | + | - | + | + | + | + |
RD | + | - | - | + | + | + |
Z | + | - | - | + | + | - |
DO | + | - | + | + | + | + |
TC | + | - | - | + | + | + |
Protocol Tweaks
Flag | q | doggo | dog | kdig | dig | drill |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HTTP Method | + | - | - | - | - | - |
QUIC ALPN Tokens | + | - | - | - | - | - |
QUIC toggle PMTU discovery | + | - | - | - | - | - |
QUIC timeouts (dial and idle) | + | - | - | - | - | - |
TLS handshake timeout | + | - | - | - | - | - |