DNS Records

After registering a name, you control what it resolves to by editing its DNS zone. A zone maps labels (like @ for the root, www, api) to records like IP addresses, text strings, or Kinetic-native types.

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Where is the zone file?

OS	Path
Linux	~/.local/share/kinetic/zones/yourname.kin.json
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/kinetic/zones/yourname.kin.json
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\kinetic\zones\yourname.kin.json

The file is plain JSON. You can edit it with any text editor.

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Zone file format

{
  "records": {
    "@": [
      { "type": "A", "value": "1.2.3.4" },
      { "type": "TXT", "value": "v=spf1 include:example.com ~all" }
    ],
    "www": [
      { "type": "CNAME", "value": "myapp.kin." }
    ],
    "api": [
      { "type": "A", "value": "5.6.7.8" }
    ]
  }
}

• "@" is the apex — the root of your name (myapp.kin itself)
• Other keys are labels — they become subdomains (www.myapp.kin, api.myapp.kin)
• Each label maps to an array of record objects, each with a "type" and "value"
• Labels are case-insensitive — the daemon lowercases them on parse
• Wildcard label "*" is supported — matches any unresolved subdomain

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Record types

A — IPv4 address

{ "type": "A", "value": "1.2.3.4" }

Points your name to an IPv4 address. Use for web servers, game servers, any TCP/UDP service.

AAAA — IPv6 address

{ "type": "AAAA", "value": "2001:db8::1" }

Same as A but for IPv6.

CNAME — Canonical Name alias

{ "type": "CNAME", "value": "myapp.kin." }

Aliases one label to another domain. The trailing dot is conventional DNS notation — it works with or without it.

CNAME cannot coexist with other records

If a label has a CNAME, it cannot have any other records (A, TXT, etc.) for the same label. This is a DNS protocol requirement enforced by the daemon. Attempting it will fail validation.

TXT — Text record

{ "type": "TXT", "value": "any text up to 255 bytes" }

Use for: domain verification strings, SPF records, metadata, application-specific data.

• Maximum 255 bytes per TXT record value

PeerId — libp2p Peer ID

{ "type": "PeerId", "value": "12D3KooWNvSVhMTBqYq5..." }

A libp2p peer ID pointing to a P2P node. Use this so applications can discover your node by resolving your .kin name. The value must be a valid libp2p PeerId string — the daemon validates it on save.

KID — Kinetic Identity reference

{ "type": "KID", "value": "did:kin:abc123..." }

Links your name to a did:kin: decentralized identity document. The value must start with did:kin: — other DID methods are rejected.

IPFS — IPFS Content Identifier

{ "type": "IPFS", "value": "QmYwAPJzv5CZsnA..." }

An IPFS CID pointing to content. Supports both CIDv0 (starts with Qm) and CIDv1 (starts with b). Maximum 100 characters.

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Limits

Constraint	Limit
Total records per zone	50 maximum
TXT record value	255 bytes maximum
CNAME target length	253 characters maximum
Label length	1–63 characters
IPFS CID length	100 characters maximum
JSON nesting depth	10 levels maximum (DoS protection)

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Managing records via the Desktop App

1. Open Kinetic Desktop → Names section
2. Select your name from the dropdown
3. Add rows using the + button — choose the record type and enter the value
4. Delete rows with the trash icon
5. Save Draft — writes to local storage only (not visible on the network)
6. Save & Publish — saves draft and signs + publishes to the DHT in one step

Changes are not visible on the network until you publish.

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Managing records via the CLI

Edit the zone file directly:

# Linux
nano ~/.local/share/kinetic/zones/myapp.kin.json

Then publish:

kinetic name publish myapp.kin

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Verifying your records are live

After publishing, test with dig:

# Query your local daemon
dig @127.0.0.1 myapp.kin A

# Query a specific subdomain
dig @127.0.0.1 www.myapp.kin CNAME

Or use the Resolver section in the desktop app — type your name and click Resolve.

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Subdomains

Subdomains are just labels in your zone file. You don't register them separately — they're part of your apex name's zone.

{
  "records": {
    "@":    [{ "type": "A", "value": "1.2.3.4" }],
    "www":  [{ "type": "CNAME", "value": "myapp.kin." }],
    "api":  [{ "type": "A", "value": "1.2.3.5" }],
    "blog": [{ "type": "A", "value": "1.2.3.6" }],
    "*":    [{ "type": "A", "value": "1.2.3.4" }]
  }
}

The "*" wildcard entry catches any subdomain not explicitly listed. Only the apex name owner can add or change these records.