Namecheap CLI

A command-line interface tool for managing your Namecheap domains and DNS settings.

Features

• Manage domains and DNS settings via Namecheap API
• Support for both production and sandbox environments
• Interactive confirmations for destructive operations
• Multiple output formats (table and JSON)
• Secure credential storage

Supported Commands

Domain Management

• domains list - List all domains in your account

DNS Management

• dns list <domain> - View DNS nameservers for a domain
• dns records <domain> - List DNS host records (A, CNAME, MX, etc.)
• dns set-defaults <domain> - Set domain to use Namecheap's default nameservers

Configuration

• init - Initialize CLI with your API credentials

Installation

From Source

npm install
npm run build
npm link

Global Installation (after publishing)

npm install -g namecheap-cli

Prerequisites

Before using this CLI, you need to:

1. Enable API Access in your Namecheap account:

   • Log in to Namecheap
   • Go to Profile > Tools > API Access
   • Enable API access and note your API key

2. Whitelist Your IP Address:

   • In the API Access section, add your public IP address to the whitelist
   • API calls from non-whitelisted IPs will be rejected

3. Get Your Credentials:

   • API Key (from API Access page)
   • Username (your Namecheap username)
   • API User (usually the same as username)
   • Client IP (your whitelisted public IP)

Configuration

Initialize the CLI with your Namecheap credentials:

namecheap init

This will prompt you for:

• API Key
• API User (usually your username)
• Username
• Whitelisted Client IP

Your credentials will be securely stored in ~/.namecheap/config.json with restricted permissions (0600).

Note: Commands use the production API by default. Use the --sandbox flag when testing against the sandbox environment.

Usage

List All Domains

List all domains in your account:

namecheap domains list

Options:

• -o, --output <format>: Output format (table or json), default: table
• --sandbox: Use sandbox environment instead of production

Examples:

# List domains in table format (default)
namecheap domains list

# List domains in JSON format
namecheap domains list --output json

# List domains in sandbox environment
namecheap domains list --sandbox

List DNS Nameservers

Get DNS nameservers for a specific domain:

namecheap dns list <domain>

Options:

• -o, --output <format>: Output format (table or json), default: table
• --sandbox: Use sandbox environment instead of production

Examples:

# Get DNS for a domain
namecheap dns list example.com

# Get DNS in JSON format
namecheap dns list example.com --output json

# Get DNS from sandbox
namecheap dns list example.com --sandbox

List DNS Host Records

Get all DNS host records for a domain (A, CNAME, MX, etc.):

namecheap dns records <domain>

Options:

• -o, --output <format>: Output format (table or json), default: table
• --table: Display records in table format (default shows raw format)
• --sandbox: Use sandbox environment instead of production

Examples:

# Get DNS records for a domain
namecheap dns records example.com

# Get DNS records in table format
namecheap dns records example.com --table

# Get DNS records in JSON format
namecheap dns records example.com --output json

Set DNS to Namecheap Defaults

Change a domain's nameservers to Namecheap's default DNS servers:

namecheap dns set-defaults <domain>

This command:

• Checks if domain is already using default nameservers
• Shows current nameservers before making changes
• Requires typing the domain name to confirm
• Only proceeds if confirmation matches

Options:

• --sandbox: Use sandbox environment instead of production

Examples:

# Set domain to use Namecheap's default nameservers
namecheap dns set-defaults example.com

# Test against sandbox
namecheap dns set-defaults example.com --sandbox

Note: This will replace any custom nameservers with Namecheap's defaults:

• dns1.registrar-servers.com
• dns2.registrar-servers.com

Development

Install Dependencies

npm install

Build

npm run build

Run Tests

# Run all tests
npm test

# Run tests in watch mode
npm run test:watch

Development Mode

npm run dev

Testing

The project includes comprehensive unit and integration tests:

• Unit Tests: Test individual utilities (domain parser, XML parser, output formatters)
• Integration Tests: Test API client with mocked HTTP responses

Run tests with:

npm test

Testing with Sandbox

The Namecheap sandbox is a separate testing environment where you can test API calls without affecting real domains.

To use the sandbox:

1. Create a sandbox account at https://www.sandbox.namecheap.com
2. Enable API access and whitelist your IP in the sandbox account
3. Get your sandbox API credentials (separate from production)
4. You can either:
   • Use the same config with --sandbox flag (if credentials are the same)
   • Or set up a separate config for sandbox testing

Using the --sandbox flag:

# Test commands against sandbox
namecheap domains list --sandbox
namecheap dns list example.com --sandbox
namecheap dns records example.com --sandbox
namecheap dns set-defaults example.com --sandbox

Note: The sandbox has separate data from production - your real domains won't appear in sandbox, and test domains in sandbox won't affect production.

API Endpoints Implemented

• namecheap.domains.getList - List all domains
• namecheap.domains.dns.getList - Get DNS nameservers for a domain
• namecheap.domains.dns.getHosts - Get DNS host records for a domain
• namecheap.domains.dns.setDefault - Set domain to use Namecheap default nameservers

Project Structure

namecheap-cli/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts              # CLI entry point
│   ├── commands/
│   │   ├── init.ts          # Config initialization
│   │   ├── domains.ts       # Domains commands
│   │   └── dns.ts           # DNS commands
│   ├── api/
│   │   ├── client.ts        # API HTTP client
│   │   ├── types.ts         # TypeScript types
│   │   └── parser.ts        # XML response parser
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── manager.ts       # Config file management
│   └── utils/
│       ├── domain.ts        # Domain parsing utilities
│       └── output.ts        # Output formatting
├── test/
│   ├── unit/                # Unit tests
│   ├── integration/         # Integration tests
│   └── fixtures/            # Test fixtures
└── package.json

Security

• API credentials are stored in ~/.namecheap/config.json with file permissions set to 0600 (read/write for owner only)
• Never commit your config.json file to version control
• Always use HTTPS for API requests (enforced)
• Validate all user inputs before making API calls

Troubleshooting

"Configuration not found" Error

Run namecheap init to set up your credentials.

"Invalid API credentials" Error

Check that:

1. Your API key is correct
2. Your IP address is whitelisted in Namecheap
3. API access is enabled in your account

"Domain name not found" Error

Verify that:

1. The domain exists in your account
2. The domain name is spelled correctly
3. You're using the correct environment (production vs sandbox)

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.