Digger

A modern, feature-rich DNS lookup tool for the GNOME Desktop.

🎉 Version 2.9.0 - Latest Release

Digger 2.9.0 adds four new DNS tools, moves to the GNOME 51 runtime, and refreshes the bundled DNS tooling.

✨ Key Features

• 🔍 Advanced DNS Queries: Support for all major DNS record types with DNSSEC validation.
• 🌍 Propagation Check: Compare a record across eight public resolvers to see how far it has propagated.
• 🛡️ DNS Blacklist Checking: Check IPs against multiple RBL providers in parallel.
• 🔒 Malware Domain Checking: VirusTotal + Spamhaus DBL threat intel with safety scoring (Ctrl+Shift+T).
• 📊 Performance Monitor: Real-time DNS latency visualization for major providers.
• 🌐 WHOIS Integration: Domain registration lookup with intelligent caching.
• 📱 Responsive Design: Beautiful adaptive layout for all screen sizes.

🆕 What's New in 2.9.0

• Malware Domain Checking: VirusTotal and Spamhaus DBL threat intelligence with 0-100 safety scoring (Ctrl+Shift+T).
• Query Templates & Macros: Save and reuse named query templates with {{param}} substitution, persisted across restarts (Ctrl+Shift+L).
• DNS Record Validator: RFC syntax and compliance checks for A/AAAA/CNAME/MX/TXT/NS/SOA records.
• IPv6 Connectivity Testing: Dual-stack detection and AAAA reachability over IPv6 transport.
• GNOME 51 Runtime: Built against the current GNOME platform.
• BIND 9.20: The bundled dig moves from the end-of-life 9.16 branch to 9.20.29.
• Working DNSSEC Validation: dig is now built with OpenSSL, so signed responses are genuinely verified.
• Automated Tests: First meson test suite, wired into CI.

For detailed release notes and version history, see CHANGELOG.md.

Features

Core Features

• Comprehensive DNS Support: A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME, SOA, SRV, PTR, and more.
• Advanced Options: Reverse lookup, trace queries, custom servers, and short output.
• Threat Intelligence: Check domains against VirusTotal and Spamhaus DBL with safety scoring.
• DNSSEC Validation: Verify chain of trust with visual indicators.

Productivity Tools

• Server Comparison: Compare response times and results across multiple DNS servers.
• Propagation Check: See how a record has propagated across eight public resolvers.
• Subdomain Enumeration: Discover live subdomains from a built-in wordlist.
• DNSSEC Chain of Trust: Walk the chain from the TLD down to your domain.
• Domain Monitoring: Watch domains and get notified when their records change.
• Batch Lookup: Query multiple domains at once from CSV/TXT files.
• Export Manager: Save results to JSON, CSV, text, or Zone file formats.
• DNS Record Validator: RFC syntax + compliance checks for A/AAAA/CNAME/MX/TXT/NS/SOA with structured errors/warnings (CNAME co-existence, MX target, SOA, TXT length); pure, synchronous, never blocks the query path.
• Malware Domain Checking: VirusTotal + Spamhaus DBL reputation, safety scoring, and historical threat data — opt-in in Preferences, also available as a dedicated dialog (Ctrl+Shift+T).
• IPv6 Connectivity Testing: Dual-stack detection, IPv6 reachability probe, and AAAA resolution over IPv6 with non-blocking results — DIGG-004.
• Query Templates: Persisted library of named, parameterised templates (e.g., {{subdomain}}.example.com MX @ 1.1.1.1) with {{param}} substitution — Save Current as Template & Template Library (Ctrl+Shift+L).
• History & Favorites: Keep track of your queries and save important domains.

User Experience

• Modern Interface: Built with GTK4 and Libadwaita for a native GNOME feel.
• Smart Autocomplete: Intelligent suggestions as you type.
• Clipboard Integration: One-click copying of record values.
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Efficient navigation for power users.

Installation

Flathub (recommended)

flatpak install flathub io.github.tobagin.digger

Fedora (official repositories, Fedora 43+)

sudo dnf install digger

Debian (official repositories, currently in unstable/sid)

sudo apt install digger

Direct download

Prebuilt .deb and .rpm packages are attached to every GitHub release.

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/tobagin/digger.git
cd digger

# Build and install development version
./scripts/build.sh --dev

Usage

Basic Usage

Launch Digger from your applications menu or run:

flatpak run io.github.tobagin.digger

1. Enter a domain name (e.g., example.com).
2. Select the record type.
3. Press Enter or click "Look up".

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl+L - Focus domain field
• Ctrl+R - Repeat last query
• Ctrl+B - Batch lookup
• Ctrl+M - Compare servers
• Ctrl+Shift+T - Malware Domain Check
• Ctrl+Shift+L - Template Library
• Ctrl+Shift+B - DNS Blacklist Check
• Ctrl+, - Preferences
• F1 - About Digger

Architecture

Digger is built with:

• Language: Vala
• Toolkit: GTK4 + Libadwaita
• DNS Backend: BIND dig (embedded)
• Build System: Meson

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests. See CONTRIBUTING.md for more details.

License

Digger is licensed under the GPL-3.0-or-later.

Acknowledgments

• GNOME: For the amazing GTK toolkit.
• Vala: For the programming language.
• BIND: For the powerful dig tool.

Screenshots

Main Window	Query Results	History

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Digger - Made with ❤️ using Vala, GTK4, and libadwaita.