Namecheap Domains

Namecheap Domains

Skill for managing domains through the Namecheap API. Covers domain registration, DNS configuration, nameserver management, and domain transfers.

These methods work only for domains registered with Namecheap that are present in the user's account.

Prerequisites

The user needs these credentials configured as environment variables:

If any are missing, ask the user to set them. API access must be enabled in the Namecheap account dashboard and the client IP must be whitelisted.

API Basics

Base URL: https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response Sandbox URL: https://api.sandbox.namecheap.com/xml.response

Every request requires these global parameters:

Making requests

Use HTTP GET for read operations and HTTP POST for write operations (especially domains.create due to the large number of parameters).

# GET example — list domains
curl -s "https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response?\
ApiUser=${NAMECHEAP_API_USER}&\
ApiKey=${NAMECHEAP_API_KEY}&\
UserName=${NAMECHEAP_USERNAME}&\
ClientIp=${NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP}&\
Command=namecheap.domains.getList"

# POST example — create domain
curl -s -X POST "https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response" \
  -d "ApiUser=${NAMECHEAP_API_USER}" \
  -d "ApiKey=${NAMECHEAP_API_KEY}" \
  -d "UserName=${NAMECHEAP_USERNAME}" \
  -d "ClientIp=${NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP}" \
  -d "Command=namecheap.domains.create" \
  -d "DomainName=example.com" \
  -d "Years=1" \
  # ... additional parameters

Parsing XML responses

All responses are XML. Check the Status attribute on ApiResponse:

<ApiResponse Status="OK">    <!-- Success -->
<ApiResponse Status="ERROR"> <!-- Failure — check <Errors> -->

Use xmllint to extract values:

# Check response status
echo "$response" | xmllint --xpath "string(//ApiResponse/@Status)" -

# Extract error messages
echo "$response" | xmllint --xpath "//Errors/Error/text()" - 2>/dev/null

# Extract specific attributes
echo "$response" | xmllint --xpath "string(//DomainCreateResult/@Registered)" -

If xmllint is not available, use grep and sed for basic extraction, or Python's xml.etree.ElementTree.

API Quick Reference

domains.*

See references/api-domains.md for full parameter details.

domains.dns.*

See references/api-dns.md for full parameter details.

domains.ns.*

See references/api-nameservers.md for full parameter details.

domains.transfer.*

See references/api-transfers.md for full parameter details.

Common Workflows

1. Check availability and register a domain

# Step 1: Check availability
curl -s "https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response?\
ApiUser=${NAMECHEAP_API_USER}&ApiKey=${NAMECHEAP_API_KEY}&\
UserName=${NAMECHEAP_USERNAME}&ClientIp=${NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP}&\
Command=namecheap.domains.check&DomainList=example.com,example.net"

# Look for: <DomainCheckResult Domain="example.com" Available="true" />

# Step 2: Register (use POST)
curl -s -X POST "https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response" \
  -d "ApiUser=${NAMECHEAP_API_USER}" \
  -d "ApiKey=${NAMECHEAP_API_KEY}" \
  -d "UserName=${NAMECHEAP_USERNAME}" \
  -d "ClientIp=${NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP}" \
  -d "Command=namecheap.domains.create" \
  -d "DomainName=example.com" \
  -d "Years=1" \
  -d "RegistrantFirstName=John" \
  -d "RegistrantLastName=Smith" \
  -d "RegistrantAddress1=123 Main St" \
  -d "RegistrantCity=San Francisco" \
  -d "RegistrantStateProvince=CA" \
  -d "RegistrantPostalCode=94102" \
  -d "RegistrantCountry=US" \
  -d "RegistrantPhone=+1.4155551234" \
  -d "RegistrantEmailAddress=john@example.com" \
  -d "TechFirstName=John" \
  -d "TechLastName=Smith" \
  -d "TechAddress1=123 Main St" \
  -d "TechCity=San Francisco" \
  -d "TechStateProvince=CA" \
  -d "TechPostalCode=94102" \
  -d "TechCountry=US" \
  -d "TechPhone=+1.4155551234" \
  -d "TechEmailAddress=john@example.com" \
  -d "AdminFirstName=John" \
  -d "AdminLastName=Smith" \
  -d "AdminAddress1=123 Main St" \
  -d "AdminCity=San Francisco" \
  -d "AdminStateProvince=CA" \
  -d "AdminPostalCode=94102" \
  -d "AdminCountry=US" \
  -d "AdminPhone=+1.4155551234" \
  -d "AdminEmailAddress=john@example.com" \
  -d "AuxBillingFirstName=John" \
  -d "AuxBillingLastName=Smith" \
  -d "AuxBillingAddress1=123 Main St" \
  -d "AuxBillingCity=San Francisco" \
  -d "AuxBillingStateProvince=CA" \
  -d "AuxBillingPostalCode=94102" \
  -d "AuxBillingCountry=US" \
  -d "AuxBillingPhone=+1.4155551234" \
  -d "AuxBillingEmailAddress=john@example.com" \
  -d "AddFreeWhoisguard=yes" \
  -d "WGEnabled=yes"

# Step 3: Verify
# Check response for: <DomainCreateResult Registered="true" />

When the user provides contact info once, reuse it for all four contact types (Registrant, Tech, Admin, AuxBilling) unless they specify different contacts.

2. Configure DNS records

# Step 1: Verify domain uses Namecheap DNS
curl -s "https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response?\
ApiUser=${NAMECHEAP_API_USER}&ApiKey=${NAMECHEAP_API_KEY}&\
UserName=${NAMECHEAP_USERNAME}&ClientIp=${NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP}&\
Command=namecheap.domains.dns.getList&SLD=example&TLD=com"

# If using custom nameservers, switch to default first (required for host records)
# Command=namecheap.domains.dns.setDefault&SLD=example&TLD=com

# Step 2: Get current records
curl -s "https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response?\
ApiUser=${NAMECHEAP_API_USER}&ApiKey=${NAMECHEAP_API_KEY}&\
UserName=${NAMECHEAP_USERNAME}&ClientIp=${NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP}&\
Command=namecheap.domains.dns.getHosts&SLD=example&TLD=com"

# Step 3: Set all records (setHosts replaces ALL records — include existing ones)
curl -s -X POST "https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response" \
  -d "ApiUser=${NAMECHEAP_API_USER}" \
  -d "ApiKey=${NAMECHEAP_API_KEY}" \
  -d "UserName=${NAMECHEAP_USERNAME}" \
  -d "ClientIp=${NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP}" \
  -d "Command=namecheap.domains.dns.setHosts" \
  -d "SLD=example" \
  -d "TLD=com" \
  -d "HostName1=@" \
  -d "RecordType1=A" \
  -d "Address1=1.2.3.4" \
  -d "TTL1=1800" \
  -d "HostName2=www" \
  -d "RecordType2=CNAME" \
  -d "Address2=example.com" \
  -d "TTL2=1800"

Critical: setHosts replaces ALL existing records. Always fetch current records first with getHosts, then include them alongside new records in the setHosts call. Omitting existing records will delete them.

3. Transfer a domain to Namecheap

# Step 1: Initiate transfer
curl -s "https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response?\
ApiUser=${NAMECHEAP_API_USER}&ApiKey=${NAMECHEAP_API_KEY}&\
UserName=${NAMECHEAP_USERNAME}&ClientIp=${NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP}&\
Command=namecheap.domains.transfer.create&\
DomainName=example.com&Years=1&EPPCode=AUTH_CODE_HERE"

# Step 2: Monitor transfer status
curl -s "https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response?\
ApiUser=${NAMECHEAP_API_USER}&ApiKey=${NAMECHEAP_API_KEY}&\
UserName=${NAMECHEAP_USERNAME}&ClientIp=${NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP}&\
Command=namecheap.domains.transfer.getStatus&TransferID=TRANSFER_ID"

Transferable TLDs: .biz, .ca, .cc, .co, .co.uk, .com, .com.es, .com.pe, .es, .in, .info, .me, .me.uk, .mobi, .net, .net.pe, .nom.es, .org, .org.es, .org.pe, .org.uk, .pe, .tv, .us

Important Notes

• SLD/TLD splitting: Many endpoints require SLD and TLD as separate parameters. For example.com, SLD=example and TLD=com. For example.co.uk, SLD=example and TLD=co.uk.
• Phone format: Always use +NNN.NNNNNNNNNN (e.g., +1.4155551234).
• IDN domains: Send the domain name in Punycode format (e.g., xn--sdkhjsdhfkdh.com) and include the IdnCode parameter.
• Premium domains: Set IsPremiumDomain=True and provide PremiumPrice and optionally EapFee.
• Rate limiting: Namecheap may throttle requests. If you receive errors, wait before retrying.
• Sandbox: Use the sandbox URL for testing. Sandbox credentials are separate from production.

Error Handling

Common error patterns in the XML response:

<ApiResponse Status="ERROR">
  <Errors>
    <Error Number="2016166">Domain is not associated with your account</Error>
  </Errors>
</ApiResponse>

Always check Status="OK" before processing results. If Status="ERROR":

1. Extract the error number and message
2. Check the error codes listed in the relevant reference file
3. Common issues:
   • Authentication errors: Verify credentials and whitelisted IP
   • Domain not found (2019166): Check domain name and account association
   • Invalid phone (2015182): Use format +NNN.NNNNNNNNNN
   • Domain not available (3019166/4019166): Domain already registered
   • TLD not supported (2030280): Check supported TLDs

Troubleshooting

Error: Connection refused or timeout Cause: Client IP not whitelisted or API access not enabled. Solution: Check Namecheap dashboard → Profile → Tools → API Access. Verify the IP matches NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP.

Error: Empty or malformed response Cause: Missing required parameters. Solution: Verify all global parameters are present. Check that Command value is spelled correctly.

Error: DNS changes not taking effect Cause: Domain may be using custom nameservers instead of Namecheap default. Solution: Call domains.dns.setDefault first, then set host records. URL forwarding, email forwarding, and dynamic DNS only work with Namecheap default nameservers.