CLI & Developer Tools

Installation

The NexDNS CLI is a single binary with no external dependencies. Choose the installation method that suits your environment.

Quick Install (Linux / macOS)

curl -sL https://get.nexdns.tech/cli | sh

Homebrew

brew install nexdns/tap/nexdns-cli

Docker

docker pull nexdns/cli

Verify Installation

After installing, confirm the CLI is available and check its version:

nexdns version

Authentication

The CLI requires an API token to communicate with the NexDNS API. You can create a token at nexdns.tech/settings/api-keys.

Save Token to Config

nexdns auth token nxd_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Environment Variable (CI/CD)

export NEXDNS_TOKEN=nxd_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Check Authentication Status

nexdns auth status

Config File

The token is stored in ~/.nexdns/config.yaml. The CLI resolves credentials in the following priority order:

1. --token flag (highest priority)
2. NEXDNS_TOKEN environment variable
3. Config file ~/.nexdns/config.yaml

Zone Management

Manage DNS zones from the command line. All zone commands are under the nexdns zone subcommand.

List Zones

nexdns zone list

Add a Zone

nexdns zone add example.com --ns-group eu

Zone Information

nexdns zone info example.com

Export Zone (BIND Format)

nexdns zone export example.com

Import Zone File

Use --dry-run to preview changes before applying them:

nexdns zone import example.com zone.txt --dry-run

Ensure Zone Exists

Creates the zone only if it does not already exist (idempotent):

nexdns zone ensure example.com

Check Zone Health

nexdns zone check example.com

Delete a Zone

nexdns zone delete example.com

Record Management

Manage DNS records within a zone. All record commands are under the nexdns record subcommand.

List Records

nexdns record list example.com

Add Records

# A record
nexdns record add example.com A www 1.2.3.4 --ttl 300

# MX record with priority
nexdns record add example.com MX @ mail.example.com --priority 10

Update a Record

nexdns record update example.com <record-id> --content 5.6.7.8

Create Record If Missing

Creates the record only if it does not already exist (an exact match of type, name and content). Existing records with different content are left untouched – safe for round-robin setups. Idempotent:

nexdns record ensure example.com A www 1.2.3.4

Delete a Record

nexdns record delete example.com <record-id>

DNSSEC

Manage DNSSEC signing for your zones.

Check DNSSEC Status

nexdns dnssec status example.com

Enable DNSSEC

nexdns dnssec enable example.com

Get DS Records

Retrieve DS records to configure at your domain registrar:

nexdns dnssec ds-records example.com

Disable DNSSEC

nexdns dnssec disable example.com

DNS-as-Code

Define your DNS infrastructure declaratively in a nexdns.yaml file and manage it with version control. The CLI compares your local configuration against the live state and applies only the necessary changes.

Configuration Format

zones:
  example.com:
    dnssec: true
    records:
      - type: A
        name: "@"
        content: "1.2.3.4"
        ttl: 300
      - type: CNAME
        name: www
        content: example.com

Preview Changes

Show a diff of what would change without applying anything:

nexdns apply

Apply Changes

Apply the changes after reviewing the diff:

nexdns apply --confirm

Diff Only

nexdns diff

Pull Live State

Generate a nexdns.yaml from the current live DNS configuration:

nexdns pull example.com

Environment Variable Substitution

Use ${VARIABLE} syntax in your configuration file. The CLI substitutes environment variables at apply time, making it easy to reuse configs across environments:

zones:
  ${DOMAIN}:
    records:
      - type: A
        name: "@"
        content: "${SERVER_IP}"

Docker

The CLI is available as a Docker image. Pass your API token via the NEXDNS_TOKEN environment variable.

Run Commands

docker run --rm -e NEXDNS_TOKEN=nxd_xxx nexdns/cli zone list

Import a Zone File

Mount a local directory to pass zone files into the container:

docker run --rm -e NEXDNS_TOKEN=nxd_xxx \
    -v ./zones:/zones \
    nexdns/cli zone import example.com /zones/example.com.zone

Global Flags

The following flags are available on all commands:

Terraform

The NexDNS Terraform provider lets you manage zones and records as Terraform resources. Install the provider from the Terraform Registry and configure it with your API token.

provider "nexdns" {
  api_token = var.nexdns_token
}

resource "nexdns_zone" "main" {
  name     = "example.com"
  ns_group = "eu"
}

resource "nexdns_record" "www" {
  zone_id = nexdns_zone.main.id
  type    = "A"
  name    = "www"
  content = "1.2.3.4"
}

DNSControl

DNSControl is a DNS-as-code tool by Stack Overflow. Use the NexDNS provider to manage your zones declaratively.

creds.json

{
    "nexdns": {
        "TYPE": "NEXDNS",
        "api_token": "nxd_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
    }
}

dnsconfig.js

var REG_NONE = NewRegistrar("none");
var DSP_NEXDNS = NewDnsProvider("nexdns");

D("example.com", REG_NONE, DnsProvider(DSP_NEXDNS),
    A("@", "1.2.3.4"),
    A("www", "1.2.3.4"),
    MX("@", 10, "mail.example.com."),
    CNAME("blog", "example.com.")
);

OctoDNS

OctoDNS is a DNS-as-code tool by GitHub. Install the NexDNS provider and configure it as a source or target in your OctoDNS config.

Install Provider

pip install octodns-nexdns

config/production.yaml

providers:
  nexdns:
    class: octodns_nexdns.NexdnsProvider
    api_token: env/NEXDNS_TOKEN

zones:
  example.com.:
    sources:
      - config
    targets:
      - nexdns

zones/example.com.yaml

"":
  type: A
  value: 1.2.3.4
www:
  type: A
  value: 1.2.3.4
blog:
  type: CNAME
  value: example.com.