jarl/docs/api.md

REST API reference

Everything the web UI and the CLI do goes through this API. The UI only uses what is documented here.

• Base URL: https://<jarld>/api/v1
• JSON in, JSON out (Content-Type: application/json). Request bodies are limited to 16 MiB (1 MiB for login).
• Times are RFC 3339. Names in responses are FQDNs with the final dot (www.adbraun.lol.), and display helpers drop it (display_name, relative_name).
• GET /healthz (no authentication) returns {"ok": true, "version": ...}.

Authentication

API tokens, for scripts and the CLI:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer jarl_xxxxxxxx_yyyyyyyy" https://ns1.adbraun.lol:8053/api/v1/zones

Sessions, as used by the web UI: POST /auth/login with {"username": "...", "password": "..."} sets the jarl_session cookie and returns the whoami object, which includes csrf_token. Requests that change something (anything but GET/HEAD) must send it as X-CSRF-Token. POST /auth/logout ends the session.

GET /auth/whoami returns the user, the token (if any), the effective permissions and whether the caller is an administrator.

The local socket: on jarld's unix socket (/run/jarl/jarl.sock), requests from root or jarld's own user need no Authorization header and act as an administrator; other users must send a token:

sudo curl --unix-socket /run/jarl/jarl.sock http://localhost/api/v1/status

HTTP Basic, only on the lego httpreq routes (below): the username is the token's user and the password the API token.

A response to a token that expires within 14 days carries Jarl-Token-Expires: <RFC 3339 time>; the jarl CLI warns when it sees it. Every response has Server: Jarl/<version>.

Errors

HTTP/1.1 422 Unprocessable Entity

{
  "error": {
    "code": "validation_failed",
    "message": "www.adbraun.lol has a CNAME, so it can't have any other records (found A); ...",
    "problems": [
      {"severity": "error", "code": "cname_conflict", "message": "...", "object_type": "record",
       "object_id": 15, "zone": "adbraun.lol.", "view": "internal", "name": "www.adbraun.lol."}
    ],
    "check": [ ... named-checkconf messages, when it ran ... ],
    "op": 2,
    "result": { ... the full result, as for a dry run ... }
  }
}

Status	code	Meaning
400	bad_request	Malformed JSON, unknown field value, record data that doesn't parse
401	unauthenticated	No or invalid credentials
403	forbidden, csrf	Not allowed, or missing CSRF token
404	not_found	No such object (or not visible to you)
409	conflict, drift, not_adopted	Object changed since it was staged, object in use, name taken, files changed outside Jarl
422	validation_failed	The resulting configuration would be invalid: see problems (Jarl's checks, validation.md) and check (named-checkconf / named-checkzone messages)
429	rate_limited	Too many failed logins
502	bind_failed	A BIND tool couldn't run, writing the files failed, or named did not load the change (the previous files were restored)

op is the 1-based index of the operation that failed in a batch.

Changing things: apply, stage or dry-run

Every endpoint that changes the configuration (POST, PATCH, PUT and DELETE on the resources below, except users and tokens) works the same way:

Request	Effect	Status
plain	Applied immediately as a one-operation changeset	201 (create) / 200
?changeset=ID or header X-Jarl-Changeset: ID	Staged into the open changeset ID (validated against the changeset's working state, not applied)	202
?dry_run=1	Validated, rendered and checked with named-checkconf, nothing installed	200
?force=1	Overwrite files that were changed outside Jarl

Reads accept ?changeset=ID too. They then show the configuration as it will be after the changeset, with "pending": "add" | "change" | "delete" on affected zones and records.

The response of an applied change:

{
  "applied": true,
  "changeset_id": 37,
  "result": {
    "valid": true,
    "problems": [],
    "existing_problems": [ ... warnings that were already there ... ],
    "check_ok": true,
    "diff": "--- /var/lib/bind/jarl/internal/adbraun.lol.zone\n+++ ...",
    "files_changed": ["/var/lib/bind/jarl/internal/adbraun.lol.zone"],
    "serials": [{"zone": "adbraun.lol.", "view": "internal", "old": 2026100715, "new": 2026100716}],
    "reloaded": ["reload adbraun.lol [internal]"],
    "ops": [{"seq": 1, "op": "record.create", "id": 295, "summary": "add doc.adbraun.lol. 300 IN A 192.168.1.77"}]
  },
  "object": { ... the created or updated object ... },
  "warnings": []
}

A staged change returns {"staged": true, "changeset_id": ..., "added": [ops], "problems": [...]}. Staging checks right away that the request doesn't introduce validation errors into the changeset's working state (a request with several operations is checked at its end state) and returns 422 if it does. named-checkconf runs on preview and apply, and the whole changeset is validated again when it is applied.

Optimistic locking. Every object has a version. PATCH /records/{id} honours If-Match: <version>, and batch operations take base_version. If the object changed in the meantime the request fails with 409. Staged operations record the version they were staged against automatically.

Resources

{zone} is a zone ID or name (root for the root zone). Add ?view=NAME when the name exists in several views. {id} for views, ACLs and TSIG keys may be the name.

Zones

Method	Path	Body / query
GET	/zones	?view=, ?type=, ?q= (name contains)
POST	/zones	ZoneInput (below)
GET	/zones/{zone}
PATCH	/zones/{zone}	ZoneInput (only the fields to change)
DELETE	/zones/{zone}	deletes the zone with its records and options
GET	/zones/{zone}/file	the generated zone file (text/plain)
GET	/zones/{zone}/serials	asks the zone's other name servers for their serial (below)
GET	/zones/{zone}/delegation	checks the parent zone's delegation of a primary zone (below); ?resolver=IP
POST	/zones/{zone}/import	{"text": "<zone file>", "mode": "merge"|"replace", "use_soa": false, "dry_run": false}

ZoneInput:

{
  "name": "adbraun.lol",              // or a CIDR like "192.168.1.0/24" for a reverse zone
  "view": "internal",                 // or "view_id"; moving a zone = PATCH with another view
  "type": "primary",                  // secondary, stub, static-stub, forward, mirror, hint, redirect, in-view
  "in_view": "internal",              // type in-view only
  "file": "...",                      // hint/redirect zones, or a custom file for secondaries
  "soa": {"mname": "ns1.adbraun.lol.", "rname": "hostmaster@adbraun.lol", "serial": 0,
          "refresh": 3600, "retry": 900, "expire": 1209600, "minimum": 300},
  "default_ttl": 3600,
  "serial_policy": "date",            // date, increment, unixtime
  "comment": "",
  // create only:
  "nameservers": ["ns1.adbraun.lol."],                     // default: settings
  "records": [{"name": "ns1", "type": "A", "data": "192.0.2.1"}],
  "options": [{"name": "allow-transfer", "value": "{ key xfer; }"}],
  "clone_from": 12                                          // copy records from zone 12
}

/serials and /delegation send DNS queries from the server, and only when called (operations.md). /serials works for primary, secondary and mirror zones:

{
  "zone": "adbraun.lol.", "view": "", "type": "primary",
  "serial": 2026100814, "serial_source": "named",    // or "jarl" when named can't be asked
  "servers": [
    {"name": "ns1.adbraun.lol.", "address": "192.168.1.53", "source": "NS record", "status": "self", "serial": 2026100814},
    {"name": "ns2.adbraun.lol.", "address": "192.168.1.54", "source": "NS record", "status": "behind",
     "serial": 2026100812, "diff": -2, "rtt_ms": 1}
  ],
  "notes": [], "checked_at": "..."
}

status is self, in_sync, answered (no serial here to compare), behind, ahead, not_authoritative, refused, unreachable, no_route (no route from this server, e.g. IPv6), no_address or error (with error). source is NS record, also-notify or primaries; port is set for a non-default port.

/delegation returns parent, resolver, delegated, parent_ns, jarl_ns, parent_servers (each parent server's status: delegated, not_delegated, unreachable, error, with ns and glue), glue (name, parent, jarl, match), servers (as above, for the delegated name servers) and findings: {"level": "ok"|"info"|"warning"|"error", "message": "..."}. A zone that isn't delegated gets one info finding.

Records

Method	Path	Body / query
GET	/zones/{zone}/records	?name=, ?type=, ?q=
POST	/zones/{zone}/records	a RecordInput, or an array of them (one changeset)
DELETE	/zones/{zone}/records	?name=&type=[&data=][&missing_ok=1][&ptr=1]: delete by match
PUT	/zones/{zone}/rrsets/{name}/{type}	{"data": ["192.0.2.1", "192.0.2.2"], "ttl": 60, "comment": "..."}: make the RRset exactly this
DELETE	/zones/{zone}/rrsets/{name}/{type}	delete the whole RRset
GET	/records/{id}
PATCH	/records/{id}	RecordInput fields to change (If-Match supported)
DELETE	/records/{id}	?ptr=1 also deletes the matching PTR

RecordInput:

{
  "name": "www",               // relative to the zone, "@" for the apex, or an FQDN with a final dot
  "type": "A",
  "data": "192.0.2.10",        // zone file syntax; TXT/SPF take plain text
  "ttl": 300,                  // null or absent: the zone's default TTL
  "comment": "web server",
  "ptr": true                  // A/AAAA: also create/move/delete the PTR in the reverse zone
}

Responses add zone, view, relative_name, effective_ttl, and text (the decoded value of TXT records).

Views

Method	Path	Body
GET	/views	in match order
POST	/views	{"name": "internal", "match_clients": ["homelab", "localhost"], "match_destinations": [], "match_recursive_only": null, "comment": "", "adopt_zones": true}
GET / PATCH / DELETE	/views/{id}	DELETE ?cascade=1 also deletes the view's zones
POST	/views/order	{"ids": [3, 1, 2]}
PUT	/views/{id}/color	{"color": "green"}; "" for the default

adopt_zones moves zones that are not in a view into the new view. named requires every zone to be in a view as soon as one view exists.

color is how the web UI shows the view: one of green, teal, purple, pink, orange, yellow, red and grey. When it's left out, the view uses the link colour. It isn't part of the BIND configuration, so PUT /views/{id}/color applies at once and creates no changeset. It needs write access to the view, and it is logged in the audit log as view.color. To colour a view that so far exists only in a changeset, send the request with that changeset (?changeset= or X-Jarl-Changeset).

ACLs and TSIG keys

Method	Path	Body
GET	/acls	each with used_by
POST	/acls	{"name": "homelab", "elements": ["192.168.1.0/24", "!192.168.1.66", "key xfer", "localhost"], "comment": ""}
GET / PATCH / DELETE	/acls/{id}	renaming updates references; deleting one in use → 409
GET	/tsig-keys	without secrets
POST	/tsig-keys	{"name": "xfer", "algorithm": "hmac-sha256", "secret": "<base64>"} (secret generated when absent; the response object shows it once)
GET	/tsig-keys/{id}	?secret=1 includes the secret (needs tsig:write, audited)
PATCH / DELETE	/tsig-keys/{id}	PATCH {"secret": "..."} rotates

Options and settings

Method	Path	Body / query
GET	/options	?scope=options|view|zone|toplevel&scope_id=ID (none: everything you may see)
POST	/options	{"scope": "zone", "scope_id": 11, "name": "allow-transfer", "value": "{ key xfer; }", "comment": "", "position": 0}
GET / PATCH / DELETE	/options/{id}
GET / PATCH	/settings	{"nameservers": [...], "rname": "...", "default_ttl": 3600, "refresh": ..., "retry": ..., "expire": ..., "negative_ttl": ..., "serial_policy": "date"}

Option values are named.conf syntax without the final semicolon. They are checked against the BIND 9.20 grammar for that scope.

Catalogs and search

Method	Path	Returns
GET	/catalog/options	scopes and zone types; with ?scope=options|view|toplevel|zone:primary|... every statement allowed there (name, grammar, kind, status, ARM description). ?all=1 includes statements Jarl manages itself
GET	/catalog/rrtypes	record types with field hints and examples
GET	/catalog/grants	resources, roles and the grant syntax
GET	/search?q=text	zones, records and ACLs matching the text

Changesets

Method	Path	Body / query
POST	/apply	{"description": "...", "ops": [Operation...], "dry_run": false, "force": false}: apply several operations as one changeset
GET	/changesets	?status=open|applied|discarded&mine=1&limit=100&before=ID
POST	/changesets	{"description": "...", "ops": [...], "apply": false}: create (and optionally stage or apply)
GET / PATCH	/changesets/{id}	PATCH {"description": "..."}
POST	/changesets/{id}/ops	{"ops": [Operation...]}: stage more operations
DELETE	/changesets/{id}/ops/{seq}	remove one staged operation
GET	/changesets/{id}/preview	dry run of an open changeset: problems, check messages, diff
POST	/changesets/{id}/apply	{"dry_run": false, "force": false}
POST	/changesets/{id}/discard
POST	/changesets/{id}/revert	creates a new open changeset that undoes an applied one

An Operation is {"op": "...", "id": 0, "base_version": 0, "data": {...}}:

op	id	data
zone.create / zone.update / zone.delete	zone (update/delete)	ZoneInput
record.create		RecordInput + "zone": "adbraun.lol" (or zone_id) and "view"
record.update	record	RecordInput
record.delete	record, or 0 with zone, name, type, optional data, missing_ok, ptr
rrset.replace		{"zone", "view", "name", "type", "ttl", "data": [...]} (empty data deletes the RRset)
view.create / view.update / view.delete / view.reorder	view (update/delete)	ViewInput / {"ids": [...]}
acl.create / acl.update / acl.delete	ACL	ACL fields
tsig.create / tsig.update / tsig.delete	key	key fields
option.create / option.update / option.delete	option	option fields
settings.update		settings fields

Operations later in a batch can refer to objects created earlier in it by name (zone and view names). One request can therefore create a view, a zone in it and its records.

Status, system, audit

Method	Path	Notes
GET	/status	named status, adoption, drift, open changesets, current problems, object counts; expiring_tokens (tokens that expire within 14 days or expired in the last 14: all for administrators, otherwise the caller's); backup (administrators: last_at, last_file, last_size, last_error, last_error_at, dir, warn_after in seconds, stale)
POST	/system/check	validation + named-checkconf of the current configuration (options:read)
POST	/system/resync	{"dry_run": false, "force": false}: rewrite every file from the database and reload (admin)
GET	/audit	?user=&action=&outcome=&object_type=&changeset=&q=&since=&until=&limit=200&before=ID

Query statistics

Needs stats:read. When statistics are disabled, every endpoint but status answers 404 stats_disabled. See stats.md.

Method	Path	Query	Returns
GET	/stats/status		{enabled, query_log, statistics_channel, log_file, last_poll, last_log_line, log_lines_read, first_data, retention, warnings}
GET	/stats/summary	since (90m, 24h, 7d, 2w; default 24h), top (default 10)	totals, avg_qps, peak, rcodes, qtypes, views, zones, answers, transport, cache_hit_ratio, nxdomain_ratio, tops
GET	/stats/timeline	since, step (auto, 1m, 5m, 15m, 1h, 6h, 1d), key (repeatable or comma separated; rcode:* = every counter of a group; default queries)	{step, times: [unix...], series: [{key, values}]}
GET	/stats/top	kind (name, client, nxdomain, servfail, refused), since, limit (default 20)	[{key, count}]
GET	/stats/heatmap	since (default 28d), key (default queries)	{key, from, avg[7][24], samples[7][24]}, Monday first, local time, -1 = no data
GET	/stats/breakdown	group (qtype, rcode, view, zone, answer, transport, rtt, dnssec, cache, ratelimit), since	[{key, count}]

curl -sf -H "$AUTH" "$API/stats/top?kind=nxdomain&since=7d&limit=10" | jq -r '.[] | "\(.count)\t\(.key)"'

ACME: lego's httpreq provider

Off unless acme.httpreq.enabled is set, and by default HTTPS only. The full description is in acme.md.

Method	Path	Body
GET	/acme/httpreq	No authentication. {"enabled", "https", "accepted", "transport"}: whether the endpoint is on and how jarld sees this request (HTTPS or not, and why)
POST	/acme/httpreq/present	{"fqdn": "_acme-challenge.adbraun.lol.", "value": "..."}. Sets the TXT value in the longest matching primary zone, in every view that has it
POST	/acme/httpreq/cleanup	Same body. Removes that value (succeeds if it's already gone)
POST	/acme/httpreq/view/{view}/present, .../cleanup	The same, in one view only

Authenticate with HTTP Basic (user and API token) or a Bearer token. Success is 200 {"ok": true, "fqdn": ..., "changeset_id": ..., "zones": [...]}.

Users and tokens

Method	Path	Body
GET	/users	admin
POST	/users	{"username": "alice", "password": "...", "admin": false, "role": "dns-editor", "grant_strings": ["records:write zones=lab.adbraun.lol"], "comment": ""} (password: "" = service account)
GET / PATCH / DELETE	/users/{id}	PATCH also takes disabled
GET / POST	/users/{id}/tokens	admin (or yourself)
GET / POST	/me/tokens	{"name": "laptop", "role": "", "grant_strings": [...], "expires_in": "90d"}. The response's token field is the secret, shown once
GET	/tokens	every token (admin); ?all=1 includes revoked tokens
DELETE	/tokens/{id}	revoke
POST	/tokens/{id}/rotate	New secret, same token. Optional body {"grace": "1h", "expires_in": "90d", "expires_at": "...", "no_expiry": false}. The response's token field is the new secret, shown once; previous_secret_valid_until says when the old one stops. A restricted token may rotate itself and tokens no wider than itself
POST	/me/password	{"current_password": "...", "password": "..."} (sessions only)

User and token changes take effect immediately. They are not changesets, because they don't touch named, but they are audited.

Examples

API=https://ns1.adbraun.lol:8053/api/v1
AUTH="Authorization: Bearer $JARL_TOKEN"

# add a record and its PTR
curl -sf -H "$AUTH" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -X POST "$API/zones/adbraun.lol/records" \
     -d '{"name": "nas", "type": "A", "data": "192.168.1.20", "ptr": true}'

# swap an A record for a CNAME in one changeset
curl -sf -H "$AUTH" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -X POST "$API/apply" -d '{
  "description": "www is now an alias",
  "ops": [
    {"op": "record.delete", "data": {"zone": "adbraun.lol", "name": "www", "type": "A"}},
    {"op": "record.create", "data": {"zone": "adbraun.lol", "name": "www", "type": "CNAME", "data": "web1"}}
  ]}'

# stage, preview, apply
CS=$(curl -sf -H "$AUTH" -X POST "$API/changesets" -d '{"description": "lab"}' | jq .id)
curl -sf -H "$AUTH" -H "X-Jarl-Changeset: $CS" -X PUT "$API/zones/lab.adbraun.lol/rrsets/gw/A" -d '{"data": ["10.20.0.1"]}'
curl -sf -H "$AUTH" "$API/changesets/$CS/preview" | jq -r .diff
curl -sf -H "$AUTH" -X POST "$API/changesets/$CS/apply"