Registry / http-networking / python-whois

python-whois

library0.9.6pypypi✓ verified 26d ago

python-whois is a Python library for querying WHOIS servers directly and parsing domain registration information. It aims to provide structured data for various Top-Level Domains (TLDs) and is currently at version 0.9.6, with recent activity in October 2025. The library focuses on direct server queries rather than relying on intermediate web services.

http-networking data

pip install python-whois

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · PYTHON-WHOIS

python-whois

http-networkingpythonv0.9.6

Install

1.7s avg

Import

105ms

Disk

17MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v0.9.6 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.110s · 19.3MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 1.7s · import 0.100s · 20MB

17MB installed

● package 17MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

whois

✓ import whois

✗ from whois import whois_query_function

The primary function is accessed directly via 'whois.whois(domain)'. Do not confuse with other 'whois' libraries or attempt to import sub-modules directly without explicit documentation.

The quickstart demonstrates how to import the `whois` module and use the `whois.whois()` function to retrieve and parse domain registration data. Key attributes like domain name, registrar, dates, and name servers are easily accessible. The raw WHOIS text is also available.

import whois # Query WHOIS for a domain domain = "example.com" w = whois.whois(domain) # Access parsed attributes print(f"Domain Name: {w.domain_name}") print(f"Registrar: {w.registrar}") print(f"Creation Date: {w.creation_date}") print(f"Expiration Date: {w.expiration_date}") print(f"Name Servers: {w.name_servers}") # Print all found attributes (as a dictionary) # print(w.text) # Uncomment to see the raw WHOIS text # print(w)

Debug

Known issues

gotchaWHOIS data is semi-structured and can vary significantly between TLDs and registrars. Parsing may not always be 100% accurate or complete, and some fields might be missing or in unexpected formats.

fix

Always validate the returned data and implement error handling for missing attributes. Consider falling back to raw text parsing for critical, unparsed fields if needed.

affects: All versions

gotchaDirect WHOIS queries can be subject to rate limiting, firewalls, or network issues, leading to timeouts. Some WHOIS servers might be temporarily unavailable or return incomplete responses.

fix

Implement robust error handling, retry mechanisms with exponential backoff, and consider using a SOCKS proxy (with PySocks installed and configured via the SOCKS environment variable) for improved reliability or to circumvent IP-based restrictions.

affects: All versions

gotchaDue to multiple Python libraries existing with 'whois' in their name (e.g., `pythonwhois`, `whoisdomain`, `ipwhois`), it's common to encounter `AttributeError: module 'whois' has no attribute 'whois'` if the wrong package is installed or a local file conflicts. Ensure you have installed `python-whois` (from richardpenman) and that no local `whois.py` file shadows the library.

fix

Verify installation with `pip show python-whois`. If you have a local `whois.py` file, rename it. If using an alternative `whois` library, ensure you are importing it correctly as per its documentation.

affects: All versions

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'whois'

The `python-whois` library is not installed in the current environment or the PyPI package name (`python-whois`) differs from the import name (`whois`).

fix

Install the correct package using pip: `pip install python-whois`

TypeError: 'module' object is not callable

The user is attempting to call the `whois` module directly as a function, rather than calling the specific `whois` function located within the module.

fix

Access the `whois` function through the imported module object: `import whois; domain_info = whois.whois('example.com')`

AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'domain_name'

The `whois.whois()` function returned `None` because it failed to retrieve WHOIS data for the queried domain (e.g., domain doesn't exist, WHOIS server timed out, or parsing failed), and subsequently an attribute was accessed on this `None` object.

fix

Always check if the result of `whois.whois()` is not `None` before attempting to access its attributes: `domain = whois.whois('example.com'); if domain: print(domain.domain_name)`

Upgrade

Version history

0.9.6latest on PyPI · released Oct 7, 2025

Audit

Dependencies

python-dateutiloptionalImproved parsing of various date formats in WHOIS records into datetime objects.

PySocksoptionalRequired for SOCKS proxy support.

Agent activity

24 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/richardpenman/whois ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/python-whois/ ↗