What is domain-watchdog?

Domain Watchdog is a self-hosted application for monitoring domain names using the RDAP protocol. It tracks domain history including creation, renewals, transfers, and deletions. Users can create watchlists to monitor domains and receive notifications via email or webhooks (Slack, Mattermost, Discord). It supports automated domain backordering through integrations with registrars like OVH, Gandi, Namecheap, AutoDNS, Name.com, and custom EPP servers. The application is built with PHP/Symfony backend and React/TypeScript frontend, requires PostgreSQL and Redis/Valkey, with optional InfluxDB for metrics. It supports OAuth 2.0 for SSO authentication.

Should you self-host domain-watchdog?

domain-watchdog scores 51/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #20 of 51 in Monitoring & observability. It has 403 GitHub stars.

It shipped 9 stable releases in the past year. The latest, v1.4.6, came out on 24 October 2026. New versions land roughly every 3 weeks.

Setup is advanced: plan for several services and some ongoing maintenance. An official Docker image is available. It is AGPL-3.0-licensed and written mostly in PHP.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is GoAccess (75/100, 21 094 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See domain-watchdog vs GoAccess side by side.

Features

Automated Domain Backordering
Deletion Forecasting
Domain Monitoring & Alerts
Email notifications
Historical Domain Timeline
iCal/RSS feeds
OAuth 2.0 SSO
RDAP domain search
REST API
Webhook Notifications

How to configure domain-watchdog

APP_ENVdevApplication environment (dev/prod)
Application environment (dev/prod)
values: dev, prod
APP_SECRETcacb7ba341ce4afca66611c4956a4699Secret key for Symfony application
Secret key for Symfony application
CORS_ALLOW_ORIGIN^https?://(localhost|127\.0\.0\.1)(:[0-9]+)?$Allowed CORS origins regex
Allowed CORS origins regex
DATABASE_URLpostgresql://app:!ChangeMe!@127.0.0.1:5432/app?serverVersion=16&charset=utf8Database connection URL
Database connection URL
HTTP_SECURE_COOKIEtrueSecure the session cookie (if HTTPS)
Secure the session cookie (if HTTPS)
values: true, false
INFLUXDB_BUCKETdomainwatchdogInfluxDB bucket name
InfluxDB bucket name
INFLUXDB_ENABLEDfalseEnable the connection with InfluxDB
Enable the connection with InfluxDB
values: true, false
INFLUXDB_ORGdomainwatchdogInfluxDB organization
InfluxDB organization
INFLUXDB_TOKENInfluxDB token
InfluxDB token
INFLUXDB_URLhttp://localhost:8086InfluxDB URL
InfluxDB URL
JWT_PASSPHRASE0456f23bb41aa797092f1422dc9295e9855c3518fa82969a10716bf09f99d24dJWT key passphrase
JWT key passphrase
JWT_PUBLIC_KEY%kernel.project_dir%/config/jwt/public.pemPath to JWT public key
Path to JWT public key
JWT_SECRET_KEY%kernel.project_dir%/config/jwt/private.pemPath to JWT private key
Path to JWT private key
LIMITED_FEATURESfalseLimit certain features for users
Limit certain features for users
values: true, false
LIMIT_MAX_WATCHLIST0Maximum number of Watchlists per user
Maximum number of Watchlists per user
LIMIT_MAX_WATCHLIST_DOMAINS0Maximum number of domains per Watchlist
Maximum number of domains per Watchlist
LIMIT_MAX_WATCHLIST_WEBHOOKS0Maximum number of webhooks per Watchlist
Maximum number of webhooks per Watchlist
LOCK_DSNredis://valkey:6379Lock store DSN (Redis)
Lock store DSN (Redis)
MAILER_DSNnull://nullMailer DSN for sending emails
Mailer DSN for sending emails
MAILER_SENDER_EMAILnotifications@example.comSender's email address
Sender's email address
MAILER_SENDER_NAMEDomain WatchdogName of the sender of emails
Name of the sender of emails
MESSENGER_ASYNC_TRANSPORT_DSNredis://valkey:6379/messages?lazy=1Async message transport DSN
Async message transport DSN
MESSENGER_RDAP_HIGH_TRANSPORT_DSNredis://valkey:6379/messages-rdap-high?lazy=1High priority RDAP message transport DSN
High priority RDAP message transport DSN
MESSENGER_RDAP_LOW_TRANSPORT_DSNredis://valkey:6379/messages-rdap-low?lazy=1Low priority RDAP message transport DSN
Low priority RDAP message transport DSN
OAUTH_AUTHORIZATION_URLAuthorization URL (OAuth 2.0)
Authorization URL (OAuth 2.0)
OAUTH_CLIENT_IDClient ID (OAuth 2.0) for using external SSO
Client ID (OAuth 2.0) for using external SSO
OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRETClient secret (OAuth 2.0)
Client secret (OAuth 2.0)
OAUTH_SCOPEScope (OAuth 2.0)
Scope (OAuth 2.0)
OAUTH_TOKEN_URLToken URL (OAuth 2.0)
Token URL (OAuth 2.0)
OAUTH_USERINFO_URLUser Info URL (OAuth 2.0)
User Info URL (OAuth 2.0)
OUTGOING_IPOutgoing IPv4, needed for some providers
Outgoing IPv4, needed for some providers
PUBLIC_RDAP_LOOKUP_ENABLEDfalseAllow unauthenticated domain name lookups
Allow unauthenticated domain name lookups
values: true, false
REGISTRATION_ENABLEDtrueEnable user registration
Enable user registration
values: true, false
REGISTRATION_VERIFY_EMAILfalseVerify email addresses during registration
Verify email addresses during registration
values: true, false
SSO_AUTO_REDIRECTfalseRedirect to the SSO auth URL
Redirect to the SSO auth URL
values: true, false