What the service is
KirkDiamond.com provides free developer and network diagnostic tools: DNS, SSL/TLS, HTTP, email authentication, address and ASN lookups, a request bin, and a set of browser-side utilities for JSON, JWTs, encoding, timestamps, diffs and hashes, together with written guides. The site is built and run by Kirk Diamond as an individual. There are no accounts, no paid plans and no API keys. By using the site you agree to these terms.
What the results mean
The server-side tools do the real thing: they send DNS queries, open TLS connections, follow HTTP redirects and talk to mail servers, and they report what came back at that moment from this server's point of view. That is more honest than a database lookup, but it has limits you should keep in mind:
- A result is a snapshot. DNS caches, certificate renewals, deployments and network conditions mean the same check can answer differently a minute later or from a different network.
- A check can be incomplete. A firewall, a geo-specific response, a resolver quirk or a timeout on the remote side can hide part of the picture.
- Grades and explanations are my opinion of what good looks like, based on experience. They are a starting point for your own judgement, not a certification.
Results are provided for information. You remain responsible for any decision or change you make on the basis of them, and for verifying anything that matters with the systems and people that own it.
Acceptable use
Use the tools for legitimate diagnostic, development, learning and operational purposes. Do not use them:
- in a way that breaks the law where you are or where the target is;
- to disrupt, overload or deny service to this site or to any third-party system;
- to scan, probe or enumerate systems you have no business checking, or as part of harassment, intimidation or any other malicious activity;
- to work around rate limits, for example by rotating addresses, or to generate volumes of automated traffic beyond ordinary diagnostic use;
- to send anyone else's sensitive data to the request bin, or to point production traffic at it.
The tools only ever connect to public addresses, refuse private and reserved ranges, and apply short timeouts and output limits. Those guards exist to protect other people's systems as well as this one; do not try to defeat them.
Automated access
Every server-side tool answers in plain text for curl and in JSON on request, and that is deliberate. Automated use through curl, scripts, CI jobs and the machine-readable outputs is permitted for normal diagnostic and development purposes, subject to the rate limits below and to these terms. You do not need to ask, and you do not need a key. Lookup targets and results are not stored, as the privacy page explains. If you build something that depends on an endpoint, a polite user agent that identifies your project is appreciated but not required.
Rate limits
Server-side lookups are rate limited per visitor address (currently 30 a minute with a burst of 10, and lower for the traceroute and for creating bins). Exceeding a limit returns a clear error and clears itself within a minute. I may tighten limits, or block traffic that is abusive or is harming a third party, without notice.
Availability
The service is free and provided as is. There is no uptime commitment, no service level agreement and no guarantee that any tool will be available at any particular time. If you need a monitored, guaranteed service, this is not it.
Changes to the service
Tools, outputs, endpoints, limits and these terms may change. I try not to break the documented machine-readable outputs without a good reason, and where a URL moves it is redirected rather than removed, but I cannot promise that every field or endpoint will exist forever.
Third-party systems
When you point a tool at a domain, host or URL, this server connects to that system on your behalf. You are responsible for making sure that is lawful and appropriate: checking your own infrastructure, a supplier's, or a public service is fine; probing systems whose owners would object is not.
Content and ownership
The design, text, guides, code and other original material on this site are mine unless stated otherwise. You may link to any page freely and quote short passages with attribution. Please do not republish whole guides or wrap the tools in another site without asking. Domains, hostnames and other inputs you enter remain yours, and third-party names, marks and infrastructure that appear in results belong to their owners. Nothing here claims otherwise.
Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the site and its tools are provided without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including as to accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose or availability. I am not liable for any loss or damage arising from your use of the site or reliance on its results, including loss of data, revenue or profits, or for the acts of third-party systems the tools connect to. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any dispute about them will be dealt with by the courts of England and Wales. If you use the site from elsewhere, you are responsible for complying with your local law.
Contact
Questions about these terms, or a request to use content in a way they do not cover: [email protected].