Learn about the terms used throughout this documentation.

async operation: An API operation that returns 202 Accepted immediately and continues processing in the background. The caller receives an operation ID and polls a status endpoint until the operation reaches COMPLETED or FAILED. Registration and domain transfers use async operations. See status polling.
authoritative nameserver: The nameserver that holds the definitive DNS records for a domain. When you update DNS records through the GoDaddy API, the change is applied to GoDaddy's authoritative nameservers. External resolvers cache the previous values until the TTL expires. See TTL.
CNAME (Canonical Name record): A DNS record type that aliases one domain name to another. A CNAME cannot coexist with other records at the same name — a CNAME at the apex (@) is invalid when other records (A, MX) are present.
domain status: The lifecycle state of a registered domain. Common values: ACTIVE (in use), CANCELLED (registration lapsed), PENDING_TRANSFER (outbound transfer in progress), EXPIRED (past expiration, in grace period), REDEMPTION (past grace period, recoverable at higher cost). Status values affect which API operations are permitted.
domain transfer: Moving a domain registration from one registrar to another. Outbound transfers require an authorization code (EPP code). Transfers take up to 5–7 days to complete and go through PENDING_TRANSFER status during that time.
grace period: A period after domain expiration during which the domain can be renewed at normal pricing. After the grace period ends, the domain enters a redemption period and renewal costs increase significantly.
ICANN consent: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) requires registrants to confirm that their contact information is accurate before a domain is registered. In the v3 API, you provide this as a consent object in the registration request. Providing false information can result in domain suspension.
idempotency key: A client-generated value (typically a UUID) included in the Idempotency-Key request header. If the server already processed a request with the same key, it returns the original response without executing the operation again. Use idempotency keys on all non-idempotent write operations — particularly domain registration — to prevent duplicate charges on retries.
MX record (Mail Exchanger record): A DNS record type that specifies the mail servers responsible for accepting email for a domain. MX records include a priority value — lower numbers indicate higher priority.
nameserver: A server that answers DNS queries for a domain. Nameservers are authoritative (hold the definitive records) or recursive (resolve queries by querying authoritative servers on behalf of clients). Changing a domain's nameservers delegates DNS management to a different provider.
NS record (Name Server record): A DNS record type that delegates a DNS zone to a set of nameservers. GoDaddy-managed NS records cannot be modified through the DNS records API — use the dedicated nameservers endpoint instead.
PAT (Personal Access Token): A scoped Bearer token used to authenticate API requests. Generated from the developer dashboard. PATs replace the legacy sso-key credential for new integrations and are required for v3 API access. A PAT includes one or more scopes (for example, domains.domain:read) that determine which operations it can authorize.
quote token: A short-lived token returned by POST /v3/domains/registration-quotes. The token locks the price for a domain registration and must be included in the subsequent POST /v3/domains/registrations call. Quote tokens expire quickly — re-quote if you receive a QUOTE_EXPIRED error.
rate limit: The maximum number of API requests allowed per credential per time window. The GoDaddy Domains API limits requests to 60 per minute per credential. Exceeding the limit returns 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header. Go to Handle rate limits for retry guidance.
redemption period: A period after the grace period ends during which a domain can still be recovered, but at significantly higher cost. After the redemption period, the domain is released for re-registration by anyone.
registrar: A company accredited by ICANN to sell and manage domain registrations. GoDaddy is a registrar. The registrar manages the relationship with the registry on behalf of the registrant (the domain owner).
registry: The organization that manages a top-level domain (TLD) on behalf of ICANN. For example, Verisign manages .com and .net; the Public Interest Registry manages .org. The registry maintains the authoritative database of all domains under the TLD.
registry lock: A security feature that prevents unauthorized changes to a domain's nameservers, contact information, or transfer status by requiring out-of-band verification. Domains with registry lock cannot be updated programmatically until the lock is released.
scope: A permission granted to a PAT that authorizes a specific category of API operations. For example, domains.domain:read allows read-only domain and availability queries; domains.domain:create allows registration. A PAT must include all scopes required for each operation it will perform. Go to Authenticate — PAT scopes for the full reference.
shopper ID / customer ID: GoDaddy's internal identifier for an account. In the v2 API, the customerId appears in operation paths (/v2/customers/{customerId}/domains/...). In the v3 API, the authenticated credential determines the account — no customer ID is required in the path.
SOA record (Start of Authority record): A DNS record that contains administrative information about a DNS zone, including the primary nameserver, zone serial number, and refresh intervals. SOA records are managed by GoDaddy and cannot be modified through the API.
sso-key: A legacy credential format used by the v1 API. Format: sso-key <key>:<secret>. The sso-key is not supported by the v3 API. New integrations should use a PAT instead.
status polling: The process of repeatedly calling a status endpoint to check whether an async operation has completed. The recommended pattern is exponential backoff: wait 1 second, then 2, then 4, up to a reasonable maximum. Stop polling when status reaches COMPLETED or FAILED. See async operation.
TXT record: A DNS record type that stores arbitrary text associated with a domain. TXT records are commonly used for domain ownership verification (Google, GitHub, Stripe), SPF email authentication, and DKIM keys.
TTL (Time to Live): The number of seconds a DNS record can be cached by resolvers before they must re-query the authoritative nameserver. Lower TTLs reduce propagation time for changes but increase query volume. The minimum TTL for GoDaddy-hosted DNS is 600 seconds (10 minutes).
v1 / v2 / v3 API: The three versioned namespaces of the GoDaddy Domains API. v1 (/v1/domains/...) covers DNS, contacts, renewals, lock, and transfers. v2 (/v2/customers/{customerId}/domains/...) adds async operation tracking. v3 (/v3/domains/...) is the preferred namespace for new integrations — it separates quoting from execution, supports async operations, and requires ICANN consent. Go to the Domains API overview for the version comparison table.
zone: The complete set of DNS records for a domain managed by a single authoritative nameserver. Managing DNS through the GoDaddy API operates on a domain's zone. If the domain uses external nameservers, GoDaddy's zone is inactive — DNS records must be managed at the external provider.

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