VectorDNS Roadmap

Overview

VectorDNS is a web-based DNS toolkit. Anyone can look up DNS records, WHOIS data, and domain availability without signing in. Authenticated users get a persistent dashboard to save domains, track DNS changes over time, and receive alerts when something changes.

Tech Stack

Layer	Choice
Framework	Next.js 16 (App Router)
Language	TypeScript (strict)
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4 + shadcn/ui
Auth & DB	Supabase (`@supabase/ssr`)
DNS Lookups	Tangerine (DNS-over-HTTPS)
WHOIS	whoiser (RDAP, free)
Availability	IANA RDAP API (free)
Email Alerts	Resend
Deployment	Vercel
Package Manager	Bun

Phase 1 — Foundation

Everything needed before any features can work.

TypeScript types — Define shared types for DNS records, WHOIS data, availability results, and database models (lib/types/)
Supabase schema — Create migration files for all tables: profiles, saved_domains, dns_history, availability_history, notifications. Enable Row Level Security on every table.
Supabase client setup — Server client, browser client, and middleware for session refresh (lib/supabase/). Use @supabase/ssr only (auth-helpers is deprecated).
Project config — .env.local.example with all required env vars, vercel.json with cron schedule, typed env accessor (lib/env.ts)

Phase 2 — Core Services

The backend logic that powers lookups. No UI yet — just service layers and API routes.

DNS service — Install tangerine. Create lib/dns/ that queries all 9 record types (A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME, SOA, CAA, SRV) via DNS-over-HTTPS. Returns structured results, never throws on missing records.
WHOIS service — Install whoiser. Create lib/whois/ that extracts registrar, dates, nameservers, status. Graceful error on unsupported TLDs.
Availability service — Fetch https://rdap.org/domain/{domain}. 404 = available, 200 = registered. No API key needed. Create lib/availability/.
DNS lookup API — POST /api/dns/lookup — public, rate-limited (30 req/min per IP)
WHOIS lookup API — POST /api/whois/lookup — public, rate-limited (20 req/min per IP)
Availability check API — POST /api/availability/check — public
Integration tests for each API route (use bun test)

Phase 3 — Authentication

Auth system — Configure Supabase Auth with all 4 providers: GitHub OAuth, Google OAuth, email+password, magic link
Auth actions — Server actions for sign in/out across all providers (lib/auth/actions.ts)
OAuth callback — app/auth/callback/route.ts handles code exchange
Middleware — Protect /dashboard/* routes, redirect unauthenticated users to login
Login/signup pages — OAuth buttons, email form, magic link option

Phase 4 — Public UI

Pages that work without an account.

App shell — Root layout with header (logo, nav, theme toggle, auth button), footer
Homepage — (done) Hero, search form, feature cards
DNS results page — app/lookup/[domain]/page.tsx — tabbed DNS records, WHOIS card, availability badge. Shareable URL.
Save to Dashboard button — Shown to logged-in users on the results page

Phase 5 — Dashboard

Authenticated features behind /dashboard.

Dashboard layout — Sidebar navigation, overview stats (saved count, recent changes, unread notifications)
Saved domains CRUD — GET/POST /api/domains, GET/PUT/DELETE /api/domains/[id]
Domains list page — Table/card grid of saved domains with add/delete/re-check actions
Domain detail page — Tabbed view: current DNS records, DNS history timeline, change diff (old vs new), availability history, WHOIS data
Notes & tags — Inline-editable notes (plain text) and tags (chip input) per domain, auto-saves on blur
Manual re-check — POST /api/domains/[id]/check triggers fresh DNS/WHOIS/availability lookups and stores snapshots

Phase 6 — Monitoring & Alerts

Automated change detection and notifications.

Change detection service — lib/monitoring/ — compares DNS snapshots, detects added/removed records, availability flips, expiry changes
Daily cron job — GET /api/cron/check-domains (secured with CRON_SECRET) — re-checks up to 50 domains per run, stores new snapshots, creates notifications on change
In-app notifications — notifications table + API routes + bell icon with unread count in header + notification center page
Email alerts — Install resend. Send emails on DNS changes, availability changes, expiry warnings. Respects user preference (notification_email toggle in profile).

Phase 7 — Settings & Polish

User settings page — Profile info, notification email toggle, sign out, delete account
Error handling — Root error boundary (app/error.tsx), 404 page, loading skeletons for lookup and dashboard pages
Toasts — Wire up sonner globally for success/error feedback
SEO — Page-specific metadata, OG image, robots.ts (disallow dashboard/api), sitemap.ts

Phase 8 — Testing & QA

Consolidate integration tests — All API routes, change detection logic, auth flows
Build verification — bun run build passes, zero TS errors, zero lint issues
Manual QA pass — Walk through every page, both light and dark mode

Out of Scope (Future)

These are explicitly not part of the current build:

Registrar API integration / domain purchasing
Paid DNS API providers (architecture supports swapping, but free-only for now)
Bulk domain scanning
Billing / subscriptions
Browser push notifications
Rich text notes
Domain sharing between users

Key Architecture Decisions

Decision	Rationale
`@supabase/ssr` not `auth-helpers`	auth-helpers is deprecated as of late 2025
Tangerine (DoH) not Node `dns`	Works in serverless (Vercel), no system resolver dependency
IANA RDAP for availability	Free, no API key, standard protocol. Provider interface allows swapping to paid APIs later.
Resend not Supabase SMTP	Supabase built-in SMTP has a 3 emails/hour limit
In-memory rate limiting	Simple Map-based per-IP. No Redis dependency for MVP.
`TEXT[]` for tags	Postgres array, no separate tags table. Good enough for MVP.
Daily cron, 50 domains/run	Fits Vercel hobby tier (10s function timeout, 1 cron/day)

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