Hostinger DNS

The DNS API enables full management of DNS zone records for domains hosted on Hostinger. You can create, update, delete, validate, and reset DNS records, as well as manage DNS snapshots for backup and restore operations.

Table of Contents

• Core Concepts
• Common Patterns
• API Reference
• Best Practices
• Troubleshooting
• References

Core Concepts

DNS Records

Standard DNS record types are supported:

Zone Updates

When updating DNS records, the overwrite flag controls behavior:

• overwrite: true (default) — Replaces existing records matching name and type with the new records
• overwrite: false — Updates TTL on existing records, appends new records; if no match found, creates them

Snapshots

DNS snapshots capture the state of a domain's DNS zone at a point in time. Use them to restore previous configurations if something goes wrong.

TTL (Time-To-Live)

TTL controls how long DNS resolvers cache a record. Default is 14400 seconds (4 hours). Lower values propagate changes faster but increase DNS query load.

Common Patterns

Get DNS Records for a Domain

curl -X GET "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/zones/example.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN"

Python SDK:

from hostinger_api import Hostinger

client = Hostinger(api_token="YOUR_API_TOKEN")
records = client.dns.zone.get_dns_records("example.com")
for record in records:
    print(f"{record.type} {record.name} -> {record.content}")

TypeScript SDK:

import { Hostinger } from "hostinger-api-sdk";

const client = new Hostinger({ apiToken: "YOUR_API_TOKEN" });

const records = await client.dns.zone.getRecords("example.com");
for (const record of records) {
  console.log(`${record.type} ${record.name} -> ${record.content}`);
}

PHP SDK:

use Hostinger\Api\HostingerApi;

$client = new HostingerApi('YOUR_API_TOKEN');

$records = $client->dns->zone->getRecords('example.com');
foreach ($records as $record) {
    echo "{$record->type} {$record->name} -> {$record->content}\n";
}

Create/Update DNS Records

# Add an A record for www subdomain
curl -X PUT "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/zones/example.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "overwrite": true,
    "zone": [
      {
        "name": "www",
        "type": "A",
        "ttl": 14400,
        "records": [
          { "content": "192.168.1.1" }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }'

# Add MX records for email
curl -X PUT "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/zones/example.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "overwrite": true,
    "zone": [
      {
        "name": "@",
        "type": "MX",
        "ttl": 14400,
        "records": [
          { "content": "10 mail1.example.com." },
          { "content": "20 mail2.example.com." }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }'

# Add a TXT record for SPF
curl -X PUT "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/zones/example.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "overwrite": false,
    "zone": [
      {
        "name": "@",
        "type": "TXT",
        "ttl": 14400,
        "records": [
          { "content": "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all" }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }'

Validate Before Updating

# Validate records first (returns 200 if valid, 422 if invalid)
curl -X POST "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/zones/example.com/validate" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "overwrite": true,
    "zone": [
      {
        "name": "www",
        "type": "CNAME",
        "ttl": 14400,
        "records": [
          { "content": "example.com." }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }'

Delete Specific DNS Records

curl -X DELETE "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/zones/example.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "filters": [
      { "name": "www", "type": "A" },
      { "name": "old", "type": "CNAME" }
    ]
  }'

Reset DNS to Defaults

curl -X POST "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/zones/example.com/reset" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "sync": true,
    "reset_email_records": false,
    "whitelisted_record_types": ["MX", "TXT"]
  }'

Work with DNS Snapshots

# List available snapshots
curl -X GET "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/snapshots/example.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN"

# Get a specific snapshot with contents
curl -X GET "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/snapshots/example.com/42" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN"

# Restore from a snapshot
curl -X POST "https://developers.hostinger.com/api/dns/v1/snapshots/example.com/42/restore" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOSTINGER_API_TOKEN"

API Reference

Zone Records

Snapshots

Best Practices

Record Management

• Always validate records with the /validate endpoint before applying changes
• Use overwrite: false when adding records without removing existing ones
• Use overwrite: true when you want to completely replace records of a given name/type
• Use @ as the name for root domain records

Safety

• Take a snapshot (or note existing records) before making bulk changes
• Use the whitelisted_record_types parameter during reset to preserve email records (MX, TXT)
• Set reset_email_records: false when resetting if you use third-party email services

TTL

• Use lower TTL (300-600s) when planning changes for faster propagation
• Increase TTL (14400s+) for stable records to reduce DNS query load
• Remember: old cached records persist until the previous TTL expires

Email Records

• Be careful with MX records — incorrect changes break email delivery
• SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are TXT records — don't overwrite them accidentally

Troubleshooting

Records Not Propagating

• DNS propagation can take up to 48 hours (usually much less)
• Check the TTL of the old record — resolvers cache for that duration
• Use dig or nslookup to verify: dig @8.8.8.8 example.com A

422 Validation Error

• Invalid record content format (e.g., CNAME must end with .)
• Conflicting records (e.g., CNAME at root with other records)
• Invalid record type for the operation

Email Stopped Working After DNS Change

• Check MX records: dig example.com MX
• Verify SPF TXT record is intact
• Use the snapshot restore to revert if needed

Delete Not Working as Expected

• Filters match by name AND type — both must match
• If multiple records share name/type and you want to delete only some, use the update endpoint instead

See Also

The following deep-dive guide is available in this skill directory:

• email-dns-setup.md — Complete email DNS setup (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Hostinger Email)

References

• Hostinger API Documentation
• Hostinger API Changelog
• Python SDK
• TypeScript SDK
• PHP SDK
• CLI Tool