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DNS monitors verify that domain names resolve correctly, checking resolution time, expected records, and nameserver behavior. They catch DNS misconfigurations, propagation issues, and record tampering.
Define this in code. YAML format · Terraform

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When to use DNS monitors

  • Domain resolution — verify your domains resolve to expected IP addresses
  • Record validation — check A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SRV, SOA, CAA, PTR records
  • Nameserver health — test specific nameservers for correct responses
  • DNS propagation — detect stale records after migrations
  • DMARC/SPF/DKIM — validate email authentication TXT records

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How it works

  1. DevHelm queries the configured hostname for the specified record types from each probe region
  2. The response is evaluated against assertions (expected IPs, CNAMEs, record values, TTLs)
  3. Resolution time is measured and checked against latency assertions

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Quick example

devhelm monitors create \
  --name "Example DNS" \
  --type DNS \
  --url example.com \
  --frequency 300 \
  --regions us-east,eu-west

monitors:
  - name: Example DNS
    type: DNS
    config:
      hostname: example.com
      recordTypes: [A, AAAA]
    frequencySeconds: 300
    regions: [us-east, eu-west]
    assertions:
      - config:
          type: dns_resolves
        severity: fail
      - config:
          type: dns_expected_ips
          ips: ["93.184.216.34"]
        severity: fail
With the CLI, --url is the hostname to resolve and default record types apply. To check specific record types, use YAML config-as-code (config.recordTypes) or the API.

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Next steps

Configuration

Hostname, record types, nameservers, and all DNS assertions.

Monitoring overview

Compare all six monitor types.