Terminal first

Most API tools assume a browser. Open the docs, find the endpoint, copy a curl command, paste it somewhere. That is fine the first time. It is friction every time after. The Datpaq CLI skips all of it. Install it, run one command, get WHOIS, DNS, MX, or domain data back in the terminal you already have open.

The numbers before we asked for them

In the weeks since it went up on npm, the CLI has logged more than 300 downloads a week, with no marketing behind it. We did not post about it, run ads, or ask anyone to try it. Someone found it, used it, and told someone else. That is a better signal than any launch metric we could have chased.

The same identity model, just closer to the terminal

DATPAQ was constructed identity first from day one. Every call, human or agent, gets verified the same way at the gateway. A lot of CLIs wrapping an API are just a shared key sitting in an environment variable. Ours is not. The CLI carries the same per call identity and verification as the rest of the platform, because it was constructed agent native from the start, not bolted onto for them after the fact.

What we fixed, and what is next

We recently fixed a parameter mismatch in the MX Lookup command and a routing failure affecting DNS queries. Both are resolved. With the CLI stable and already finding an audience on its own, we are pushing it more deliberately from here.

Install it

Two ways in, depending on what you already have.

npm

npm install -g datpaq

Go

go install github.com/datpaq/cli/cmd/datpaq@latest

Homebrew is coming once the tap is published.

Authenticate

Browser SSO for everyday use. The CLI handles the localhost callback and stores the credential for you.

datpaq auth login

For headless sessions, paste a key from the dashboard:

datpaq auth set-token YOUR_API_KEY

For CI and secret managers, use the environment variable:

export DATPAQ_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY

Confirm it works

datpaq doctor

That checks auth, connectivity, and local setup, so you are not debugging an integration when the real problem is a missing token.

Run your first lookup

datpaq dns --domain example.com --json

Add --agent instead of --json when a script or agent is consuming the output — compact JSON, non-interactive defaults, no color.

From there, datpaq api lists every active interface, and datpaq sample <api> <method> --lang py prints a ready-to-run snippet in curl, JavaScript, Python, or Go.

Try a lookup and tell us what breaks

Full command reference is at datpaq.com/docs/cli, and the source is on GitHub.