dns-sync

DNS as code. One binary.

Sync DNS records across providers from YAML zone files — no runtime, no dependencies.

dns-sync plan  -c config.yaml   # Preview changes
dns-sync apply -c config.yaml   # Apply changes

---

What it does

You define your DNS zones as YAML files. dns-sync reads them and syncs your DNS providers to match — creating, updating, or deleting records as needed.

It works like Terraform for DNS: plan shows what would change, apply makes it happen.

---

Features

Feature	Description
DNS sync	Sync records across providers from YAML zone files — creates, updates, or deletes to match desired state
Plan before applying	dns-sync plan shows every change that would be made before a single record is touched
Multi-zone, single source	One zone file applied to multiple domains — define records once, deploy everywhere
Multi-provider targets	Sync the same records to Cloudflare, Route 53, GCP Cloud DNS, and more simultaneously
GitOps workflow	Open a PR → get a diff comment → merge to apply. One uses: line in GitHub Actions is all it takes
Saved plan artifacts	--save-plan captures a signed plan; --from-plan applies exactly what was reviewed — no re-reads, no drift
Live provider comparison	dns-sync diff compares two providers directly without a zone file
Import from providers	dns-sync import pulls live records from any provider into a local YAML zone file
Validation	dns-sync validate catches config and zone file errors before any network call is made
JSON Schema	Zone files and config.yaml ship with JSON Schemas — get autocomplete and inline errors in VS Code
Single binary	One self-contained binary, no runtime or dependencies — download and run
Cross-platform	Native binaries for Linux (x64), macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel)

---

Supported providers

Provider	Type	Read	Write
YAML files	yaml	✓	—
Cloudflare	cloudflare	✓	✓
GCP Cloud DNS	gcp_cloud_dns	✓	✓
Porkbun	porkbun	✓	✓
AWS Route 53	route53	✓	✓

Supported record types: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, CAA, SRV

For the full list including planned and unsupported types, see Record Types in the wiki.

---

Install

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/cl8dep/dns-sync/releases/latest/download/dns-sync-darwin-arm64 \
  -o /usr/local/bin/dns-sync && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/dns-sync

# Linux
curl -fsSL https://github.com/cl8dep/dns-sync/releases/latest/download/dns-sync-linux-x64 \
  -o /usr/local/bin/dns-sync && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/dns-sync

Homebrew: brew install cl8dep/tap/dns-sync

---

Documentation

• Getting Started — install, first config, first sync
• Configuration Reference — all providers and options
• Zone File Format — record types and syntax
• CI/CD Integration — GitHub Actions, GitOps workflow

---

Performance

Measured with hyperfine on ubuntu-latest (linux/x64) — dns-sync 0.0.0-dev+b5377a7e0398c19c4ce40847005568299df34c41, octoDNS 1.16.0. Updated 2026-04-19.

Startup time (--help)

Command	Mean [ms]	Min [ms]	Max [ms]	Relative
dns-sync	95.6 ± 2.7	93.5	106.4	1.00
octodns-sync	117.3 ± 2.0	114.5	121.5	1.23 ± 0.04

Plan time (YAML → YAML, no network)

Command	Mean [ms]	Min [ms]	Max [ms]	Relative
dns-sync	142.6 ± 3.4	137.3	150.4	1.00
octodns-sync	164.5 ± 2.9	159.8	171.8	1.15 ± 0.03

---

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT — see LICENSE