dnsite

A website that lives entirely in its domain's DNS records. The text, the SQLite database behind the charts and (optionally) a custom SVG map are stored as TXT records; a single static loader page reads them back over DNS-over-HTTPS and renders the site in the visitor's browser. No hosting per site, nothing to deploy. SPEC.md has the record layout and the site language.

Layout

publish.py          site.txt (+db, +svg) -> zone/<host>.zone + zone/<host>.json
loader/             the universal loader (index.html, app.js, site.css, vendor/sql.js, assets/world.svg)
                    and the builder (make.html, make.js): write, add CSVs, preview, get the records
dev/mock_doh.py     local DNS-over-HTTPS stand-in + static server for the loader
tools/make_map.py   rebuilds loader/assets/world.svg + centroids.json from world-atlas
data/               datasets and the scripts that build the demo databases
examples/           demo sites: smoke test, Greek emigration, a blog, a research note (paper)
zone/               published records (generated)

Try it locally

python3 publish.py examples/smoke/site.txt --host smoke.test --db examples/smoke/smoke.db --out zone
python3 dev/mock_doh.py --port 8787
# open http://localhost:8787/?host=smoke.test

Make one in the browser

Open /make.html on any loader (https://dnsite.org/make.html): write the site, drop CSV files on the Data tab, watch the preview, then publish: straight to Cloudflare from the browser (through a same-origin pass-through that stores nothing), or download the zone file. It can also open an existing DNSite from DNS for editing.

Run the loader on your own domain (one click)

That installs the loader as a Worker in your Cloudflare account from this repo. Attach your domain under the Worker's Domains & Routes, publish your records (the builder at /make on your new loader, or publish.py), and your site runs with no dependence on dnsite.org. The Worker is worker.js + wrangler.jsonc; wrangler deploy does the same from a checkout.

Publish for real

1. Run publish.py with --host yourdomain.com and paste the lines of zone/yourdomain.com.zone into your DNS host (or import the file).
2. Point yourdomain.com at a loader (A record or CNAME).
3. Open the domain. The loader asks cloudflare-dns.com/dns-query for _dnsite.yourdomain.com and takes it from there.

Anyone can check what the site is made of: dig TXT _dnsite.yourdomain.com.

For tools and language models

loader/llms.txt (short) and loader/llms-full.txt (the spec) are served at dnsite.org for anything that wants to write a DNSite; loader/.well-known/dnsite advertises the format version. THEMES.md covers writing themes and running your own loader.

Prior art

triweb.dev (2024) stores small text pages in TXT records and reads them over DNS-over-HTTPS; DNSite adds the database, the charts and maps, equations and references, images, themes, the site language and the builder.