Stop Spending Weeks Finding Good Domains

The Problem

Finding a good domain name is a special kind of hell. You think of a name, type it into GoDaddy, watch the spinner, see “taken”, and repeat. Fifty times. Each check takes 5-10 seconds with all the UI loading, and by the end you’re questioning every naming decision you’ve ever made.

I needed a domain for a new SaaS project. I wanted something with “sonar” in it (like the *arr apps - Sonarr, Radarr, etc). Instead of manually checking domains one by one, I used Vercel’s domain API with AI agents to check 200+ variations in parallel.

The Solution: Vercel’s Bulk Domain API

Vercel has a simple API endpoint that accepts up to 50 domains at once and returns availability instantly:

curl -X POST "https://api.vercel.com/v1/registrar/domains/availability" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "domains": [
      "socialsonar.com",
      "postsonar.com",
      "feedsonar.com",
      "sonarpost.com",
      "contentsonar.com"
    ]
  }'

Response:

{
  "results": [
    {"domain": "socialsonar.com", "available": false},
    {"domain": "postsonar.com", "available": true},
    {"domain": "feedsonar.com", "available": false},
    {"domain": "sonarpost.com", "available": false},
    {"domain": "contentsonar.com", "available": true}
  ]
}

Running 10 Agents in Parallel

Here’s where it gets fun. I asked Claude Code (Anthropic’s AI-powered CLI) to run 10 agents in parallel, each checking a different batch of domain variations:

• Batch 1: Base sonar names (.com)
• Batch 2: Sonarr variations (double r)
• Batch 3: Pulse/radar/ping alternatives
• Batch 4: Scout/probe/scan alternatives
• Batch 5: .app domains
• Batch 6: .io domains
• Batch 7: Prefix variations (get, use, try, hello)
• Batch 8: Alternative TLDs (.social, .co)
• Batch 9: Wave/ripple alternatives
• Batch 10: .dev/.ai/.xyz domains

All 10 batches ran simultaneously. Total time: ~30 seconds for 200+ domains.

Getting Prices

Once you’ve got a list of available domains, you’ll want to know what they cost. Vercel’s price endpoint has you covered:

curl "https://api.vercel.com/v1/registrar/domains/postsonar.com/price" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Response:

{
  "years": 1,
  "purchasePrice": 11.25,
  "renewalPrice": 11.25,
  "transferPrice": 11.25
}

Results

From 200+ domains checked, I got back ~30 available options across different TLDs and price points. The results came back organized by availability, making it easy to filter by price or extension preference.

The API Endpoints

Check Availability (Bulk)

POST https://api.vercel.com/v1/registrar/domains/availability
Body: { "domains": ["domain1.com", "domain2.com", ...] }
Max: 50 domains per request

Check Price

GET https://api.vercel.com/v1/registrar/domains/{domain}/price
Returns: purchasePrice, renewalPrice, transferPrice

Get Token

1. Go to Vercel Dashboard
2. Settings → Tokens
3. Create new token

Buy Domain

Found the perfect domain? Skip the checkout UI and buy it directly via API. Payment is charged to the card on file in your Vercel account.

curl -X POST "https://api.vercel.com/v1/registrar/domains/mycoolproject.com/buy" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "autoRenew": true,
    "years": 1,
    "expectedPrice": 11.25,
    "contactInformation": {
      "firstName": "Jane",
      "lastName": "Doe",
      "email": "jane@example.com",
      "phone": "+1.5551234567",
      "address1": "123 Main St",
      "city": "San Francisco",
      "state": "CA",
      "zip": "94102",
      "country": "US"
    }
  }'

Response:

{
  "orderId": "ord_abc123xyz"
}

The expectedPrice field is a safety check - the purchase fails if the actual price doesn’t match, so you won’t get surprised by price changes. Pair this with the price check endpoint and you’ve got a fully automated domain acquisition pipeline.

Conclusion

Instead of clicking through registrar UIs for 30 minutes, I found the perfect domain in under a minute:

1. Generate 200+ name variations
2. Run parallel API checks with AI agents
3. Filter by availability and price
4. Buy from cheapest registrar

Time saved? About 29 minutes. Sanity preserved? Priceless.