Free agency tools / SPF Inspector
SPF record inspector & lookup counter
SPF silently breaks once a record needs more than 10 DNS lookups. This expands every include and redirect into a tree and counts the lookups, so you can see exactly which service is spending your budget.
Results for
0 of 10 DNS lookups used
How it works
- 1Enter a domain — we fetch its SPF record.
- 2Every include and redirect is expanded recursively into a tree.
- 3We count the DNS-querying mechanisms against the RFC 7208 limit of 10 and flag where the budget goes.
Frequently asked
Why is there a 10-lookup limit?
SPF caps DNS-querying mechanisms at 10; exceed it and receivers return a permerror, effectively failing SPF.
What counts toward the limit?
include, a, mx, ptr, exists and the redirect modifier — each is one lookup, and includes bring their own nested lookups.
What happens if I'm over?
Trim or flatten includes. Consolidating providers or using an SPF-flattening service brings you back under 10.