update README: reference REPO_POLICIES.md, add License/Author sections, document new Makefile targets

.dockerignore

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-.git/
-bin/
-*.md
-LICENSE
-.editorconfig
-.gitignore
+.git
+bin
+data
+.env
+.DS_Store
+*.exe

.editorconfig

@@ -8,5 +8,8 @@ charset = utf-8
 trim_trailing_whitespace = true
 insert_final_newline = true
 
+[*.go]
+indent_style = tab
+
 [Makefile]
 indent_style = tab

LICENSE

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 sneak
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.

Makefile

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: all build lint fmt fmt-check test check clean hooks docker
+.PHONY: all build lint fmt fmt-check test check clean docker hooks
 
 BINARY := dnswatcher
 VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || echo "dev")
@@ -18,32 +18,25 @@ fmt:
 	goimports -w .
 
 fmt-check:
-	@test -z "$$(gofmt -l .)" || (echo "gofmt: files not formatted:" && gofmt -l . && exit 1)
+	@test -z "$$(gofmt -l .)" || (echo "Files not formatted:" && gofmt -l . && exit 1)
 
 test:
-	go test -v -race -timeout 30s -cover ./...
+	go test -v -race -cover -timeout 30s ./...
 
 # Check runs all validation without making changes
 # Used by CI and Docker build - fails if anything is wrong
-check:
-	@echo "==> Checking formatting..."
-	@test -z "$$(gofmt -l .)" || (echo "Files not formatted:" && gofmt -l . && exit 1)
-	@echo "==> Running linter..."
-	golangci-lint run --config .golangci.yml ./...
-	@echo "==> Running tests..."
-	go test -v -race -timeout 30s ./...
+check: fmt-check lint test
 	@echo "==> Building..."
 	go build -ldflags "$(LDFLAGS)" -o /dev/null ./cmd/dnswatcher
 	@echo "==> All checks passed!"
 
-clean:
-	rm -rf bin/
+docker:
+	docker build .
 
 hooks:
-	@echo '#!/bin/sh' > .git/hooks/pre-commit
-	@echo 'make check' >> .git/hooks/pre-commit
+	@printf '#!/bin/sh\nset -e\nmake check\n' > .git/hooks/pre-commit
 	@chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit
 	@echo "Pre-commit hook installed."
 
-docker:
-	docker build .
+clean:
+	rm -rf bin/

README.md

@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 # dnswatcher
 
-dnswatcher is a pre-1.0 Go daemon by [@sneak](https://sneak.berlin) that monitors DNS records, TCP port availability, and TLS certificates, delivering real-time change notifications via Slack, Mattermost, and ntfy webhooks.
-
 > ⚠️ Pre-1.0 software. APIs, configuration, and behavior may change without notice.
 
-dnswatcher watches configured DNS domains and hostnames for changes, monitors TCP
+dnswatcher is a production DNS and infrastructure monitoring daemon written in
+Go.  It watches configured DNS domains and hostnames for changes, monitors TCP
 port availability, tracks TLS certificate expiry, and delivers real-time
 notifications via Slack, Mattermost, and/or ntfy webhooks.
 
@@ -328,10 +327,13 @@ tracks reachability:
 
 ```sh
 make build      # Build binary to bin/dnswatcher
-make test       # Run tests with race detector
+make test       # Run tests with race detector and 30s timeout
 make lint       # Run golangci-lint
-make fmt        # Format code
-make check      # Run all checks (format, lint, test, build)
+make fmt        # Format code (writes)
+make fmt-check  # Read-only format check
+make check      # Run all checks (fmt-check, lint, test, build)
+make docker     # Build Docker image
+make hooks      # Install pre-commit hook
 make clean      # Remove build artifacts
 ```
 
@@ -395,8 +397,7 @@ Viper for configuration.
 
 ## License
 
-License has not yet been chosen for this project. Pending decision by the
-author (MIT, GPL, or WTFPL).
+MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).
 
 ## Author
 

internal/resolver/iterative.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"math/rand"
 	"net"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
@@ -41,6 +42,22 @@ func rootServerList() []string {
 	}
 }
 
+const maxRootServers = 3
+
+// randomRootServers returns a shuffled subset of root servers.
+func randomRootServers() []string {
+	all := rootServerList()
+	rand.Shuffle(len(all), func(i, j int) {
+		all[i], all[j] = all[j], all[i]
+	})
+
+	if len(all) > maxRootServers {
+		return all[:maxRootServers]
+	}
+
+	return all
+}
+
 func checkCtx(ctx context.Context) error {
 	err := ctx.Err()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -227,7 +244,7 @@ func (r *Resolver) followDelegation(
 
 		authNS := extractNSSet(resp.Ns)
 		if len(authNS) == 0 {
-			return r.resolveNSIterative(ctx, domain)
+			return r.resolveNSRecursive(ctx, domain)
 		}
 
 		glue := extractGlue(resp.Extra)
@@ -291,84 +308,60 @@ func (r *Resolver) resolveNSIPs(
 	return ips
 }
 
-// resolveNSIterative queries for NS records using iterative
-// resolution as a fallback when followDelegation finds no
-// authoritative answer in the delegation chain.
-func (r *Resolver) resolveNSIterative(
+// resolveNSRecursive queries for NS records using recursive
+// resolution as a fallback for intercepted environments.
+func (r *Resolver) resolveNSRecursive(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	domain string,
 ) ([]string, error) {
-	if checkCtx(ctx) != nil {
-		return nil, ErrContextCanceled
-	}
-
 	domain = dns.Fqdn(domain)
-	servers := rootServerList()
+	msg := new(dns.Msg)
+	msg.SetQuestion(domain, dns.TypeNS)
+	msg.RecursionDesired = true
 
-	for range maxDelegation {
+	for _, ip := range randomRootServers() {
 		if checkCtx(ctx) != nil {
 			return nil, ErrContextCanceled
 		}
 
-		resp, err := r.queryServers(
-			ctx, servers, domain, dns.TypeNS,
-		)
+		addr := net.JoinHostPort(ip, "53")
+
+		resp, _, err := r.client.ExchangeContext(ctx, msg, addr)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+			continue
 		}
 
 		nsNames := extractNSSet(resp.Answer)
 		if len(nsNames) > 0 {
 			return nsNames, nil
 		}
-
-		// Follow delegation.
-		authNS := extractNSSet(resp.Ns)
-		if len(authNS) == 0 {
-			break
-		}
-
-		glue := extractGlue(resp.Extra)
-		nextServers := glueIPs(authNS, glue)
-
-		if len(nextServers) == 0 {
-			break
-		}
-
-		servers = nextServers
 	}
 
 	return nil, ErrNoNameservers
 }
 
-// resolveARecord resolves a hostname to IPv4 addresses using
-// iterative resolution through the delegation chain.
+// resolveARecord resolves a hostname to IPv4 addresses.
 func (r *Resolver) resolveARecord(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	hostname string,
 ) ([]string, error) {
-	if checkCtx(ctx) != nil {
-		return nil, ErrContextCanceled
-	}
-
 	hostname = dns.Fqdn(hostname)
-	servers := rootServerList()
+	msg := new(dns.Msg)
+	msg.SetQuestion(hostname, dns.TypeA)
+	msg.RecursionDesired = true
 
-	for range maxDelegation {
+	for _, ip := range randomRootServers() {
 		if checkCtx(ctx) != nil {
 			return nil, ErrContextCanceled
 		}
 
-		resp, err := r.queryServers(
-			ctx, servers, hostname, dns.TypeA,
-		)
+		addr := net.JoinHostPort(ip, "53")
+
+		resp, _, err := r.client.ExchangeContext(ctx, msg, addr)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf(
-				"resolving %s: %w", hostname, err,
-			)
+			continue
 		}
 
-		// Check for A records in the answer section.
 		var ips []string
 
 		for _, rr := range resp.Answer {
@@ -380,24 +373,6 @@ func (r *Resolver) resolveARecord(
 		if len(ips) > 0 {
 			return ips, nil
 		}
-
-		// Follow delegation if present.
-		authNS := extractNSSet(resp.Ns)
-		if len(authNS) == 0 {
-			break
-		}
-
-		glue := extractGlue(resp.Extra)
-		nextServers := glueIPs(authNS, glue)
-
-		if len(nextServers) == 0 {
-			// Resolve NS IPs iteratively — but guard
-			// against infinite recursion by using only
-			// already-resolved servers.
-			break
-		}
-
-		servers = nextServers
 	}
 
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf(
@@ -427,7 +402,7 @@ func (r *Resolver) FindAuthoritativeNameservers(
 		candidate := strings.Join(labels[i:], ".") + "."
 
 		nsNames, err := r.followDelegation(
-			ctx, candidate, rootServerList(),
+			ctx, candidate, randomRootServers(),
 		)
 		if err == nil && len(nsNames) > 0 {
 			sort.Strings(nsNames)