Pause a WHOIS server for an hour after it refuses a query (closes #218)

The fetcher kept one interval for every registry, so a registry that
refused a query was asked again within seconds. RIPE blocked the test
host's address that way.

The WHOIS client now asks a server nothing for an hour after the server
refuses a query. A refusal is a refused or reset connection, or an
%ERROR:201: or %ERROR:202: line. The other servers are still asked. A
lookup that needs a paused server leaves the AS stale, and counts as
neither a success nor a failure. NIC.br's hour-long skip after its
over-limit answer is now the same pause.

Model: opus-5-5

TODO.md

@@ -35,6 +35,14 @@ tested.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-11-02: after a WHOIS server refuses a query, RouteWatch asks it nothing
+  for an hour. A refusal is a refused or reset connection, or an `%ERROR:201:`
+  or `%ERROR:202:` line, with which RIPE, APNIC and AFRINIC refuse a query.
+  RouteWatch still asks the other servers. An AS whose server is paused is
+  looked up after the pause. Every lookup asks IANA first, so a pause of IANA
+  stops them all. The fetcher used to ask a server that had refused it again
+  within seconds. NIC.br's answer that RouteWatch is over its limit starts the
+  same pause (closes #218)
 - 2026-10-27: the tests of `internal/routewatch` no longer fail on a loaded
   host. Five of them gave `HandleMessage` two seconds to apply a full prefix
   batch, which under the race detector can take longer. A test now waits up to

internal/routewatch/asnfetcher.go

@@ -287,6 +287,12 @@ func (f *ASNFetcher) fetchNextStale(ctx context.Context) {
 // so the AS stays stale. An AS IANA refers to no RIR is stored with no
 // WHOIS data, so it is not looked up again until it is stale; that counts
 // as neither a success nor a failure.
+//
+// A WHOIS server that refuses a query is paused for whois.PauseTime, and
+// the other servers are still asked. A lookup that needs a paused server
+// sends it nothing. It also leaves the AS stale, and counts as neither a
+// success nor a failure. This holds for the lookups that QueueImmediate
+// asks for too.
 func (f *ASNFetcher) fetchAndUpdate(ctx context.Context, asn int) bool {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, time.Minute)
 	defer cancel()
@@ -307,6 +313,13 @@ func (f *ASNFetcher) fetchAndUpdate(ctx context.Context, asn int) bool {
 		return false
 	}
 
+	if errors.Is(err, whois.ErrPaused) {
+		f.logger.Info("Skipped WHOIS lookup, a server it needs is paused",
+			"asn", asn, "error", err)
+
+		return false
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		f.logger.Error("WHOIS lookup failed", "asn", asn, "error", err)
 		f.recordFailure()

internal/routewatch/asnfetcher_internal_test.go

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 
 	"git.eeqj.de/sneak/routewatch/internal/database"
 	"git.eeqj.de/sneak/routewatch/internal/logger"
+	"git.eeqj.de/sneak/routewatch/internal/whois"
 )
 
 // The WHOIS servers a lookup asks: IANA first, then the RIR IANA refers it
@@ -131,6 +132,70 @@ func TestFetchAndUpdateKeepsTheRowWhenTheLookupFails(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestFetchAndUpdateWaitsOutAPause looks up an AS at RIPE while RIPE refuses
+// the query, and again a second before whois.PauseTime has passed, by a clock
+// the test sets on the WHOIS client. The second lookup sends RIPE nothing,
+// leaves the AS never looked up, and counts as neither a success nor a
+// failure. A lookup at whois.PauseTime asks RIPE again.
+func TestFetchAndUpdateWaitsOutAPause(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	f, db := newFetcherWithWHOISAnswers(t, map[string]string{
+		ianaWHOISServer: ianaRefersToRIPE,
+		ripeWHOISServer: ripeAccessDenied,
+	})
+
+	ripeAsks := 0
+	dial := f.whoisClient.DialContext
+	f.whoisClient.DialContext = func(
+		ctx context.Context, network, address string,
+	) (net.Conn, error) {
+		if address == ripeWHOISServer {
+			ripeAsks++
+		}
+
+		return dial(ctx, network, address)
+	}
+
+	start := time.Date(2026, 11, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	now := start
+	f.whoisClient.Now = func() time.Time { return now }
+
+	f.fetchAndUpdate(t.Context(), testASNA)
+
+	now = start.Add(whois.PauseTime - time.Second)
+
+	f.fetchAndUpdate(t.Context(), testASNA)
+
+	if ripeAsks != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("RIPE was asked %d times during its pause, want 1", ripeAsks)
+	}
+
+	stats, err := db.GetWHOISStats(t.Context(), whoisStaleThreshold)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("GetWHOISStats: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if stats.NeverFetched != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("never looked up = %d, want 1", stats.NeverFetched)
+	}
+
+	got := f.GetStats()
+	if got.ConsecutiveFails != 1 || got.ErrorsLastHour != 1 ||
+		got.SuccessesLastHour != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("%d failures in a row, %d errors, %d successes; want 1, 1, 0",
+			got.ConsecutiveFails, got.ErrorsLastHour, got.SuccessesLastHour)
+	}
+
+	now = start.Add(whois.PauseTime)
+
+	f.fetchAndUpdate(t.Context(), testASNA)
+
+	if ripeAsks != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("RIPE was asked %d times after its pause, want 2", ripeAsks)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestRecordStepsTheInterval has the fetcher fail from its base interval of
 // 15 seconds, then succeed. Each failure makes the interval 1.5 times as
 // long, up to one minute, and each success halves it, down to one second.

internal/whois/whois.go

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+	"syscall"
 	"time"
 	"unicode/utf8"
 
@@ -70,12 +71,11 @@ const nicbrHeader = "% Copyright (c) Nic.br"
 // queries to stop the data being taken in bulk.
 const nicbrLimitReached = "Query rate limit exceeded"
 
-// NICbrSkipTime is how long the client stops asking NIC.br after NIC.br
-// answers that the client is over its query limit. NIC.br publishes
-// neither the limit nor how long it lasts. An hour outlasts a limit
-// counted per minute or per hour. The ASes looked up meanwhile get
-// NIC.br's fields when they are next refreshed.
-const NICbrSkipTime = time.Hour
+// PauseTime is how long the client asks a WHOIS server nothing after the
+// server refuses a query, as ask says. RIPE refuses an address for good
+// that keeps passing its limit, as noPersonalFlag says. An hour outlasts a
+// limit counted per minute or per hour.
+const PauseTime = time.Hour
 
 // RIR identifiers.
 const (
@@ -125,6 +125,10 @@ var (
 	errAnswerTooLarge = errors.New("WHOIS answer reached the size cap")
 )
 
+// ErrPaused is returned when a lookup needs a server that refused a query
+// less than PauseTime ago. The client sends that server nothing meanwhile.
+var ErrPaused = errors.New("WHOIS server paused after refusing a query")
+
 // ASNInfo contains parsed WHOIS information for an ASN.
 type ASNInfo struct {
 	ASN         int
@@ -156,12 +160,12 @@ type Client struct {
 
 	logger *slog.Logger
 
-	// mu guards nicbrSkipUntil.
+	// mu guards pausedUntil.
 	mu sync.Mutex
 
-	// nicbrSkipUntil is when the client next asks NIC.br, after NIC.br
-	// answered that the client is over its query limit.
-	nicbrSkipUntil time.Time
+	// pausedUntil holds, for each server that refused a query, given as
+	// host:port, when the client next asks it.
+	pausedUntil map[string]time.Time
 }
 
 // NewClient creates a new WHOIS client that logs to logger.
@@ -172,24 +176,26 @@ func NewClient(logger *slog.Logger) *Client {
 		DialContext: dialer.DialContext,
 		Now:         time.Now,
 		logger:      logger,
+		pausedUntil: make(map[string]time.Time),
 	}
 }
 
 // LookupASN asks IANA which RIR holds the given ASN, asks that RIR, and
 // returns what the RIR's answer says. When LACNIC's answer is NIC.br's, it
 // returns what NIC.br's own server says instead, unless that query fails or
-// is skipped, as askNICbr says.
+// NIC.br is paused, as askNICbr says.
 //
-// It returns ErrNoReferral when IANA refers the AS to no RIR, and another
-// error when the query to IANA or to the RIR fails, when the RIR refuses
-// it, when IANA's answer has neither a referral nor the AS's block, when
-// IANA refers the AS to a server none of the five RIRs run, or when the
-// answer carries none of ASNInfo's fields.
+// It returns ErrNoReferral when IANA refers the AS to no RIR. Its error
+// wraps ErrPaused when IANA or the RIR is paused. It returns another error
+// when the query to IANA or to the RIR fails, when the RIR refuses it, when
+// IANA's answer has neither a referral nor the AS's block, when IANA refers
+// the AS to a server none of the five RIRs run, or when the answer carries
+// none of ASNInfo's fields.
 func (c *Client) LookupASN(ctx context.Context, asn int) (*ASNInfo, error) {
 	// Query IANA first to find the authoritative RIR
 	query := fmt.Sprintf("AS%d", asn)
 
-	ianaResp, err := c.query(ctx, whoisServerIANA, query)
+	ianaResp, err := c.ask(ctx, whoisServerIANA, query)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("IANA query failed: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -211,7 +217,7 @@ func (c *Client) LookupASN(ctx context.Context, asn int) (*ASNInfo, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Query the authoritative RIR
-	rirResp, err := c.queryRIR(ctx, whoisServer, rirQuery(rir, query))
+	rirResp, err := c.ask(ctx, whoisServer, rirQuery(rir, query))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("RIR query failed: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -241,22 +247,19 @@ func (c *Client) LookupASN(ctx context.Context, asn int) (*ASNInfo, error) {
 // askNICbr returns lacnicInfo, what LACNIC's answer says, and logs a
 // warning when the query fails, when NIC.br sends the reduced answer for a
 // client over its limit, or when NIC.br's answer carries none of ASNInfo's
-// fields. After the reduced answer, it returns lacnicInfo without asking
-// NIC.br until NICbrSkipTime has passed.
+// fields. The reduced answer pauses NIC.br, as a refusal does. While NIC.br
+// is paused, askNICbr returns lacnicInfo without a warning. The ASes looked
+// up meanwhile get NIC.br's fields when they are next refreshed.
 func (c *Client) askNICbr(
 	ctx context.Context, asQuery string, lacnicInfo *ASNInfo,
 ) *ASNInfo {
 	asn := lacnicInfo.ASN
 
-	c.mu.Lock()
-	skipping := c.Now().Before(c.nicbrSkipUntil)
-	c.mu.Unlock()
-
-	if skipping {
+	answer, err := c.ask(ctx, whoisServerNICbr, asQuery)
+	if errors.Is(err, ErrPaused) {
 		return lacnicInfo
 	}
 
-	answer, err := c.query(ctx, whoisServerNICbr, asQuery)
 	if err != nil {
 		c.logger.Warn("NIC.br query failed, keeping LACNIC's fields",
 			"asn", asn, "error", err)
@@ -265,13 +268,11 @@ func (c *Client) askNICbr(
 	}
 
 	if strings.Contains(answer, nicbrLimitReached) {
-		c.mu.Lock()
-		c.nicbrSkipUntil = c.Now().Add(NICbrSkipTime)
-		c.mu.Unlock()
+		c.pause(whoisServerNICbr)
 
 		c.logger.Warn("NIC.br answered that the client is over its query "+
-			"limit, keeping LACNIC's fields and skipping NIC.br",
-			"asn", asn, "skip_for", NICbrSkipTime)
+			"limit, keeping LACNIC's fields and pausing NIC.br",
+			"asn", asn, "pause_for", PauseTime)
 
 		return lacnicInfo
 	}
@@ -309,25 +310,61 @@ func rirQuery(rir, asQuery string) string {
 	}
 }
 
-// queryRIR sends query to an RIR's server and returns the answer. An answer
-// holding an error line with which the server refuses the query is an
-// error, and the error holds that line.
-func (c *Client) queryRIR(
-	ctx context.Context, server, query string,
-) (string, error) {
+// ask sends query to server and returns the answer. A server that refuses
+// the query is paused: ask then sends it nothing until PauseTime has
+// passed, and returns an error that wraps ErrPaused instead. Each of these
+// is a refusal, and an error:
+//
+//   - a refused connection
+//   - a reset connection
+//   - an answer with one of the error lines that RIPE's database software
+//     refuses a query with. The error holds that line.
+func (c *Client) ask(ctx context.Context, server, query string) (string, error) {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	pausedUntil := c.pausedUntil[server]
+	c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	if c.Now().Before(pausedUntil) {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: %s until %s", ErrPaused, server,
+			pausedUntil.UTC().Format(time.RFC3339))
+	}
+
 	answer, err := c.query(ctx, server, query)
+	if err == nil {
+		err = checkRefusal(answer)
+	}
+
+	if errors.Is(err, errRefused) || errors.Is(err, syscall.ECONNREFUSED) ||
+		errors.Is(err, syscall.ECONNRESET) {
+		c.pause(server)
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
+	return answer, nil
+}
+
+// checkRefusal returns an error holding the first line of answer with which
+// RIPE's database software refuses a query, or nil when there is none.
+func checkRefusal(answer string) error {
 	for line := range strings.SplitSeq(answer, "\n") {
 		if strings.HasPrefix(line, accessDeniedError) ||
 			strings.HasPrefix(line, accessLimitError) {
-			return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", errRefused, line)
+			return fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", errRefused, line)
 		}
 	}
 
-	return answer, nil
+	return nil
+}
+
+// pause makes the client ask server nothing until PauseTime has passed.
+func (c *Client) pause(server string) {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	c.pausedUntil[server] = c.Now().Add(PauseTime)
 }
 
 // query performs a raw WHOIS query to the specified server and returns the

internal/whois/whois_test.go

@@ -719,8 +719,8 @@ func TestLookupASNKeepsLACNICsAnswerWhenNICbrFails(t *testing.T) {
 // TestLookupASNSkipsNICbrAfterItsLimit looks up an AS that NIC.br
 // registers three times with one client, while NIC.br answers that the
 // client is over its query limit. The first lookup asks NIC.br. The
-// second, a second before NICbrSkipTime has passed, does not. The third,
-// once NICbrSkipTime has passed, asks again. Each keeps LACNIC's fields.
+// second, a second before PauseTime has passed, does not. The third, once
+// PauseTime has passed, asks again. Each keeps LACNIC's fields.
 func TestLookupASNSkipsNICbrAfterItsLimit(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
@@ -740,8 +740,8 @@ func TestLookupASNSkipsNICbrAfterItsLimit(t *testing.T) {
 		wantAsks int
 	}{
 		{after: 0, wantAsks: 1},
-		{after: whois.NICbrSkipTime - time.Second, wantAsks: 1},
-		{after: whois.NICbrSkipTime, wantAsks: 2},
+		{after: whois.PauseTime - time.Second, wantAsks: 1},
+		{after: whois.PauseTime, wantAsks: 2},
 	} {
 		now = start.Add(step.after)
 
@@ -785,6 +785,142 @@ func TestLookupASNReportsARefusal(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// resetServer starts a TCP server on the loopback address that reads one
+// query on each connection and then resets the connection. It returns the
+// server's address.
+func resetServer(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	var listenConfig net.ListenConfig
+
+	listener, err := listenConfig.Listen(t.Context(), "tcp", "127.0.0.1:0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("listen: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = listener.Close() })
+
+	go func() {
+		for {
+			conn, err := listener.Accept()
+			if err != nil {
+				return
+			}
+
+			_, _ = bufio.NewReader(conn).ReadString('\n')
+
+			// Closing a connection whose linger time is zero resets it.
+			if tcpConn, ok := conn.(*net.TCPConn); ok {
+				_ = tcpConn.SetLinger(0)
+			}
+
+			_ = conn.Close()
+		}
+	}()
+
+	return listener.Addr().String()
+}
+
+// newRIPEClient returns a client whose fake servers send answers. It adds
+// one to *ripeAsks each time it connects to RIPE's server. When reset is
+// true, RIPE's server resets the connection instead of answering.
+func newRIPEClient(
+	t *testing.T, answers map[string]string, reset bool, ripeAsks *int,
+) *whois.Client {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	dial := fakeServers(t, answers)
+	resetAddress := resetServer(t)
+
+	client := whois.NewClient(slog.New(slog.DiscardHandler))
+	client.DialContext = func(
+		ctx context.Context, network, address string,
+	) (net.Conn, error) {
+		if address == ripeServer {
+			*ripeAsks++
+		}
+
+		if address == ripeServer && reset {
+			var dialer net.Dialer
+
+			return dialer.DialContext(ctx, network, resetAddress)
+		}
+
+		return dial(ctx, network, address)
+	}
+
+	return client
+}
+
+// TestLookupASNPausesAServerThatRefuses looks up an AS at RIPE while RIPE
+// refuses the query, in each of the ways a server refuses. A lookup of the
+// AS a second before PauseTime has passed, by a clock the test sets, fails
+// with ErrPaused and asks RIPE nothing. A lookup of an AS at APNIC still
+// succeeds then. A lookup of the AS at PauseTime asks RIPE again.
+func TestLookupASNPausesAServerThatRefuses(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	for name, test := range map[string]struct {
+		// ripeAnswer is RIPE's answer. With none, RIPE's server refuses
+		// the connection, or resets it when reset is true.
+		ripeAnswer string
+		reset      bool
+	}{
+		"access denied":      {ripeAnswer: ripeRefusal},
+		"limit reached":      {ripeAnswer: ripeLimitReached + "\n"},
+		"refused connection": {},
+		"reset connection":   {reset: true},
+	} {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			answers := map[string]string{
+				ianaQuery:      ianaReferral,
+				apnicIANAQuery: "refer:        whois.apnic.net\n",
+				apnicQuery:     apnicRecord,
+			}
+			if test.ripeAnswer != "" {
+				answers[ripeQuery] = test.ripeAnswer
+			}
+
+			ripeAsks := 0
+			client := newRIPEClient(t, answers, test.reset, &ripeAsks)
+
+			start := time.Date(2026, 11, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+			now := start
+			client.Now = func() time.Time { return now }
+
+			_, err := client.LookupASN(t.Context(), testASN)
+			if err == nil || errors.Is(err, whois.ErrPaused) {
+				t.Fatalf("LookupASN while RIPE refuses: error %v, want a "+
+					"refusal", err)
+			}
+
+			now = start.Add(whois.PauseTime - time.Second)
+
+			_, err = client.LookupASN(t.Context(), testASN)
+			if !errors.Is(err, whois.ErrPaused) || ripeAsks != 1 {
+				t.Errorf("LookupASN during the pause: error %v after %d "+
+					"queries to RIPE, want ErrPaused after 1", err, ripeAsks)
+			}
+
+			_, err = client.LookupASN(t.Context(), apnicASN)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("LookupASN of an AS at APNIC during RIPE's "+
+					"pause: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			now = start.Add(whois.PauseTime)
+
+			_, _ = client.LookupASN(t.Context(), testASN)
+			if ripeAsks != 2 {
+				t.Errorf("RIPE was asked %d times after the pause, want 2",
+					ripeAsks)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 // TestLookupASNFailsWhenTheRIRGivesNoAnswer looks up an AS IANA refers to
 // RIPE when RIPE's server refuses the connection, and when it answers only
 // with an error. Neither is a lookup that found the AS.