Domain Setup & DNS

Before sending emails, you need to add and verify a sending domain. This proves you own the domain and enables proper email authentication (DKIM, SPF, DMARC).

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Why domain verification matters

Email authentication records tell receiving mail servers that Emitlo is authorized to send on your behalf. Without them:

• Emails may land in spam
• Some mail servers will reject your messages entirely
• Your sender reputation won’t build properly

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Setup walkthrough

1. Add your domain

   Go to Dashboard → Domains and click Add Domain.

   Enter your root domain (e.g. yourdomain.com) and optionally a custom MAIL FROM subdomain (defaults to mail.yourdomain.com).

2. Add DNS records

   After adding the domain, you’ll see 4 required DNS records to add at your registrar:

   Type	Name	Value	Purpose
   CNAME	abc123-1._domainkey.yourdomain.com	abc123-1.dkim.emitlo.com	DKIM key 1
   CNAME	abc123-2._domainkey.yourdomain.com	abc123-2.dkim.emitlo.com	DKIM key 2
   TXT	mail.yourdomain.com	v=spf1 include:spf.emitlo.com ~all	SPF
   MX	mail.yourdomain.com	10 return.emitlo.com	Bounce routing

   The exact values are shown in your dashboard after adding the domain.

3. Add DMARC (recommended)

   Add this optional TXT record to protect your domain from spoofing:

   Type:  TXT
   Name:  _dmarc.yourdomain.com
   Value: v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc@emitlo.com

4. Verify

   Click Verify Now in the dashboard. DNS propagation typically takes a few minutes but can take up to 48 hours.

   Once all records are detected, the domain status changes to Verified ✅.

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DNS record details

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

Emitlo uses CNAME-based DKIM delegation — you add two CNAME records pointing to Emitlo’s DNS. This means Emitlo manages the actual DKIM TXT records, and key rotation is transparent to you.

Each domain gets a unique DKIM identifier. Your CNAME records never change, even when keys are rotated.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

The SPF record authorizes Emitlo’s mail servers to send on behalf of your MAIL FROM subdomain:

v=spf1 include:spf.emitlo.com ~all

Note

The SPF record goes on your MAIL FROM subdomain (e.g. mail.yourdomain.com), not your root domain. This is intentional — it avoids conflicts with your existing root domain SPF record.

MX (Mail Exchange)

The MX record on your MAIL FROM subdomain routes bounce notifications back to Emitlo for processing. This is required for accurate bounce tracking.

DMARC

DMARC ties together DKIM and SPF to protect your domain from spoofing. We recommend starting with p=quarantine and moving to p=reject once you’ve confirmed all legitimate sending sources are authenticated.

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Verification statuses

Status	Description
pending	Domain added, DNS records not yet detected
verified	All required records detected and valid
failed	One or more records missing or incorrect
expired	Domain was pending for more than 72 hours

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Troubleshooting

Records not detected after 30 minutes?

Use a DNS lookup tool to check propagation:

dig CNAME abc123-1._domainkey.yourdomain.com
dig TXT mail.yourdomain.com
dig MX mail.yourdomain.com

SPF record conflict?

If your root domain already has an SPF record, don’t add another one — SPF only allows one TXT record per name. The Emitlo SPF record goes on your MAIL FROM subdomain, not your root domain, so there’s no conflict.

DMARC alignment?

For DMARC to pass, the From: domain in your emails must match the domain in your DKIM signature. Emitlo handles this automatically when you use a verified domain.