Manage domains

Open an App and select Domains. Each domain has a setup mode, required DNS records, and a status. How domains, traffic controls, and the WAF fit together explains why DNS ownership and certificate readiness are separate steps.

Confirm permissions and prerequisites

Only Team owners and admins can add, edit, re-sync, or remove domains and delegated-zone records.

Before adding a production hostname:

• confirm you control the domain’s registrar or current DNS provider;
• remove conflicting records for the exact hostname;
• decide whether synsmarts or your existing provider will be authoritative;
• inventory email, redirects, webhooks, payment callbacks, and integrations that use the hostname;
• for Magento multistore, create the target website in Magento before binding its domain.

The first custom domain becomes the App’s primary domain. synsmarts also claims the corresponding apex or www hostname as a redirect where applicable. You can’t change the primary domain after adding it, so add the hostname that should own the App’s email identity first.

A redirect row is marked www → apex when the www hostname forwards to the primary apex domain.

Choose how DNS is managed

• Delegate DNS to synsmarts lets synsmarts host the DNS zone and manage platform records.
• Keep your own DNS leaves the zone with your current provider. You create the records shown by the portal.

Choose one authority for the zone. Don’t create competing records at multiple providers.

Add a domain

1. Select Add domain.
2. Enter the hostname exactly as customers will use it.
3. Choose Delegate DNS to synsmarts or Keep your own DNS.
4. Select Add domain.

The new row appears immediately while setup continues. Use the row’s status and instructions. Each row is labeled Delegated DNS or Your DNS; the add form’s current selection doesn’t change existing rows.

Each row also reports Email deliverability (SES DKIM). For email setup and troubleshooting, see Manage App email.

Set up delegated DNS

1. Add the domain with Delegate DNS to synsmarts.
2. Wait for the assigned nameservers to appear.
3. At the registrar, replace the domain’s current nameservers with every nameserver shown by the portal.
4. Keep the portal open while delegation propagates.
5. When the row becomes Active, verify HTTPS and email deliverability.

You can manage customer DNS records while delegation is pending. They begin resolving after delegation completes. Platform-managed site and email records are protected from customer deletion.

If status becomes Delegation lost, restore the displayed nameservers at the registrar and select Re-sync. If delegation times out, confirm the nameserver set has fully propagated before re-syncing.

Set up external DNS

1. Add the domain with Keep your own DNS.
2. For a subdomain, create the displayed CNAME record.
3. For an apex or root domain that can’t use CNAME flattening, create every displayed A record instead.
4. Add the displayed email records for the primary domain.
5. Remove conflicting A, AAAA, or CNAME records for the same hostname.
6. Wait for Verifying your DNS, Issuing certificate, and then Active.

While the certificate is being issued, visitors to the domain see a platform “Your site is being set up” page that refreshes on its own. It’s separate from your maintenance page, and it clears within a minute or two of the domain turning Active.

Copy every name and value exactly. Public resolvers must see the new answer; your local computer can continue using an old cached answer.

If certificate issuance reports a DNS restriction, review the domain’s CAA records and certificate-authority policy. After correcting DNS, select Re-sync.

Understand domain status

Delegated DNS rows can show:

• Saving… while the add request is being accepted.
• Provisioning… while synsmarts creates the zone.
• Awaiting delegation while the registrar still needs the displayed nameservers.
• Active when delegation and platform setup are complete.
• Delegation lost when public nameservers no longer point to synsmarts.
• Delegation timed out when delegation didn’t complete in time.
• Failed when setup couldn’t complete. Follow the row’s message: retry temporary provider failures with Re-sync, but contact support for an account limit or credential failure.
• Removing or Deleted while or after the zone is removed.

External DNS rows can show:

• Saving… while the add request is being accepted.
• Provisioning… before the direct-DNS status is available.
• Verifying your DNS… while synsmarts waits for the CNAME or A records.
• DNS detected or Issuing certificate after DNS points correctly.
• Active when HTTPS serving is ready.
• Certificate error when issuance or renewal needs correction.
• Removed after an abandoned or deleted claim is cleaned up.

Verify the domain

The domain remains pending while public DNS, routing, and certificate checks complete. Propagation time depends on the previous record’s TTL and the DNS provider.

Use Re-sync when a row is stuck, delegation was lost, DNS was corrected, or certificate setup failed. Don’t repeatedly restart healthy Issuing certificate work.

Active means the hostname is serving over HTTPS. If a live external-DNS domain says the latest certificate renewal failed, current HTTPS serving can continue, but the renewal problem must be corrected before certificate expiry.

Verify the hostname from more than one network:

1. Open the hostname over HTTPS and confirm the expected App.
2. Confirm the certificate is valid for the hostname.
3. Confirm the apex and www behavior is correct.
4. Test login, checkout, webhooks, payment callbacks, and any allowlists that use the hostname.
5. For the primary domain, confirm email authentication becomes verified and test delivery to an external mailbox.

Review records

For delegated DNS, select Manage DNS records. Platform-managed records are read-only. Customer-managed records such as additional MX, TXT, CNAME, SRV, or CAA records can be added or edited when they don’t collide with protected site or email records.

Records can be staged while delegation is pending or lost. They don’t resolve publicly until the registrar points the zone to the displayed nameservers.

Bind a Magento store domain

After a Magento App has a primary domain:

1. Select Add domain.
2. Open Advanced: bind to a specific store (multistore).
3. Enter the existing Magento Website Code from Stores > All Stores.
4. Choose the DNS mode and add the domain.

The code accepts lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores. synsmarts routes the hostname to that Magento website but doesn’t create the website. An incorrect or deleted code causes Magento to report that the requested store wasn’t found. Use Edit store to correct the binding.

Remove a domain

Confirm that no customers, redirects, integrations, or certificates still depend on the hostname before removing it.

Removing the only custom domain returns the App to its synsmarts.io address and email identity. For external DNS, remove the old provider record after the portal confirms removal. For delegated DNS, copy any customer-managed records that must survive elsewhere before changing nameservers.

When an App is deleted, its domains and hosted DNS zones are removed with it, even if your registrar or DNS records still point at synsmarts. The Team’s owners and admins receive an email listing each affected domain and the records that existed at removal so they can update DNS.

Caution

After cleanup, the hostname can be claimed by another Team. Remove or replace dangling nameserver, CNAME, A, and AAAA records immediately to close the takeover window.

Recover from a problem

• If domains can’t be loaded, reload the page before adding or removing anything.
• If setup is taking longer than expected, follow the row’s instructions and select Re-sync when it appears. The control is hidden during the initial setup grace period and healthy certificate issuance, and is briefly disabled after use.
• If a domain is already claimed, confirm it isn’t attached to another App or Team.
• If Magento reports that the requested store wasn’t found, select Edit store and correct the Website Code.
• If a delegated zone is active but a customer-managed record is wrong, select Manage DNS records. Platform-managed records can’t be replaced.
• If a domain remains unavailable after DNS and certificate checks are correct, open an App-scoped support request.