Set up your sending domain (DKIM, SPF, DMARC)

Set up your sending domain

To send email reliably from WRRK using your own domain, you need to tell ISPs (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) that WRRK is allowed to send on your behalf. That takes 3 short DNS records: DKIM, SPF, and DMARC.

This guide walks through each one, with registrar-specific steps for the most common providers.

What are DKIM, SPF, and DMARC?

• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) — a cryptographic signature ISPs use to confirm that a message wasn't tampered with in transit and that it really came from your domain. WRRK gives you a TXT record (BYODKIM) or 3 CNAME records to add.
• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) — a TXT record listing who is allowed to send from your domain. You add include:amazonses.com so Gmail knows WRRK's sending infrastructure is authorized.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) — a TXT record that tells receivers what to do when DKIM/SPF fail (ignore, quarantine, or reject). You start with p=none to monitor, then tighten to p=quarantine and finally p=reject.

Without all three, your emails may land in spam or be silently dropped — especially by Gmail and Yahoo, which enforce strict requirements for bulk senders (5k+/day) as of Feb 2024.

Step 1: Add DKIM records

Navigate to Settings → Email Deliverability and enter your sending domain. WRRK generates DKIM records for you.

Registrar-specific steps:

Hostinger — Hosting → Manage → Advanced → DNS Zone Editor. Name: prefix only (e.g. abc123._domainkey), don't append the domain. Target: the full CNAME target.

GoDaddy — My Products → DNS → Add New Record → Type: CNAME. Name = prefix only (GoDaddy auto-appends domain).

Cloudflare — DNS → Records → Add Record. Proxy status must be DNS only (gray cloud). Orange cloud breaks DKIM because Cloudflare's proxy rewrites CNAMEs.

Route53 — Hosted zones → Create record. Record name: prefix only. Type: CNAME.

Namecheap, Google Domains, Squarespace — Same pattern: prefix on left, target on right. If your registrar auto-appends the domain, paste only the prefix; otherwise paste the full host.

Step 2: Add an SPF record

If you don't already have an SPF record:

Type: TXT
Name: @ (or yourdomain.com)
Value: "v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all"
TTL: 3600

If you already have an SPF record (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, etc.), add include:amazonses.com to the existing one — do not create a second SPF record. Only one SPF record per domain.

Before + after:

Before: "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"
After:  "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:amazonses.com ~all"

Step 3: Add a DMARC record

Start in monitoring mode so legitimate mail isn't blocked while you verify everything works:

Type: TXT
Name: _dmarc
Value: "v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com; pct=100; aspf=r; adkim=r"
TTL: 3600

Replace dmarc@yourdomain.com with an inbox you actually check. Reports arrive as XML; tools like dmarcian.com render them.

DMARC progression (2–4 weeks):

Step 4: Verify in WRRK

1. Return to Settings → Email Deliverability.
2. Click Verify domain.
3. WRRK polls your DNS. Typical verification time:

• Cloudflare: seconds.
• Route53: 1–5 minutes.
• GoDaddy, Namecheap, Hostinger: 15–60 minutes.
• Up to 48h in rare cases.

1. Once all three records pass, the domain flips to Verified and warmup begins automatically.

Troubleshooting

"CNAME record not found" — Check with dig abc123._domainkey.yourdomain.com CNAME +short. If empty, it hasn't propagated; if wrong, fix the target.

"Record found but points to the wrong value" — Most common cause: your registrar auto-appended the domain when it shouldn't. Remove the domain suffix from the Name; use only the prefix.

"DMARC record failed syntax check" — Quotes matter. Straight double quotes, not smart quotes from copy-paste.

"Verification stuck on one CNAME" — Cloudflare: ensure proxy is DNS-only (gray cloud). GoDaddy: check for trailing whitespace in Name/Data.

Still stuck — Email support@wrrk.ai with the exact records you added. We'll run a DNS trace and tell you what propagated.