What to enter
A subdomain of a domain you own — for example disputes.yourdomain.com. Not the root domain.
"Use a subdomain of your domain (like disputes.yourdomain.com) — root domains can’t point a CNAME" is the most common mistake. A root domain cannot carry the kind of DNS record this needs. Pick any subdomain; "disputes" or "portal" are typical.
Then add one DNS record
After you click Connect, the page shows the exact CNAME record to add at your DNS provider. Add it exactly as shown, then click Check status. Certificates are issued automatically — you do not need to buy or install one.
Reading the status
- "Still verifying. DNS changes can take a few minutes" — normal. Wait a few minutes and check again.
- "Verification hit a snag — double-check the CNAME record matches exactly" — usually a typo, or the record was added to the wrong zone. Compare it character by character.
- "Your domain is live. Clients can use it now." — done. Client-facing links will now use your domain.
Other messages
"A domain is already connected. Disconnect it first to change it." — one domain per workspace; disconnect before switching.
"That hostname is already connected to a workspace." — someone else has it, or you connected it under another workspace.
"Custom domains are rolling out — contact us to enable yours" or "Custom domains aren’t enabled on the platform yet" — this is switched off platform-side. Nothing you can do in Settings will change it; contact us.
A message beginning "Cloudflare API error" is our infrastructure talking, not you. Retry once, then contact support with the exact text.