Add a custom domain

A custom domain replaces our default f.elido.me / s.elido.me / b.elido.me in your short URLs. Most teams run a subdomain like links.acme.com or go.acme.com; full apex domains work too.

Before you start#

You need:

• A workspace on Pro or Business (Free uses our shared domain only).
• Access to your domain registrar's DNS records.
• About five minutes — most of which is waiting for DNS to propagate.

Add it in the dashboard#

1. Settings → Domains → Add domain.
2. Type the hostname. Subdomain (links.acme.com) or apex (acme.link) — both work.
3. We show you the DNS records to create. For subdomains it's a single CNAME. For apex it's two A records (Hetzner FRA + OVH FRA) and an AAAA record (IPv6).
4. Add the records at your registrar.
5. Click Verify. We poll DNS until we see your records (usually under a minute, occasionally up to an hour for slow propagation).

TLS#

Once the domain is verified, Caddy provisions a TLS certificate via Let's Encrypt automatically. The first request after verification might take 1–3 seconds while the certificate is issued; subsequent requests are immediate. We track the certificate's expiry and renew at 30 days, with alerts if renewal fails.

DNS notes#

• CAA records: if your domain has CAA records, add letsencrypt.org to the allowed CAs. Otherwise certificate issuance fails.
• Cloudflare proxy: turn the orange cloud off for the record. Proxied records hide the visitor IP, which breaks our geo analytics, and they also fight with Caddy's on-demand TLS handshake.
• AAAA / IPv6: optional but recommended. Mobile networks in Europe are increasingly IPv6-only.

Wildcards#

Business plans can configure a wildcard domain (*.links.acme.com). Useful when you want one short-link host per business unit but only one DNS record to manage.

Troubleshooting#

If the Verify button stays grey for more than an hour:

• Run dig links.acme.com CNAME from your laptop. If the record isn't there yet, your registrar hasn't propagated.
• Check that the CNAME target matches exactly what we showed you — typos are the #1 cause of stuck verifications.
• Check our status page for any ongoing DNS / TLS issues.

If you're still stuck, paste the dig output into chat and we'll figure it out together.