Custom email domains for notifications

Your envelope creators and recipients should recognize who sent the email the moment it lands in their inbox. By default, Verdocs sends notifications from notifications@verdocs.com. With custom email domains, you can send from an address on your own domain, e.g. 'Acme Documents <notifications@notify.acme.com>' so every notification reflects your brand.

Custom email domains are configured via Brands. When an envelope is sent, Verdocs resolves the brand from the envelope assignment, your organization's default brand, or (in parent/child org hierarchies) a parent organization's default brand. You may configure custom domains either via the Verdocs Web App (Settings → Brands → {brand} → Sender Email) or via our REST API / SDKs.

Note: The custom From address is used only when that brand's domain is fully verified; until then, notifications continue to send from the platform default.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• Admin or Owner access in your organization, or an API token for same.
• At least one Brand defined. Navigate to Settings → Brands, or call Create Brand.
• The ability to add custom DNS records for the domain or subdomain you want to send from.
• A sending domain that is not a subdomain of verdocs.com or verdocs.io (these are reserved).

We strongly recommend using a dedicated subdomain such as notify.acme.com rather than your primary corporate domain (acme.com). A dedicated subdomain isolates your notification sending reputation from everyday business email - if deliverability issues arise on the notification channel, they won't affect mail sent from your main domain.

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How it works

At a high level, you tell us which subdomain and sender address to use, then add DNS records that we provide in response (to prove that you control the domain). We will periodically check for these records to be created, then complete the verification process. Once all checks pass, notifications for communications related to the selected Brand will automatically use your custom address.

Step 1 - Configure the sender identity

You must provide four pieces of information when adding an email domain:

This can be done via the Verdocs web application or the Verdocs API.

After you submit, Verdocs registers the domain with our email infrastructure and returns your brand record with email_domain_status set to pending. The response also includes email_dkim_tokens - three unique tokens you will use to create DKIM CNAME records.

The resulting From address recipients, once verified, will see:

'{display_name or brand/org name} <{local_part}@{subdomain}>'

For example: 'Acme Documents <notifications@notify.acme.com>'.

Step 2 - Add DNS records

Add the following records in your DNS provider. All three record types are required before the domain becomes active.

SPF (TXT)

Authorizes Verdocs' mail servers to send on behalf of your domain.

If your domain already has an SPF TXT record on that host, do not create a second one. Instead, add include:amazonses.com to your existing SPF record.

DKIM (3× CNAME)

Adds a cryptographic signature to outgoing mail. Verdocs provides three tokens in email_dkim_tokens after you add the domain. Create one CNAME per token:

Repeat for all three tokens.

DMARC (TXT)

Tells receiving mail servers how to handle messages that fail SPF or DKIM checks.

Verification requires both v=DMARC1 and p=reject in the record value. You can optionally append an aggregate reporting address, for example:

v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:dmarc-reports@acme.com

Because the sending subdomain is dedicated to Verdocs notifications, p=reject is appropriate: if DMARC fails, something is misconfigured and the message should not be delivered.

Step 3 - Verify DNS

Once your DNS records are in place, trigger a verification check. Verdocs evaluates three independent checks:

When all three are true, email_domain_status becomes verified and email_domain_verified_at is set to the current timestamp.

You can verify on demand at any time. Verdocs also re-checks automatically:

• Pending domains - checked approximately every 15 minutes until verified.
• Verified domains - re-checked daily. If a previously passing record is removed, status moves to suspended and sending reverts to the platform default until DNS is fixed and verification passes again.

DNS changes typically propagate within 15 - 60 minutes, though some providers can take up to 48 hours.

Step 4 - Send notifications from your domain

Once verified, envelope notifications tied to that brand use your custom From address. The display name comes from email_display_name if set; otherwise Verdocs uses the envelope sender name, organization name, or profile name depending on context.

If verification is incomplete (pending) or a re-check fails (suspended), Verdocs continues sending from notifications@verdocs.com - your recipients are not left without mail, but they will see the platform sender until DNS is healthy again.

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Status lifecycle

Removing a domain clears all email fields (email_domain, email_local_part, email_display_name, email_reply_to, verification flags, DKIM tokens, and timestamps) and deletes the registered domain identity. This is immediate - there is no grace period.

Constraints to be aware of:

• One email domain per brand. Remove the existing domain before adding a different one.
• Each email_domain value can only be registered to one brand across the entire Verdocs platform.
• Subdomains of verdocs.com and verdocs.io cannot be used.
• The sending domain must be a valid multi-label domain (e.g. notify.acme.com, not a single label like acme).

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How notifications choose a brand

Not every notification is tied to the same brand. Verdocs resolves the brand in this order:

1. The brand assigned to the envelope (if set when the envelope was created).
2. Your organization's default brand (if configured).
3. In parent/child organization hierarchies, the parent organization's default brand.

The custom email domain on the resolved brand is used for that notification's From address - but only when that brand's domain is fully verified as described above. Brand visual settings (logo, colors) follow the same resolution path independently of email domain status.

For more on how notifications behave generally - including when Verdocs sends email versus when you handle delivery yourself - see Controlling workflow behaviors.