Verify an email domain

Verification proves to Atender (and to receiving mail servers) that you actually own the domain. Until verification succeeds, Atender will not send or receive on it.

Before you start

• The domain is already added in Settings → Email and shows as Pending. If not, add it first.
• Access to your DNS provider’s management console.
• The list of records Atender generated for this domain. They’re visible when you expand the domain row in Settings → Email.

Steps

1. Open Settings → Email and click the Pending domain row to reveal the DNS records.
2. In another tab, open your DNS provider’s dashboard for this domain.
3. Add each record Atender lists. For most providers this is a series of “Add record” actions:
   The MX record routes incoming mail to Mailgun’s servers.
   The CNAME record handles tracking and authentication endpoints.
   The TXT records carry SPF and DKIM signatures that prove your sending identity.

See Required DNS records for what each record does. 4. Save each record at your DNS provider. 5. Return to Settings → Email. 6. Click Check verification on the domain row.

Atender asks Mailgun to re-check your DNS records. If everything is in place, the status flips from Pending to Active.

Verify it worked

You should see:

• The status badge change from Pending to Active.
• The domain becomes selectable as a sending domain in the sending identity configuration.
• New customer emails to addresses on the domain start arriving as conversations in the inbox.

How long does it take

DNS changes propagate at the speed of caches refreshing across the internet — usually within minutes, but it can take a few hours, occasionally up to 24, depending on your DNS provider and TTL settings.

Atender doesn’t poll continuously. Re-check from the domain row whenever you want a fresh status, or wait a few minutes and reload the page.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: Status stays Pending after several hours. Fix: Double-check that every record Atender listed is present and copied exactly. A common pitfall is adding only the MX records and forgetting the CNAME or TXT records — the domain will not verify partial.

• Symptom: Status flipped to Failed. Fix: Open the domain row to see what Mailgun reported. The most common cause is a typo in one of the TXT records. Correct the record at your DNS provider and click Check verification again. See Domain verification failed.

• Symptom: You added the records but they don’t appear in DNS lookup tools. Fix: Some DNS providers auto-append the domain when you enter a hostname. If you typed mail._domainkey.acme.com into a field that already adds .acme.com, you’d end up with mail._domainkey.acme.com.acme.com. Check what your provider actually saved.

See also

• Required DNS records
• Domain statuses
• Domain verification failed