How to connect your own domain

In TeleportHQ, you connect a domain you own (like mybakery.com) from the Publish window. Publish your site to Production first, then, on Production, go to Custom domain → Configure, type your domain and choose the default address. TeleportHQ then shows the DNS records to add at your domain provider. Once they work, your live site opens on your own domain.

Before you start#

• Plan. Custom domains work on Trial, Pro and Premium. Each of these plans includes 1 custom domain for the workspace, and each Web App slot you buy adds 1 more. See How many custom domains can I connect?.
• Publish to Production first. A custom domain always points at your live site, so the project needs at least one Production publish. See How to publish your site.
• Own the domain. Buy it from a domain provider (for example GoDaddy, Namecheap or Cloudflare) and make sure you can sign in there and change its DNS settings. A DNS record is a setting at your domain provider that tells the internet where your domain should go.
• Role. You need a role that can publish: Owner, Admin or Designer.
• One domain per project. A project can have one custom domain, plus its www twin.

Steps#

1. Add the domain in TeleportHQ#

1. Open your project in the editor.
2. At the top right, click Publish. The Publish window opens on the Publish tab.
3. In the window's left menu, make sure Publish is selected (not Deployments). At the top, keep Production selected.
4. Below your site's TeleportHQ address, in the Custom domain section ("Publish your live site on a domain you own."), click Configure.

5. Type your domain after https://, for example mybakery.com or shop.mybakery.com. Don't type https:// yourself. If you type www.mybakery.com, TeleportHQ keeps mybakery.com and lets you choose www in the next step.
6. Click Continue.

7. If you typed a root domain like mybakery.com, the Choose default domain step opens. Pick one option (the section "Which default domain should I choose?" below explains them), then click Continue. If you typed a subdomain like shop.mybakery.com, this step is skipped.

TeleportHQ shows "Checking if custom domain can be added to your project...", then "Verifying configurations for mybakery.com ...".

2. Add the DNS records at your domain provider#

If your DNS isn't set up yet, TeleportHQ shows "Please verify and fix the following missing configurations for your domain and recheck status". Each address gets an Invalid Configuration label and a Type / Name / Value table with copy buttons. The ? button next to the message explains the step.

1. Sign in to your domain provider in a new browser tab.
2. Open the DNS settings for your domain.

3. Add each record exactly as TeleportHQ shows it. For a site on mybakery.com with the recommended www option, you add two records:

   Type	Name	Value
   A	@	76.76.21.21
   CNAME	www	cname.vercel-dns.com

4. If TeleportHQ also shows a TXT record with the name _vercel, add it too. Copy its value from TeleportHQ.
5. If TeleportHQ says "Remove the following conflicting DNS record from your DNS provider:", delete that old record at your provider.
6. Save the changes at your provider.

For every record type and what it does, see Which DNS records do I need for my domain?.

3. Check the status and publish#

1. Go back to the TeleportHQ Publish window.
2. Click Check status.
3. If the table is still there, wait a while and click Check status again. DNS changes often take a few minutes, and can take up to 48 hours. TeleportHQ also checks again each time you open the Publish window.
4. Once the table is gone, click Publish to Production. This publish tells search engines to index your own domain rather than your TeleportHQ address.

Check that it worked#

The Custom domain section now shows your domain, for example https://www.mybakery.com, with a publish status, a Remove button and a line such as "Redirect option: mybakery.com" (the address that sends visitors to it). Under your TeleportHQ address, at the top of the window, a badge reads Redirects to followed by your domain: your free TeleportHQ address now sends visitors to your own domain.

Open your domain in a new browser tab. You should see your live site.

From now on, every Publish to Production updates your domain too, as long as the Publish to custom domain box in the footer of the Publish window is ticked. It's ticked each time you open the window. If you untick it, the publish goes live on your TeleportHQ address only, and your domain keeps showing the previous version until you publish again with the box ticked.

Which default domain should I choose?#

When you connect a root domain like mybakery.com, TeleportHQ can add both mybakery.com and www.mybakery.com and send one to the other, so visitors land on one main address. The Choose default domain step lists three options:

• www.mybakery.com, the first option (marked recommended, selected by default): www.mybakery.com becomes your main address. Visitors who type mybakery.com are sent to www.mybakery.com. You need both the A record and the CNAME record.
• mybakery.com, the second option: mybakery.com becomes your main address. Visitors who type www.mybakery.com are sent to mybakery.com. You need both records.
• mybakery.com with "- no redirect", the third option: only mybakery.com is connected. www.mybakery.com won't open your site. You need only the A record.

The text next to the first two options says the opposite direction ("will redirect to"). Go by the descriptions above: the address you pick is the one visitors end up on.

Troubleshooting#

"Publish your project to production first — a custom domain always points at your live site, so there has to be one for it to reach." Click Cancel, click Publish to Production and wait until the status says Published. Then click Configure again.

The "Purchase Custom Domain Subscription" window opens when you click Configure Your workspace has used all its custom domain slots. Remove a domain from another project, or buy a slot. See How many custom domains can I connect?.

"Invalid Configuration" doesn't go away Check each record for typing mistakes, wait for DNS to update, then click Check status. For more fixes, see Why is my custom domain not working?.

Good to know#

• Staging never uses your domain. Publishing to Staging doesn't change what your domain shows. See How to test changes on a staging site.
• Remove a domain. In the Custom domain section, click Remove next to the domain. The line asks "Remove this domain?". Click Remove again to confirm, or Cancel. Your TeleportHQ address serves the site again. Publish once more so search engines index that address again, and delete the DNS records at your provider if you won't use them.
• When a trial or subscription ends, TeleportHQ removes your deployments and custom domains, so your domain stops showing the site. After you subscribe again, publish again and connect the domain again. See What happens when my trial or subscription ends?.
• HTTPS. TeleportHQ hosts sites on Vercel, which normally sets up a security certificate for your domain automatically once the DNS records work.