Email Deliverability
Add DNS records in Cloudflare
Exact steps for Cloudflare — and the one setting that trips everyone up.
Get to your DNS settings
- Log in to Cloudflare and select your domain.
- Open “DNS → Records”.
- Click “Add record”, choose the type, and enter Name and Content.
- Save.
The Cloudflare gotcha: DKIM and return-path CNAME records must be set to “DNS only” (grey cloud), NOT “Proxied” (orange cloud). A proxied CNAME makes Cloudflare hand back its own address instead of ours, so verification stays “pending” forever. Click the cloud icon until it’s grey.
The Name field
Cloudflare adds your domain automatically — use "@" for the root and "focal._domainkey" for DKIM. Paste TXT values as-is (no extra quotes).
The #1 mistake: don’t type your full domain in the host/name field. When we ask for a record named "focal._domainkey.yourdomain.com", you enter only "focal._domainkey". Almost every DNS provider adds your domain back on automatically — type the whole thing and you get "focal._domainkey.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com", which silently fails. Enter only the part before your domain, and use "@" (or leave it blank — see your provider below) for the root.
Leave TTL on “Auto”.