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When you add a custom domain to Laravel Cloud, Cloud needs to confirm that you own the domain and that your DNS records are set up correctly. This process is called verification. Occasionally, verification may appear stuck or time out entirely. The usual cause is a DNS record that is misconfigured or has not finished propagating. Propagation is the process by which DNS changes spread across the internet.

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Before you start

Add your records at the provider that serves DNS for your domain. That provider is not always where you purchased the domain. For example, if you registered at GoDaddy but pointed your nameservers to Cloudflare, you must add records in Cloudflare. Run the following command to check:
The output lists nameserver hostnames (for example, anna.ns.cloudflare.com). Add your Laravel Cloud records at the provider that owns those nameservers.

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Add your DNS records

Add all records Laravel Cloud shows, including www and wildcard records if they are enabled. Pre-verification proves ownership and issues the SSL certificate before you switch traffic. If you chose pre-verification, Cloud also shows an ownership verification record and SSL validation records. Record names and values must match exactly. Even small differences, such as extra dots or missing prefixes, cause verification to fail.

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Enter only the subdomain

Most DNS providers have a host or name field that expects only the subdomain portion of a record name, not the full domain. Your provider appends the domain automatically:
  • For www.example.com, enter www
  • For _cf-custom-hostname.example.com, enter _cf-custom-hostname
  • For _acme-challenge.example.com, enter _acme-challenge
  • For example.com itself, most providers use @ or leave the host blank
If you paste the full name into this field, your provider adds the domain twice and produces _cf-custom-hostname.example.com.example.com instead of _cf-custom-hostname.example.com. After saving a record, re-open it in your provider’s dashboard and confirm the assembled name matches exactly what Laravel Cloud shows. Re-opening the record is the most effective way to catch formatting mistakes early.

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Domain control validation records

Some domains need a domain control validation (DCV) delegation record. This record is a CNAME named _acme-challenge that points to Cloudflare. Laravel Cloud uses it to issue and renew your SSL certificates. Laravel Cloud shows this record when:
  • The domain is a wildcard domain (such as *.example.com), or belongs to a domain with a wildcard enabled, including its www domain
  • You chose Cloudflare DNS and Proxy for the domain, because your Cloudflare proxy would otherwise answer certificate validation requests before they reach Laravel Cloud
Add the record at your DNS provider like any other record, and keep it in place after verification. Removing it prevents your certificate from renewing.

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Provider-specific instructions

1

Open your domain in Cloudflare

In Cloudflare, select your website and open DNS. Confirm you are editing DNS records in the correct Cloudflare account and zone.
2

Add the origin record(s) from Laravel Cloud

In Laravel Cloud, open your domain’s configuration and copy the origin records. These records tell Cloudflare where to send traffic for your domain.For the record name in Cloudflare:
  • Use @ for the root domain (for example, example.com)
  • Use www for www.example.com
  • Use * for *.example.com (wildcards), if shown
For proxy status (the orange or gray cloud icon in Cloudflare):
  • Origin records are typically safe to proxy (orange cloud) if you selected a Cloudflare proxy option in Laravel Cloud.
  • If you are unsure, start with the proxy status Laravel Cloud recommends in the UI.
3

Add the pre-verification TXT record (if shown)

If Laravel Cloud shows an ownership verification record like _cf-custom-hostname.example.com, add it as a TXT record named _cf-custom-hostname.
4

Add SSL validation records (if shown)

Laravel Cloud may show _acme-challenge records used to issue your domain’s SSL certificate. Copy them exactly as shown.If an _acme-challenge record is a CNAME, such as a DCV delegation record, keep it set to DNS only (gray cloud) at all times. If you proxy it, Laravel Cloud cannot issue or renew the SSL certificate.
If you are pre-verifying your domain and see Cloudflare-related verification errors, you may need to set the hostname’s record to DNS only until verification completes. You can re-enable the proxy afterward.
Unlike most providers, Route 53 accepts fully qualified record names, so you can paste the complete name from Laravel Cloud (for example, _cf-custom-hostname.example.com) directly into the name field. Route 53 may add a trailing dot (for example, _cf-custom-hostname.example.com.). The trailing dot is standard DNS formatting and is expected.If you are not sure you are editing the correct hosted zone, confirm that the nameservers from the dig NS check match the nameservers listed in your Route 53 hosted zone.
GoDaddy’s DNS editor calls the subdomain field Host. After saving, GoDaddy displays the full record name, so you can confirm there that it matches Laravel Cloud exactly, with no repeated or missing parts.
Namecheap’s DNS editor calls the subdomain field Host. For root-domain records, which are records for example.com itself, use @ as the host value.
Squarespace (which acquired Google Domains) has its own naming conventions, but the subdomain rule applies to any name or host field. For a wildcard *.example.com, enter *.

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Verification timeline

Most domains verify within 15 minutes once the correct DNS records are publicly visible. Propagation can take longer depending on your DNS provider and the record’s TTL (time-to-live). The TTL controls how long resolvers cache DNS results before refreshing them. Laravel Cloud automatically retries verification checks for approximately 12 hours. If verification still cannot complete after that period, the domain times out. You may then need to correct your DNS records and retry.

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Check your records in the terminal

You can verify that your DNS records are publicly visible by running dig commands in your terminal. Replace example.com with your actual domain:
If any command returns no output, that record is either missing or has not finished propagating.

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Common verification issues

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Missing www records when redirects are enabled

Laravel Cloud’s Redirect from www. setting is enabled by default and is the recommended configuration. When the setting is enabled, Laravel Cloud validates both example.com and www.example.com, so both hostnames need DNS records. If you added records only for example.com and skipped www, verification can fail. Make sure you added records for both hostnames exactly as shown in the domain configuration screen.

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Records have propagated but the domain is still verifying

If your records look correct when checked with dig or an external DNS tool, but the domain is still showing as Verifying or Timed out in Laravel Cloud, our network provider (Cloudflare) may have flagged the domain for manual review. Cloudflare can flag your domain even if it is not hosted on Cloudflare, because Laravel Cloud uses Cloudflare’s infrastructure to manage SSL certificates and routing. Cloudflare’s automated systems occasionally flag domains over potential abuse concerns. Some of these flags are false positives, and resolving them requires intervention on the Cloudflare side. If you believe a flag is affecting your domain, contact support so the team can help.

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When to contact support

If your domain is still stuck after working through this guide, contact support through the Help portal in your Laravel Cloud dashboard. To help the team diagnose the issue quickly, include: