Chimp
Connecting your own domain
Put your website or app on a domain you own, such as www.example.com, as well as its free address. You add two records at the company that runs your domain's DNS (a bare domain such as example.com needs one more); Chimp checks them, gets the HTTPS certificate and connects the domain to the app. With the records in place it usually takes a minute or two.
Open the app and click Domain at the top right. It shows the app's free address (yourapp.veragen.app) with Copy, and Connect a domain.
> [!NOTE] > You can connect a domain once the app has its address, after its first build. It shows the app once the app is published. Owners, admins and the person who started the app connect and remove domains; everyone else sees them.
Connect a domain
- Type your domain under Connect a domain, such as www.example.com or example.com. Pasting a whole web address is fine: Chimp keeps only the domain and tells you.
- For www.example.com or example.com, Chimp offers both www.example.com (the main address) and example.com (it forwards to www). Untick one if you want only the other. Press Connect.
- Each domain shows the records to add, with Copy buttons. Sign in where your domain's DNS is managed (often where you bought the domain) and add them exactly as shown.
- Chimp checks the records by itself, every minute at first, and the status changes as each step is done. Check now looks straight away.
The records
| TXT | Name _veragen (for www.example.com, _veragen.www), value vg-verify= followed by a code. It proves the domain is yours. The code is different for every domain and app. Keep the record in place after the domain is live. |
|---|---|
| CNAME | Name www (or the part before your domain), value the address Chimp shows, which ends in .cloudfront.net. It sends visitors to the app. Copy it from the table: it is not the app's free address, and a CNAME to the free address does not work. A name with a CNAME can have no other record, so delete any A or AAAA record for that name first. |
| ALIAS | For a bare domain (example.com, without www). A bare domain cannot have a CNAME, so use your DNS provider's ALIAS, ANAME or CNAME-flattening record with the same .cloudfront.net value. On Amazon Route 53 it is an A record with Alias switched on, pointing at that CloudFront address. |
| Certificate CNAME (bare domain only) | Once the TXT and ALIAS records are found, a bare domain shows one more row: a CNAME whose name starts with an underscore and whose value ends in acm-validations.aws. It lets the HTTPS certificate for the bare domain be issued, usually within a minute or two of being seen, and renewed later, so keep it in place. A www domain needs no such record: its certificate is issued through the CNAME. |
Some DNS providers want the full name (_veragen.www.example.com) and some only the part before the domain (_veragen.www); the table shows both. New records can take from a few minutes to an hour to be seen.
A bare domain without ALIAS
If your DNS provider has no ALIAS, ANAME or flattening record, connect only www and use your registrar's domain forwarding to send example.com to https://www.example.com. The wording differs between registrars. Some forwarders cannot do HTTPS, so https://example.com may show a warning in a browser; an ALIAS record avoids that.
What each status means
| Waiting for DNS | Chimp cannot see the records yet, or they say something else. The reason under it says exactly what is missing. |
|---|---|
| Connecting | Both records are right, and Chimp is connecting the domain. |
| Getting your certificate | Connected. The HTTPS certificate is being issued, usually within a minute or two (for a bare domain, once its certificate CNAME is in place). Chimp also checks the address really shows the app before calling it live. |
| Live | The domain shows the app, with HTTPS. Before the app is published it says Connected: it shows the app once you publish it. |
| Problem | Something needs a change; the reason and the fix are shown. Most clear by themselves once the change is made. |
| Removing | Removed by you, or the app was deleted. The domain stops answering within seconds; the rest usually finishes within a minute or two. |
| Removed | Gone. Owners and admins see it under Removed for 90 days. |
| Stopped checking | Nothing correct was seen for 7 days, so Chimp stopped looking. Press Check now to start again, or remove it. |
Reasons and what to do
| TXT record not found yet | Add the TXT record. New records can take up to an hour to be seen. |
|---|---|
| TXT record has another value | The _veragen record exists but its value is not this one. Copy the value again: it is different for every domain and app. |
| CNAME record not found yet | Add the CNAME record. |
| CNAME record points somewhere else | Change the CNAME's value to the .cloudfront.net address in the table. The reason shows where it points now (a CNAME to the app's free address shows here too). |
| An A record is in the way | Delete the A and AAAA records for that name, then add the CNAME. |
| A bare domain cannot have a CNAME | Use an ALIAS, ANAME or flattening record, or forward the bare domain to www (above). |
| ALIAS record not found yet | Add the ALIAS record for the bare domain (ANAME or CNAME flattening at some providers; on Route 53 an A record with Alias on). If the bare domain has an A record for another server, replace it. |
| Add the certificate record | A bare domain needs one more record for its HTTPS certificate: add the CNAME shown in the table (its value ends in acm-validations.aws). The certificate is issued within a minute or two of it being seen. Keep it in place. |
| DNS could not be read just now | Nothing to do. Chimp looks again by itself. |
| Connected to another app | The domain is connected to another app. Remove it there first. If the domain is yours and you did not connect it, contact VeraGen support (hello@veragen.ai). |
| Still being removed from another app | You are moving it from another of your apps. Chimp connects it here once that finishes, usually within minutes. |
| The certificate could not be issued | Check the CNAME (or, for a bare domain, the ALIAS and the certificate CNAME) is still in place and press Check now. |
| A CAA record blocks the certificate | Your domain has CAA records and none allows Amazon, which issues the certificate. Add a CAA record 0 issue "amazon.com" and keep your others. |
| The connection was lost | Chimp connects it again by itself while the records are in place. |
| The app has been taken down | VeraGen took the app down, so its domains are switched off. Contact VeraGen support. |
| This app has as many domains as it can | Remove one of the app's domains first. |
| The apps platform did not answer | Nothing to do. Chimp tries again by itself. |
| Not showing the app yet | The domain is connected but its address does not show the app yet. This usually clears within minutes; check the CNAME is still in place. |
| Its owner left the account | The person who added the domain can no longer work in this account. Remove it and connect it again. |
| The DNS records no longer point here | The CNAME (or, for a bare domain, the ALIAS) was changed or deleted, so the domain no longer shows the app. Put it back with the value in the table, or remove the domain if you moved it elsewhere on purpose. See If the records are removed below. |
| Removed: its records were gone for 14 days | Chimp removed the domain because its records had not pointed here for 14 days. Connect it again whenever you like. |
| Removed by VeraGen | VeraGen removed the domain from the app, for example because someone else proved the domain is theirs. Contact VeraGen support if you think that is wrong. |
The main address
When www and the bare domain are both connected, one is the Main address and the other forwards to it, keeping the page and anything after it in the address. www is the main one unless you press Make this the main address on the other. With more domains, every other one forwards to the main address.
Moving a site that is live somewhere else
The certificate for a www domain is issued once its CNAME points here, so a site that is live elsewhere can show a certificate warning for a minute or two while you switch. Do it when a short interruption is fine, or connect www first, check it, then move the bare domain.
If the records are removed
Chimp keeps checking a live domain's records every day. If the CNAME (or the bare domain's ALIAS) stops pointing here, the domain shows Problem with The DNS records no longer point here and how many days are left, and the person who started the app and the account's owners and admins get an email straight away and again on day 7. Put the records back and the domain carries on as before. If nothing changes, Chimp removes the domain from the app after 14 days and emails them again, so a domain you have moved elsewhere is not kept connected here.
Removing, publishing and deleting
- Remove stops the domain showing the app at once. Delete its records at your DNS provider afterwards. You can connect it again later, to this app or another.
- Take it offline (Release → Versions) keeps your domains connected: they say there is no app there until you publish again, and no one else can connect them.
- Delete this app removes all of its domains.
- If VeraGen takes an app down, its domains are switched off with it: they stop answering.
How many, and which plans
Domain shows how many domains each app can have; usually two, www and the bare domain. Which accounts can connect their own domain depends on its plan. If your account cannot yet, Domain says why instead of offering Connect a domain.
Chat and store on your domain
The app's chatbot and, for an online store, its store work on your domain as soon as it is live. You do not add your domain anywhere in Tellagent or Mercato. When you remove the domain they stop answering there.
Signed in to VeraGen? Press Guide me on any screen for a walkthrough, or ask Odin.