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Settings & Billing

Domain verification

How Winora verifies you own a domain before activating it for your workspace.

Domain verification

Before Winora activates a custom domain for your workspace, you must prove you own it. This prevents anyone from claiming a domain they don't control.

How it works

Winora uses a DNS TXT record challenge. When you save a domain, Winora generates a unique token tied to your organisation. You add that token as a TXT record in your DNS, and Winora performs a live DNS lookup to confirm it is present.

The verification record

Field Value
Type TXT
Host/Name _winora-verify.yourdomain.com
Value winora- followed by a long hex string (shown in Settings)

The _winora-verify prefix is a subdomain specifically for verification - it does not affect your main domain or any other DNS records.

Adding the record by provider

Cloudflare

  1. Open your domain in the Cloudflare dashboard.
  2. Go to DNS → Records → Add record.
  3. Set Type = TXT, Name = _winora-verify, Content = the token, TTL = Auto.

GoDaddy

  1. Open My Products → DNS for your domain.
  2. Click Add and choose TXT.
  3. Set Host = _winora-verify, TXT Value = the token, TTL = 1 hour.

Namecheap

  1. Go to Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS.
  2. Click Add New Record, choose TXT Record.
  3. Set Host = _winora-verify, Value = the token, TTL = Automatic.

Route 53 (AWS)

  1. Open your Hosted Zone in the Route 53 console.
  2. Click Create record, set type = TXT.
  3. Record name = _winora-verify.yourdomain.com (full name), Value = "token" (quoted).

DNS propagation

DNS changes do not take effect instantly. Propagation typically takes:

Scenario Time
Same region A few minutes
Global (most providers) 30 minutes - 2 hours
Worst case Up to 48 hours

Click Verify now in Settings at any time. If the record is not found yet, wait a few minutes and try again.

Verification status

Status Meaning
Pending verification Domain saved, TXT record not yet confirmed
Verified TXT record found and ownership confirmed

Once verified, the status updates immediately and you can proceed to add the CNAME record (see Custom domain).

Re-verification

If you remove and re-add a domain, Winora generates a new token. The old token is no longer valid. Add the new token as a TXT record and verify again.

Security

Each verification token is unique to your organisation and generated with a cryptographically random 20-byte value. Tokens cannot be guessed or reused across organisations.