Add your first domain
Getting a domain into DMARCmetric takes three short steps and one DNS record. Nothing about your email delivery changes — the record you publish only switches on DMARC reporting and points the reports at your workspace. This guide walks the exact flow you'll see in the product.
Before you start
You need two things:
- A DMARCmetric account. Sign up free — no credit card. After you submit the form, we send a verification link to your address; click it, then sign in.
- Access to your domain's DNS. That means whoever manages records at your DNS provider — Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Route 53, your registrar's control panel — or the ability to file a one-line ticket with them.
Once you're signed in for the first time, the setup wizard takes over. It has three steps: Workspace, Domain and DNS.
Step 1: name your workspace
A workspace is your team's tenant — it holds your domains, reports and team members. The wizard pre-fills a name based on your account; keep it or type your own, then press Create workspace. You can rename it later, so don't overthink this.
Step 2: add your domain
Enter the domain you send email from — the part after the @ in your From address, like example.com. Don't include https:// or www. (the form strips them anyway). Press Add domain.
Step 3: publish one DNS record
The wizard now shows the single TXT record to publish, with copy buttons for both the name and the value:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | TXT |
| Name | _dmarc.example.com (your domain after _dmarc.) |
| Value | v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:rua+<your-token>@reports.dmarcmetric.com |
The rua+<your-token> part is the important bit. Every domain you add gets its own unique token, and the reporting address built from it routes that domain's aggregate reports straight into your workspace — no forwarding rules, no shared inbox, nothing else to configure. Copy the value exactly as shown; the token must not be altered.
Paste the record at your DNS provider as a new TXT record. One provider quirk to know: some DNS panels want the full name (_dmarc.example.com), others only the part before your domain (_dmarc) — use whichever your provider's other records follow.
The record starts you at p=none: pure monitoring, nothing blocked, zero risk to your mail flow. As the wizard notes, once your legitimate senders are aligned you advance to p=quarantine and then p=reject — and you can fine-tune with sp= and pct= along the way. Our tag reference covers all of those.
DNS takes time. New records typically appear within minutes, but propagation can take a few hours depending on your provider and TTLs. Publishing the record and coming back later is completely fine. If your dashboard shows no data after a day, No reports yet covers the most common reasons.
If you already have a DMARC record
A domain can only have one DMARC record — publishing a second TXT record at _dmarc alongside an existing one makes both invalid. So don't add a new record; edit the existing one:
- Keep your current policy and tags (
p=,sp=,pct=and the rest) exactly as they are. - In the
rua=tag, either add our address alongside your existing one, separated by a comma —rua=mailto:[email protected],mailto:rua+<your-token>@reports.dmarcmetric.com— or replace the old address if you no longer use it. Both work; DMARC allows multiple report addresses, and reporters will send to each.
Either way, the check in the next step passes as long as your rua= includes your DMARCmetric reporting address.
Check it and go to the dashboard
Back in the wizard, press Verify DNS. It looks up _dmarc. on your domain live and tells you one of three things: the record is live and pointing at your reporting address ("Found it — your DMARC record is live"), a DMARC record exists but doesn't include your reporting address yet (fix the value and re-check), or no record was found yet — usually just propagation.
Then press Go to dashboard. Your domain appears with a Pending badge until the first aggregate report arrives — typically within 24–48 hours once the domain is actually sending mail, since mailbox providers send reports on a daily cycle. What Pending and Verified mean, and what to do if verification lags, is covered in Verify your domain.
Need more domains? The + Add domain button on the dashboard reruns steps 2–3 inside your existing workspace.