---
title: 'Custom Domain'
description: 'Adding a custom domain to your Cartwright Vercel deployment — DNS records, www redirect, and canonical URL configuration.'
canonical: 'https://cartwright.app/docs/deployment/custom-domain'
---

# Custom Domain (/docs/deployment/custom-domain)



After your initial deploy to Vercel, the app runs on a `*.vercel.app` subdomain. Pointing a custom domain at it requires three things: adding the domain to the Vercel project, creating DNS records with your registrar, and updating `NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL` to match the new canonical host.

<Callout type="info">
  Planning to also receive mail at `hello@your-domain.com`? Don't add records piecemeal — see the [Email & Domains section](/docs/email/dns-records) for the complete DNS zone (Vercel + Resend + your chosen inbox provider) so SPF stays in one combined record.
</Callout>

## Steps [#steps]

<Steps>
  1. Buy a domain from your registrar of choice and make sure you have access to its DNS settings.

  2. In Vercel, open the project and go to **Settings → Domains**. Enter your domain (`your-shop.com`). Add both the apex domain and the `www` subdomain.

  3. Create DNS records at your registrar:

     **Apex domain (`@` record):**

     ```bash
     Type: A
     Host: @
     Value: 76.76.21.21
     TTL: automatic (or 3600)
     ```

     **www subdomain:**

     ```bash
     Type: CNAME
     Host: www
     Value: cname.vercel-dns.com
     TTL: automatic (or 3600)
     ```

  4. Wait for DNS propagation. This typically takes a few minutes with most registrars, but can take up to 48 hours in the worst case. Vercel's domain UI shows a green checkmark when it has verified the records.

  5. In Vercel **Settings → Domains**, configure the www-to-apex redirect. Set the primary domain to `your-shop.com` and enable the 308 redirect from `www.your-shop.com` to the apex. This prevents duplicate-content indexing.

  6. Update `NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL` in Vercel to match the canonical host:

     ```bash
     NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL="https://your-shop.com"
     ```

     Also update `brand.url` and `brand.domain` in `brand.config.ts` to keep them in sync:

     ```bash
     domain: "your-shop.com",
     url: "https://your-shop.com",
     ```

     Trigger a new production deploy after these changes so the updated URL is baked into static metadata.
</Steps>

## SSL [#ssl]

Vercel provisions a TLS certificate automatically via Let's Encrypt once DNS records are verified. No manual certificate management is needed. HTTPS is enforced by default — Vercel redirects HTTP to HTTPS at the edge.

## Verify [#verify]

After DNS propagates and the certificate provisions:

```bash
curl -I https://your-shop.com/api/mcp
# HTTP/2 200

curl -I https://www.your-shop.com
# HTTP/1.1 308 Permanent Redirect
# Location: https://your-shop.com/
```

The MCP introspection endpoint at `/api/mcp` (no auth required for GET) is a quick smoke test that the app is running and the database connection is healthy.

<Callout type="info">
  If you use Vercel's nameservers instead of your registrar's (by pointing `NS` records at Vercel), you can manage DNS entirely from the Vercel dashboard. This is optional but simplifies the setup for teams already in the Vercel ecosystem.
</Callout>