---
title: Domains and brand identity
description: Add and verify a domain so live messages send from your own brand.
---

A **domain** is the brand identity your messages send from. After
you verify ownership and complete your brand profile, ZevSend
uses the domain as:

- The `from` address for **email**.
- The brand context (`brand.name`, `brand.support_email`,
  `brand.support_url`, etc.) for **SMS** and **WhatsApp**.

Until you have at least one approved domain, your team is locked
to sandbox.

## Add a domain

From the dashboard, open **Domains → Add domain** and enter the
hostname you'd like to send from (for example, `mail.acme.com`).

We'll generate three DNS records for you:

- A **DKIM** record (one CNAME or TXT, depending on your DNS host).
- An **SPF** include (TXT).
- A **return-path** CNAME.

Add the records at your DNS provider. Most propagate in a few
minutes; some take longer. Click **Verify** to check.

## Complete your brand profile

Verification proves you control the DNS. The brand profile tells
recipients who you are. We require:

- **Brand name** — shown to recipients in plain-text contexts.
- **Support email** — where customers should reply or escalate.
- **Legal name** — for compliance footers in regulated regions.
- **Support URL** — your help centre or contact page.

These values are exposed inside templates through the `brand.*`
namespace (see [Variables](/guide/variables)). They're injected
on the server side — your API call never controls them — so a
leaked API key can't impersonate someone else's brand.

## Multi-domain teams

A team can own more than one domain (for example, `mail.acme.com`
and `mail.acme-eu.com`). When you send, we use the team's most
recently approved domain unless you pass `brand_domain_id`:

```json
{
  "to": "customer@example.com",
  "template_id": "tpl_…",
  "brand_domain_id": "dom_…",
  "variables": { ... }
}
```

You can also pin an API key to a specific domain when you create
it — useful if a single team owns two brands and you want a
leaked key to only impact one of them.

## What happens after approval

Each domain is reviewed before it can be used for live sends. We
look for the basics: that the brand profile makes sense, that
the support contact resolves, and that the domain itself looks
legitimate. Approval is usually same-day.

Once a domain is approved, live sends that target it will use
its brand identity automatically. Sandbox sends ignore domains
entirely — they always render against a sandbox brand stub.