Add a domain and SSL

Every application comes online with a working HTTPS address before you configure anything — but most projects want their own domain in front of it. This guide covers both: the free address you get out of the box, and pointing a domain you own at an application.

Your free strackt address

Every environment gets its own strackt subdomain — something like yourapp.yourteam.on-strackt.dev — with HTTPS, ready the moment a server is attached. There's nothing to set up. It's always available, and if you'd rather not use it you can turn it off and switch it back on later.

Add your own domain

Open your environment's Domains section and add your domain. There are two kinds:

• A primary domain — your main address, like example.com. It gets its own certificate.
• An alias — an alternative name, like www.example.com, that points at the primary.

A production environment, a staging environment, and a preview environment each have their own domains, so they never share an address.

Point your DNS at the server

For strackt to serve your domain and secure it, your domain has to resolve to your server. At your DNS provider, create a record for the domain:

• For a primary domain, an A record pointing at your server's IP address.
• For an alias like www, a CNAME pointing at your primary or platform domain.

You only touch DNS for domains you own — your free strackt address is managed for you.

If the Domains panel shows Needs DNS, the domain is not resolving to the target strackt expects yet. Open the expanded row and copy the shown value. At your DNS provider, point an A record for that domain at that IP address.

How the certificate is issued

Once the domain is added and DNS points at the server, strackt requests a free certificate for it automatically — you don't request or install anything. The domain shows Awaiting certificate while it's being set up, then Secure once it's in place. strackt re-checks every few minutes, so as soon as your DNS change has propagated the certificate is issued — usually within a few minutes of the record going live. Certificates renew on their own before they expire.

If a domain is still waiting, use Check now in the Domains panel after you update DNS. You can also just wait: strackt keeps checking in the background and switches the domain to Secure automatically once the record is visible.

Once it's live

Your domain serves your application over HTTPS. From here you'll usually want to manage the application's environment variables or deploy a new version — see Add and deploy an application.