Airtable domain federation and verification
  • 30 Sep 2024
  • 4 Minutes to read
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Airtable domain federation and verification

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Article summary

Plan availability

Business and Enterprise Scale plans only


Permissions

  • Enterprise Hub accounts: Super admin

  • Non-Enterprise Hub accounts: Admin

Platform(s)

Web/Browser, Mac app, and Windows app

Related reading

Airtable terminology

  • Domain verification - The process through which enterprise organizations verify ownership of their associated email domains.

  • Domain verification code - The code that needs to be pasted as a new TXT record in the admin’s DNS host to verify a domain.

  • Organization member - A user who is managed by an enterprise admin.

  • External domain - An email domain that doesn’t currently belong to an organization.

Accessing domain settings in Admin Panel

The "Security & compliance" tab in admin panel lets admins do things like configure SSO and add, remove, and verify domains independently. Verifying domains through DNS is an industry-standard practice that helps reduce risk while empowering IT admins to manage their enterprises' domains.

To access your enterprise’s domain settings:

  1. Visit your Airtable homepage.

  2. Click on your account settings and select Admin.

  3. Choose Settings from the left side menu.

  4. Click the Security & Authentication tab.

Managing email domains and SSO configuration

The Admin Panel's Email domains and SSO configuration section feature a domain verification code and a table detailing in-use domain names, subdomains, and more.

Note

Keep in mind that to add a domain, you must be an admin on an Enterprise plan, and to verify a domain, you must have access to the domain’s DNS TXT record.

Adding a domain

  1. Visit your Airtable homepage.

  2. Click on your account settings and select Admin.

  3. Choose Settings from the left side menu.

  4. Click the Security & Authentication tab.

  5. Click Add domain.

    1. A window will open, asking you to enter your desired domain.

  6. Next, copy and save your Domain verification code.

  7. Confirm Add domain.

    1. Your newly added domain’s status will now appear as Verifying.

Verifying a domain

  1. After adding a domain, copy your Domain verification code.

  2. Create a new TXT record in your DNS host and paste your Domain verification code into the Value field.

    1. If the domain's status in the admin panel continues to show it as Verifying, it's likely because our system reviews the code, which can take up to 72 hours.

Note

In order to verify properly, the DNS TXT record should be added on the root/main domain, not on a subdomain like “airtable-verification.yourdomain.com”

Deleting a domain

  1. Visit your Airtable homepage.

  2. Click on your account settings and select Admin.

  3. Choose Settings from the left side menu.

  4. Click the Security & Authentication tab.

    1. From the Security & Authentication tab, your full list of authorized domains is visible.

  5. Click the trashcan icon next to the domain you want to delete.

  6. Click Delete domain.

Troubleshooting domain verification  

If you are having trouble verifying an email domain, please check the following:

  • The email domain has been added in your “Email domains and SSO configuration” setting and is spelled correctly.

  • The email domain has a status of Verifying. You can update a domain to this state by clicking the “Verify” button in the Status column. We do not attempt to verify domains until they are in this Verifying status.

  • The Airtable verification code is present in the domain’s TXT records. This can be checked using a tool like Google Toolbox, and you should see a TXT record with a value that matches your domain verification code (i.e. "airtable-verification=XXXX"). Depending on the TTL value of the TXT record, changes made to the record could take some time to be published everywhere, and the email domain may take up to 72 hours to become verified.

  • Usually, when you see the status unverifiedRectifying the problem is that the DNS TXT record was added on a subdomain rather than the main / root domain. To resolve, remove the DNS TXT record from the subdomain and add it in the root domain folder instead.

FAQs

What happens if I don’t verify my domain?

  • For customers on domain capture, unverified domains are disabled until verified, meaning all users on an unverified domain are treated as external users and can’t be converted to Organization members.

  • For customers not on domain capture, domains are unverified until Airtable validates the DNS record.

    • As a result, admins must request to manage user accounts that need to be added to the organization. This can be done from the overflow menu on the Users page of the admin panel.

  • SCIM can’t provision users, and SSO can’t be configured for disabled domains.

  • If sign-in with SSO is required, but an organization’s domain still needs to be verified, only organization members will be required to sign in with SSO.

    • When requiring SSO, users must consent to becoming organization members until you verify the domain.

What happens when I delete a domain?

  • User accounts hosted on that domain will no longer be organization members.

  • Admins will lose administrative rights over user accounts hosted in the deleted domain.

  • Any deleted domain must be verified again to re-add to your Organization.

Who should I contact with questions about DNS and domain federation?

We recommend contacting your IT department or IT admin for account-specific questions about DNS or domain federation. For general questions, please contact our support team.

How do I manage my individual DNS records?

Individual DNS record information isn’t something Airtable can provide support for. Please get in touch with your IT admin/team or review your host’s documentation for more information.


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