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Template Use Cases

Part of: Domain Connect Knowledge Base
Audience: Service providers building a Domain Connect template
Purpose: Understand which use-case pattern fits your product, and how to implement it correctly

Overview

The Domain Connect template repository contains 2,200+ templates from 1,400+ service providers. Analysing the full set reveals ten recurring DNS function patterns. Each pattern maps to a distinct type of SaaS product or service. This section documents each pattern with a concrete template example, implementation guidance, and things to watch out for.

Use this section when:

  • You are a service provider deciding which template structure fits your product
  • You want to see real-world patterns before writing your own template
  • You need to understand subtle rules (conflict handling, groupIds, SPFM vs TXT) that trip up first-time implementers

Use-Case Index

# Use Case Typical records Representative products
UC-01 Email Hosting MX, SPFM, TXT (DKIM), CNAME (autodiscover) Business email suites, hosted mailboxes
UC-02 Email Authentication & Marketing SPFM, TXT (DKIM), CNAME (return path, tracking) Email marketing platforms, transactional email APIs
UC-03 Email Security & DMARC Management CNAME (_dmarc), SPFM, NS (_domainkey), CNAME (MTA-STS) DMARC monitoring services, email security platforms
UC-04 Website Hosting — Apex Domain A, AAAA, CNAME (www) Website builders, e-commerce platforms, CMS hosting
UC-05 Website Hosting — Subdomain / CNAME CNAME (subdomain) SaaS custom domain features, app deployment platforms
UC-05-2 Website Hosting — Subdomain with SSL (DNS-01) CNAME (subdomain), TXT or CNAME (_acme-challenge) Platforms issuing TLS certificates automatically on domain connection
UC-06 CDN, WAF & Reverse Proxy A (WAF IP), CNAME (www → @), CNAME (proxy) Web application firewalls, CDN edge networks, reverse proxies
UC-07 URL Redirect A, AAAA (redirect service IPs) URL shorteners, domain redirect services
UC-08 Dynamic DNS A, AAAA (low TTL, client-updated) DDNS clients, home server connectivity, IoT devices
UC-09 DNS Subdomain Delegation NS (subdomain) Protocol overlay services, managed sub-zone hosting

How to Use This Section

  1. Identify your pattern — find the use case that matches what your service does with DNS.
  2. Read the full page — each page explains the DNS mechanics, the value to end users, and implementation specifics.
  3. Adapt the example template — the example uses fictional names under .example TLD; replace with your own providerId and real values.
  4. Cross-reference — see 11_Template_Reference.md for full field documentation and 13_Getting_Started_Service_Provider.md for the submission process.

Common Patterns Across All Use Cases

Regardless of use case, every well-constructed template shares these properties:

  • syncPubKeyDomain is set to the domain hosting your domainconnect.json discovery record — required for the synchronous flow
  • syncRedirectDomain lists all OAuth redirect origins your application uses
  • groupId groups logically related records so DNS providers can apply or skip them as a unit
  • ttl is set to 3600 for stable records; use 60–600 only for records that change frequently (e.g. dynamic DNS)
  • Variables use %variableName% syntax; names are case-sensitive and must match exactly between template and your service's API call

See also: 11_Template_Reference.md · 13_Getting_Started_Service_Provider.md