# Custom Tracking Domains
### How Rox Tracks Email Opens
Every outbound sequence email includes a transparent tracking pixel. When the recipient opens the email, their client loads the pixel from a Rox tracking endpoint, which records the open event against the sent email.
By default, the pixel is served from Rox's shared tracking domain (`cname.rx-prod-trk.com`). Because this domain is shared across many senders, mailbox providers may flag it, hurting deliverability.
### What Custom Tracking Domains Do
A Custom Tracking Domain lets your org serve the tracking pixel from a subdomain you own (e.g. `track.yourcompany.com`) that routes to Rox's tracking infrastructure.
Benefits:
* **Better deliverability** - spam filters may flag emails sent containing URLs that do not match the sender's email domain.
* **Brand trust** - recipients visiting any unsubscribe URLs that you attach via Rox will see your domain, not Rox's.
* **Isolation** - your sender reputation is decoupled from other Rox users leveraging the platform-wide default tracking domain.
Once configured, verified and activated, Rox automatically rewrites tracking pixels and unsubscribe links in your sequence emails to use your custom domain.
### (Admin) Setting Up a Custom Tracking Domain
#### 1. Add the domain in Rox
1. Go to **Settings → Sequences**.
2. Open the **Custom Tracking Domains** section and click **Add Custom Tracking Domain**. You must be an admin to see this section.
3. Enter the subdomain you want to use (e.g. `track.yourcompany.com`) and click **Create**.
Rox creates the record in `Pending` verification state and shows you the CNAME target you need to add in DNS.
#### 2. Add the CNAME at your DNS provider
Add a CNAME record pointing your subdomain to Rox's forwarding domain:
| Type | Name / Host | Value / Target | TTL |
|---|
| CNAME | track (your subdomain) | cname.rx-prod-trk.com | Auto / 3600 |
See the "Adding a CNAME at your DNS provider" section below for provider-specific steps.
#### 3. Verify
Once the CNAME has propagated, return to **Settings → Sequences** and click **Verify** next to the domain. Rox resolves the CNAME and confirms it points to `cname.rx-prod-trk.com`.
* On success, the domain moves to `Verified` and Rox provisions a TLS certificate for it in the background.
* If verification fails, double-check the CNAME value and TTL, wait for DNS propagation, and retry. Propagation can take a few minutes up to several hours depending on your provider.
#### 4. Activate and set as default
After verification:
* Click **Activate** to enable the domain for use.
* Click **Set as Default** to make it the org-wide default for new sequence sends. Only one domain can be the default at a time.
New sequence emails will start using the active default domain for tracking pixels and links.
***
### Adding a CNAME at Your DNS Provider
The exact UI varies by provider, but the values are always the same:
* **Type**: `CNAME`
* **Host / Name**: the subdomain part only (e.g. `track` if your full domain is `track.yourcompany.com`)
* **Value / Target / Points to**: `cname.rx-prod-trk.com`
* **TTL**: leave default (or `3600`)
* **Proxy / CDN**: **disabled** (must be a plain DNS CNAME, not proxied)
#### Cloudflare
1. Open the **DNS → Records** tab for your domain.
2. Click **Add record**.
3. Set **Type** = `CNAME`, **Name** = `track`, **Target** = `cname.rx-prod-trk.com`.
4. **Proxy status**: set to **DNS only** (grey cloud). Proxied (orange cloud) records will fail verification.
5. Save.
#### GoDaddy
1. Go to **My Products → Domains**, pick your domain, then **DNS**.
2. Click **Add → CNAME**.
3. **Name** = `track`, **Value** = `cname.rx-prod-trk.com`, **TTL** = `1 hour`.
4. Save.
#### AWS Route 53
1. Open the hosted zone for your domain.
2. **Create record** → **Simple routing**.
3. **Record name** = `track`, **Record type** = `CNAME`, **Value** = `cname.rx-prod-trk.com`, **TTL** = `300`.
4. Create record.
#### Namecheap
1. **Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS**.
2. **Add New Record** → **CNAME Record**.
3. **Host** = `track`, **Value** = `cname.rx-prod-trk.com`, **TTL** = `Automatic`.
4. Save.
#### Google Domains / Squarespace Domains
1. Open **DNS → Custom records**.
2. **Host** = `track`, **Type** = `CNAME`, **Data** = `cname.rx-prod-trk.com`, **TTL** = `1H`.
3. Save.
#### Verifying the CNAME is live
Before clicking **Verify** in Rox, you can confirm the record is propagated from your terminal:
```bash
dig CNAME track.yourcompany.com +short
# Expected output:
# cname.rx-prod-trk.com
```
If you don't see the expected target yet, wait a few minutes and try again.
---
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