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Create a root key with the permissions listed on this page under Root Keys in the dashboard sidebar. CLI commands can instead use a session from unkey login with the required permissions. See Permission reference for every permission.
Attach a custom domain to an and start it. The domain starts as pending and serves no traffic until verification succeeds. We check DNS about once a minute, so expect a short delay after you add your records. The response’s dnsRecords lists every record you need. Create each one exactly as given: one routes traffic and one proves you own the domain, and you need both. If your DNS provider supports Domain Connect, the response also has a domainConnect.url that adds the records for you in one step.
  • A name that already exists in your workspace returns a 409.
  • Going over your plan’s domain limit returns a 403. See Limits.
  • If the records aren’t found within 24 hours, the domain moves to failed. Use domains verify to try again.

Usage

Flags

string
required
App ID or slug.
string
required
Fully qualified domain name, for example api.acme.com. Wildcards (*.acme.com), public suffixes (co.uk, github.io), IP addresses, and anything with a scheme, port, or path return a 400. Names are stored lowercase, with Unicode converted to Punycode, so MÜNCHEN.DE and xn--mnchen-3ya.de are the same domain.
string
required
Environment ID or slug the domain routes to.
string
required
ID or slug. Both forms resolve to the same project.

Shared flags

Every resource command accepts these; CLI output and shared flags describes them in full.
string
A JSON document sent as the request body instead of building it from the flags above. It is mutually exclusive with the request-building flags, and unknown fields are rejected locally. See Send a raw body.
string
Root key used for the request. Falls back to UNKEY_ROOT_KEY, then stored credentials, including a CLI session. See CLI authentication for the full precedence order.
string
default:"https://api.unkey.com"
Base URL of the API. Falls back to UNKEY_API_BASE_URL. You don’t normally need to set it.
string
default:"~/.unkey/config.toml"
Path of the TOML config file. Falls back to UNKEY_CONFIG. An explicit --config takes precedence over a stored CLI session. Browser login stores a session, not a root key in this file. See CLI authentication.
enum
default:"human"
Use human (default) for name-first summary tables and single-response trees, or json for the unchanged full response envelope, including all fields and pagination. Trees wrap long values without truncation. Terminal tables use relative timestamps and may shorten display names and descriptions, but never identifiers, slugs, or credentials. Redirected human output keeps complete values and uses RFC3339 UTC timestamps. Falls back to UNKEY_OUTPUT; other values are rejected. --json also selects JSON output. Add --debug to print the request ID to stderr. See Output formats.
boolean
Print the successful response’s request ID to stderr, separate from stdout.
boolean
Print the full response as JSON. Takes precedence over a valid --output or UNKEY_OUTPUT value.

Required permissions

Your root key needs one of:
  • environment.*.create_domain (any environment)
  • environment.<environment_id>.create_domain (a specific environment)
If the environment doesn’t exist or your key doesn’t have the permission, you get the same 404: The requested environment does not exist. If your key can read the environment, you get a 403 that names the missing permission instead. See Root key permissions for the full catalog.

Examples

Attach a domain and print the DNS records:
Send the request body as JSON:

API endpoint

The command calls POST /v2/domains.createDomain and prints its response. The request fields carry the same names as the flags in camelCase, which is the shape --body expects.

Custom domains

DNS records, verification, and certificates for your own hostnames.
Last modified on October 28, 2026