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Resend Forge is Resend’s next-generation sending infrastructure. It’s faster than the old engine on every percentile and has best-in-class delivery rates. It also enables new features that aren’t possible with the current infrastructure. It’s fully managed by Resend, using our own IPs and our own sending engine, with no third party in the middle. That gives us full visibility into every hop, so we can better help you with any deliverability or support request. You can read the full announcement on our website.
Your domain keeps sending at all times while we verify the new DNS record, and nothing else changes: your API calls, SMTP credentials, and webhooks all stay the same.

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Activate Resend Forge

Activating Forge takes one CNAME record. No code changes, nothing to redeploy.
1

Open the activation page

  1. Go to Domains and select your domain.
  2. Under Configuration, click Activate Resend Forge. The Activate Resend Forge section in the domain's Configuration tab
2

Choose the Return-Path

Forge uses a new subdomain as the Return-Path (e.g. mail.yourdomain.com). We suggest an available one by default. You can type a different one, and the field checks that the subdomain is free before you continue.Click Activate Forge.The Return-Path step of the Activate Resend Forge page
3

Add the CNAME record

If your DNS provider supports Domain Connect, click Auto configure and authorize Resend to add the record for you. The domain verifies on its own after that.Otherwise, click Manual setup and add the CNAME record shown on the page at your DNS provider, then click I’ve added the records. Your existing DNS records stay untouched. Don’t remove them.The DNS Records step showing the CNAME record to add at your DNS provider
Pay attention to the record’s proxy status. If you use Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only, not proxied (the cloud icon is gray, not orange). Proxied records don’t resolve as CNAMEs, so verification will fail.
4

Verify

Once the record verifies, the Forge section of your domain’s page shows an Enabled tag and your email starts going through Forge. Your domain keeps sending as usual until then.

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Domain Connect

Domain Connect lets Resend add the Forge record to your DNS for you. If your domain’s DNS provider supports it, the DNS Records step shows an Auto configure button.
  1. Click Auto configure.
  2. Sign in to your DNS provider in the window that opens and authorize the change.
  3. Resend adds the CNAME record and starts verifying it. You’re sent back to your domain’s page.
Domain Connect is only available on this page for domains that already existed before activating Forge. If you prefer to add the record yourself, click Manual setup.

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Troubleshooting

If the Forge record doesn’t verify, these are some common troubleshooting methods.
A CNAME can’t coexist with other records at the same name. If the subdomain you chose already has records (e.g., an A, TXT, or MX record), pick a different Return-Path: under Configuration, click Finish Forge setup, then click Change next to the Return-Path and choose another name.
DNS changes can take up to 72 hours to propagate, though they’re usually much faster. Check that the record name and value match exactly what the Dashboard shows, and rule out copy and paste errors. Some DNS providers auto-append your domain name to record values; if the record value shows your domain twice, add a trailing period to the value.If you use Cloudflare, check the record’s proxy status: it must be DNS only, not proxied (the cloud icon is gray, not orange). Proxied records don’t resolve as CNAMEs, so verification will fail.Also confirm you added the record at the DNS provider that actually controls your domain’s DNS. If your DNS is managed in multiple places (e.g., your registrar and Cloudflare), run a nameserver lookup with a tool like dns.email to see which provider to use.
  1. Open your domain’s page. Under Configuration, click Finish Forge setup.
  2. The page shows your CNAME record again. Confirm it matches what’s in your DNS provider and click I’ve added the records to restart verification.
Unless you change the Return-Path, the record stays the same. You’re re-verifying the existing record and don’t need to change anything at your DNS provider.
Hover over the button to see the reason. Your domain doesn’t meet one of the requirements below.

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Requirements

  • Domains on a Dedicated IP can’t activate Forge. Contact support@resend.com.
  • The domain must have sending enabled. Receive-only domains can’t activate Forge.
  • Open and click tracking aren’t supported on Forge yet. You can activate Forge on a domain that has tracking turned on, but its email keeps going through the current infrastructure until you turn tracking off.

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FAQ

Your email still goes out. If Forge can’t complete a delivery, we route it through the engine Resend has used for years. The fallback is automatic and you don’t need to do anything.
When the receiving server asks to try again later, for example with greylisting or a temporary rate limit, Forge keeps retrying for up to 48 hours. Other temporary failures go back to the engine Resend has used for years, which retries for up to 14 hours. An email that still isn’t accepted when its retry window ends is marked as bounced.
No. Forge sits behind the same send path, so your API calls, SMTP credentials, and webhook events keep working exactly as today.
The Return-Path is the address receivers use to return bounces and to check SPF. Forge delivers from infrastructure Resend owns, so the CNAME points that subdomain at Forge. This keeps SPF aligned with your domain and lets us process bounces. Your existing DNS records stay as they are.
Forge runs only in North Virginia (us-east-1). Data residency is the same as for every other region. See Data Residency for details.