My domain shows 'Failed' — what does that mean?
A Failed status means your domain's DNS or certificate check didn't succeed. The panel shows the exact error — here's how to fix each cause.
A custom domain in VeloCMS moves through the statuses Pending → Verifying → Active, and lands on Failed when a check against our routing layer doesn't succeed. Failed almost always means one of three things: the CNAME record doesn't point at the target shown in your panel, the certificate couldn't be issued yet, or the domain itself has a problem at your registrar (expired, suspended, or on hold) so its DNS no longer resolves.
Step 1: Read the error next to the status
Go to the Custom Domain section of Admin → Settings → Branding. A Failed status shows the actual error text from the last verification attempt right next to the badge. That message tells you whether the failure was a DNS lookup that didn't return the expected target or a certificate that couldn't be provisioned — start from what it says rather than guessing.
Step 2: Check your DNS record
Your domain needs a CNAME record pointing at the per-domain target shown in the Custom Domain panel (an address ending in domains.velocms.org — copy it exactly, every domain gets its own). If your DNS is on Cloudflare, keep the record DNS-only (grey cloud) while verifying: the Proxied orange-cloud mode hides your CNAME target behind Cloudflare's own addresses, so the verification check can't see it. Run dig CNAME yourdomain.com +short and confirm the answer is the target from the panel.
Step 3: Check the domain at your registrar
Log in to your domain registrar and confirm the domain is Active — not Expired, Suspended, on Hold, or Locked. A domain in registrar hold stops resolving, which fails both the DNS check and certificate issuance. Renew or resolve the hold at the registrar first, wait for the domain to resolve again, then retry verification.
Recovering: retry or re-add
Once the underlying cause is fixed, click Verify Now in the Custom Domain panel to run the checks again. If the domain stays Failed after a retry, disconnect it with the Disconnect button, wait a few minutes, and add it again — a fresh registration provisions cleanly once the DNS is correct.
Certificate provisioning is fully automatic: once your CNAME verifies, the routing layer issues and renews the certificate for you. A Failed status never leaves your domain half-configured — your site keeps working on its <yoursite>.velocms.org address the whole time.