Proving domain ownership by DNS or meta tag

If you are selling a domain, you can prove you control it. We give you a token, you publish it on the domain, and we go and look for it.

There are two methods and you only need one — a DNS TXT record, or a meta tag on your homepage.

Step one: get your token

Enter the domain you want to verify. If it is a valid, public domain you get back a token: a long random string beginning with silky-road-.

A few things about the token:

• It is valid for 7 days.
• You cannot choose your own. That is the whole point — proving control means publishing our secret, so a token you picked would prove nothing.
• Asking again gives you the same token while the current one is still valid. This is deliberate, because rotating it would break a record you may have already published.
• An expired token is replaced automatically — and the new value must be republished. If verification worked before and suddenly fails after a period of inactivity, this is almost always why: the record in your DNS holds the old token.

Enter the plain domain, with no https:// and no path. If you see Invalid domain, it is not a valid public hostname — often a typo, an internal name, or an IP address.

Step two, option A: DNS TXT record

Add a TXT record:

• Host / Name: silky-road-verification
• Value: your token, exactly

The record goes on a subdomain, not the root. We look for it at silky-road-verification.yourdomain.com. Most DNS panels want just silky-road-verification in the Host or Name box and append your domain themselves.

Putting the record at the root, or typing the full hostname into a panel that appends the domain, is by far the most common reason verification fails. If it does fail, the error message names the exact hostname we looked at — compare that against what your DNS panel shows.

The value must match exactly. A record containing the token plus anything else will not pass. Some panels add quotation marks, which is fine, but stray spaces are not.

DNS changes usually appear within a few minutes but can take longer. Wait a minute between attempts rather than retrying repeatedly, as retries are rate limited.

Step two, option B: meta tag

Add this to the <head> of your homepage:

<meta name="silky-road-verification" content="your-token-here">

We fetch your homepage over HTTPS and read the HTML.

One important limitation: we read the raw HTML, not the rendered page. If your site adds the tag with JavaScript after the page loads, it will never verify. To check what we see, use your browser's view-source rather than developer tools — if the tag is not in view-source, use the DNS method instead.

Your homepage also needs to load publicly over HTTPS. A site that is down, HTTP-only, behind a login, or very slow will not verify.

Do you actually need to do this?

Verification is not required for most listings. It is only required for high-value listings in the domain categories. Many people see it offered and assume it is mandatory — it usually is not.

What the verified status means

A verified domain is a point-in-time record: we saw the token on that date. Nothing re-checks it afterwards, so if you remove the DNS record later the domain stays marked as verified.

You can see every domain you have started or completed verification on, along with the method used, when it was verified, and the reason your last attempt failed if it did. That stored reason is the fastest way to work out what went wrong without retrying.

A row appears as soon as a token is issued, so an unverified entry in that list is normal rather than a failure.

Common errors

What you see	What to do
No TXT record found yet	Check the Host/Name field, then wait a few minutes for propagation
A TXT record exists but the value doesn't match	Usually an old token or a partial paste. Get your current token and republish
Meta tag not found in HTML head section	Check view-source. If the tag is added by JavaScript, use DNS instead
Failed to fetch website content	Your homepage must load publicly over HTTPS
Website request timed out	Retry, or use DNS if your site is habitually slow
Request a verification token for this domain first	Usually a spelling difference — you are verifying a different domain from the one you got the token for
This verification token has expired	Get a new token and republish it