I added the email records but they're not working yet
You added the two email-sending records, but the domain page still says "checking" — or worse, shows a mismatch. Nine times out of ten nothing is wrong: the internet is just slow to notice new records. Here's how to tell the difference, and what to do in each case.
First: give it time
New records take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to become visible — that's how DNS works everywhere, not a bernard quirk. Bernard checks for you automatically, starting every few seconds and easing off over time, and flips your sending address over the moment both records are seen. If it's been less than a couple of hours, the best move is usually to do nothing.
Reading the badges
Each record on the domain page shows one of three states:
- A green tick — the record is in place. Nothing to do.
- "Not seen yet" — the record hasn't appeared at your provider's nameservers. Either it needs more time, or it wasn't saved. Check it exists in your provider's DNS settings; if it does, wait.
- "Found
X· should beY" — a record with that name exists, but it holds the wrong value. This is the one worth acting on straight away, because it never fixes itself. Compare the two values shown, character by character.
The one mistake providers cause
The most common mismatch isn't your fault: some providers quietly add your domain
onto the end of the record name. You paste a name like
abc123._domainkey.yourname.com, and it gets saved as
abc123._domainkey.yourname.com.yourname.com — which bernard will never find. The
fix: at your provider, enter only the part before your domain (for example
abc123._domainkey), and let them add the rest. If your provider shows a preview of
the final name, check it reads correctly before saving.
Two smaller culprits, while you're in there: an accidental space copied at the start or end of a value, and adding the record to the wrong domain (easy to do if you manage several).
If bernard stopped checking
After about a day of the records not appearing, bernard stops checking rather than poll forever, and the domain page shows a Retry button. That's not an error state to fear — fix or add the records, press Retry, and verification starts fresh.
Let your AI look for you
Your AI assistant can read the live status of every record — including these email ones — and tell you in plain English what's in place, what's missing, and what a mismatch actually says. Copy the prompt at the top of this page. And while any of this is pending, nothing is at risk: your site serves, your inbox is untouched, and bernard simply sends from its own address on your behalf until your records are ready — see Emails to my customers should come from my own address.
The prompt
“I've added the email sending records for [my domain] at my provider. Check whether they're working yet, and if not, tell me in plain English exactly what's wrong and what to change.”
The [bracketed] parts are yours to fill in. First time? Connect bernard to your AI over MCP — a one-time setup in bernard → your site → Use your own AI — then paste the prompt above.
Questions people ask
- How long should the email records take to work?
- Anything from a few minutes to a few hours is normal — that's the internet catching up, not a mistake. Bernard checks again and again automatically, more patiently as time goes on, and switches your sending address over the moment both records are seen. You don't need to sit and refresh.
- It says 'found' one value but 'should be' another — what does that mean?
- A record with that name exists, but it holds the wrong value — usually a copy-paste slip, or your provider quietly adding your domain name onto the end of the record name. Compare the two values character by character, fix the record at your provider, and bernard will pick it up on its next check.
- It says bernard stopped checking — have I broken something?
- No. If the records haven't appeared after about a day, bernard stops checking so it isn't polling forever, and shows you a Retry button. Fix or add the records at your provider, press Retry on the domain page, and checking starts again from the top. Nothing is lost and nothing is broken.
- Is my email or website at risk while this isn't working?
- No. Your website keeps serving, how you receive email is never touched, and anything bernard needs to send simply goes out from its own address on your behalf in the meantime. The email records are optional — the only thing waiting on them is sending from your own address. And as ever, nothing on your site changes without your approval.