Question 1

What is an SPF record and why does it matter?

Accepted Answer

A Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record is a DNS TXT record that lists all IP addresses and mail servers authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. When a receiving server gets an email claiming to be from your domain, it checks your SPF record to verify the sending IP is authorised. A missing or incorrect SPF record is one of the most common reasons legitimate emails land in spam folders or get rejected outright.

Question 2

Why does my SPF record have a PermError or TempError?

Accepted Answer

A PermError typically means your SPF record has a syntax error or exceeds the 10 DNS lookup limit. The SPF specification limits records to 10 mechanisms that require DNS lookups (include, a, mx, ptr, exists). Exceeding this causes a PermError and authentication failures. Use our SPF Flattener to resolve this by replacing include chains with flat IP ranges. A TempError usually indicates a DNS timeout during validation — retry after a short wait.

Question 3

How do I set up SPF for multiple sending services?

Accepted Answer

Add each sending service as an include mechanism in your SPF record. For example: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:sendgrid.net include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all. Be careful — each include counts towards the 10-lookup limit. Use our SPF Generator to build the record and SPF Checker to validate it before publishing to DNS.

Question 4

What does the -all vs ~all vs ?all qualifier mean?

Accepted Answer

The qualifier at the end of your SPF record defines what happens to emails that fail SPF: -all (hard fail) tells receivers to reject unauthorized senders; ~all (soft fail) marks them as suspicious but usually delivers; +all allows anyone to send (never use this); ?all is neutral. Use -all or ~all in production — -all provides the strongest protection once you have verified all your sending sources.

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