Articles on: Integrations

Setting up a dedicated email subdomain

By default, Katalyz sends emails from no-reply@katalyz.co. A dedicated email subdomain lets emails come from your own domain instead — e.g. notifications@yourcompany.com — dramatically improving deliverability and trust.


⚠️ Requires org role Admin and access to your company's DNS records (or support from IT).


Why set this up


Email deliverability is a huge win for sales teams. Without a dedicated subdomain:

  • Emails come from @katalyz.co (a third-party vendor to your buyers)
  • Corporate email gateways (Proofpoint, Mimecast, etc.) flag third-party senders more aggressively
  • Your open rates and click-through rates suffer


With a dedicated subdomain:

  • Emails come from yourcompany.com — inheriting your brand's sending reputation
  • Buyers recognize the sender and trust it
  • Delivery rates improve, often significantly


How it works


Katalyz uses AWS Simple Email Service (SES) for email sending. With a dedicated subdomain:


  1. You create a subdomain like notifications.yourcompany.com
  2. You add DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) that authorize Katalyz to send on its behalf
  3. Katalyz sends through AWS SES, authenticated against your DNS
  4. Recipients see emails from @notifications.yourcompany.com, aligned with your brand


Requirements


You need:


Setup steps


1. Choose a subdomain

Pick something clean and recognizable. Good examples:


Avoid:


2. Request the setup

Setting up a dedicated email subdomain is not self-serve — it requires our approval. Contact contact@katalyz.co with the subdomain you'd like to use and we'll generate the SPF / DKIM / DMARC records you need to add to your DNS.


3. Add DNS records


You'll need three records on your chosen subdomain:


SPF — authorizes AWS SES to send on your behalf


DKIM — cryptographically signs each outgoing email


DMARC — instructs recipients' servers how to handle emails that fail authentication


The exact values are provided by Katalyz during setup. Typical configuration:


Record type: TXT
Name: notifications
Value: v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all


(Plus DKIM and DMARC records with specific values generated for your account.)


4. Verify

Katalyz validates the DNS records are in place. Propagation usually takes 15 minutes to a few hours after you save DNS changes.


Once validated, your subdomain is active.


5. Test

Send a test email from Katalyz to a personal account outside your company. Verify:

  • It arrives (not in spam)
  • The "From" address is your subdomain
  • SPF, DKIM, and DMARC pass (most email clients show this in message headers)


Security


  • Katalyz does not access the content of your emails — we handle sending infrastructure, not email reading
  • Technical logs are retained (delivery, bounces) — required for debugging
  • We don't forward or redirect emails — they go directly from AWS SES to recipients


Ongoing maintenance


Once set up, the subdomain generally runs itself. A few scenarios require attention:


  • DNS provider change — re-add records if you migrate DNS
  • DKIM key rotation — we'll notify if our keys rotate; you'd need to update the DNS
  • DMARC policy tightening — start with p=none, move to p=quarantine then p=reject over time for higher security


Troubleshooting


  • Verification stuck — DNS propagation can take time. Wait a few hours and re-check.
  • Records validated but email still goes to spam — some receiving domains have other rules. See Email is landing in spam.


Updated on: 18/06/2026

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