SPF
Also known as Sender Policy Framework
A DNS record listing which servers are permitted to send email for your domain.
Receiving mail servers check the sending server against your SPF record. If it is not listed, the message fails the check, which contributes to it being rejected or filtered.
The common failure is exceeding the ten DNS lookup limit as marketing platforms, ticketing systems, and accounting software are each added over time, which silently breaks the record entirely.
Where this comes up
SPF sits inside our networks and infrastructure work. If you are trying to work out what this means for your own environment rather than in the abstract, that is the page worth reading next, and a short call will get you a straight answer faster than either.
Measure this on your own domain
Our free email authentication checker reads this record for any domain over public DNS, grades what it finds, and gives you the exact record to publish if it is wrong. No sign-up.
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