DEV Community

Cover image for SPF Record Syntax Complete Reference
Regő Botond Ronyecz
Regő Botond Ronyecz

Posted on

SPF Record Syntax Complete Reference

Teaser only. This is not the full article. Complete SPF syntax reference with M365 and Google templates: SPF Record Syntax: Complete Reference

You paste include:sendgrid.net into an already crowded TXT record. Syntax looks valid. Receivers return permerror.

SPF is one string starting with v=spf1, mechanisms evaluated left to right, and a hard stop at ten DNS lookups. Most production failures are not typos. They are lookup overflow, duplicate SPF TXT records, or a missing -all.

Sanity check before any edit:

dig example.com TXT +short
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Count includes toward the cap. End production senders with -all, not ~all left over from a migration.

In the full post on zerohook.org:

  • Every mechanism and qualifier explained
  • Lookup limit math with nested includes
  • M365, Google Workspace, and ESP patterns
  • PermError and softfail troubleshooting

Read the full guide: SPF Record Syntax: Complete Reference

Top comments (0)