sxsphinxstack

Skills / Custom domain

Custom domain

Connect a domain of their own to the person's site. Covers registrar selection, current registration and renewal prices, DNS, redirects, and HTTPS. Use when they say "I want my own domain", "get rid of the .github.io part", or "connect mysite.com".

Use this skill. Nothing to install.

Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude prefilled and ready; just hit send
for Gemini, Copilot, or Cursor: paste it, then say "use the custom domain skill"

Don't have an agent?  ·  Raw file: skills/custom-domain.md

Watch the first two minutes

This is how a session goes, money talk included. Click through it.

(pastes the skill) I want to get rid of the .github.io part of my URL
Doable, and this is the first step in the stack that costs money, so numbers first: a .com runs about $10 to $15 a year, every year, paid by you on your own card. Worth it to you?
yeah that's fine. but DNS feels like actual magic and I'm scared of breaking my live site
DNS is a lookup table. Your site needs two or three rows in it, and I'll explain each row in one line before you add it. Your site stays up the whole time; the old URL keeps working until the new one resolves.
ok. what name should I buy
Your call, with a test: short, spellable out loud, no hyphens if you can avoid them, and fine to say in a job interview. We'll check availability live at the registrar instead of guessing, and skip every add-on at checkout. You need the domain only.
how will I know when it's actually working
We run dig on your domain until your host's address comes back, usually within minutes to an hour. Then HTTPS: the host issues a free certificate on its own once DNS resolves, and we confirm the padlock in a real browser before calling it done.

Scripted example of a real session.

DNS feels like magic?

It is a lookup table that the whole internet shares: names on one side, addresses on the other. Connecting a domain means adding two or three rows to it, each of which this skill explains in a single line as you add it. Nothing about the process can take your live site down, because the host keeps serving the old URL while the world learns the new one. And if $12 a year is not worth it to you right now, the skill says so and stops: the free subdomain you already have is respectable.

What you end up with

Your domain serving your site over HTTPS, and a DNS panel you understand. The rows you will have added look like this:

Example
DNS records for example.com

type    name   value
CNAME   www    username.github.io      1
A       @      the four addresses      2
               your host's dashboard
               lists for the bare
               domain

$ dig +short example.com               3
185.199.xxx.xxx   (host's address: it landed)

https://example.com      loads, padlock
https://www.example.com  redirects to it  4
  1. CNAME means "same as". This row says www.example.com lives wherever username.github.io lives. One line, and www works.
  2. The host dictates the records. You add the domain in the host's dashboard first, and it tells you exactly which rows it wants. GitHub Pages wants four A records for the bare domain; other hosts give their own values.
  3. dig is the wait-is-it-done tool. DNS changes propagate in minutes to an hour, occasionally longer. When dig returns the host's address, the world can see your domain.
  4. Both spellings work, one wins. You pick www or the bare domain, and the other redirects to it, so every link anyone saves points at one consistent address.

Anatomy of a domain

Every part of the address has a job, and only one part costs money:

https://www.maya-torres.com

Questions people actually ask

What does a domain really cost?

A .com typically runs $10 to $15 a year, every year, at registrars that sell near cost like Cloudflare Registrar or Porkbun. Watch the trap endings: some are a dollar or two the first year and several times that at renewal, so the skill has you check the renewal price before you buy.

Do I have to buy one at all?

No. The free subdomain from your host is respectable on a resume, and the skill says so and stops if the yearly cost isn't worth it to you right now. A domain is the first optional purchase in this whole stack.

Will my site go down during the switch?

No. The host keeps serving your site at the old URL the whole time, and the new domain simply starts working alongside it once DNS propagates. There is no moment where visitors get nothing.

Can the agent buy the domain for me?

No, on principle. You enter your own payment details at the registrar; the agent never handles payment or sees card numbers. It narrates the checkout, including which upsells to decline: you need the domain only.

What happens if I stop paying?

The domain lapses and eventually anyone can register it, so links to it break and someone else could serve their site at your old address. Your actual site is unharmed and stays reachable at the free subdomain. Part of the skill's exit checklist is knowing your renewal date, the renewal price, and where to log in.

Where to go from here

Domain live? It makes these next skills easier:

Get found by name See who visits Put it on your resume
Curious? Read the full skill — the exact instructions your agent gets 
---
name: custom-domain
category: web
description: Connect a domain of their own to the person's site. Covers registrar selection, current registration and renewal prices, DNS, redirects, and HTTPS. Use when they say "I want my own domain", "get rid of the .github.io part", or "connect mysite.com".
---

# custom-domain

Help someone put their own domain on a site that is already
live somewhere (GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify — see
deploy-anywhere). This is the first step in the stack that costs
money, so be straight about the price before anything is bought.

## Ground rules

- Money talk first. Open the registrar's current pricing page and compare
  the registration price, renewal price, and any transfer fee. Promotional
  first-year prices can be very different from renewal. Get their
  explicit "yes, I'll pay that" before they buy. They enter their own
  payment details; you never handle payment or see card numbers.
- They pick the name. Offer a way to judge: short, spellable out
  loud, no hyphens if avoidable, and fine to say in a job interview.
  Check availability live at the registrar rather than guessing.
- Registrar choice is theirs too. Compare current pricing, account security,
  privacy protection, DNS controls, and support. Warn about upsells at checkout:
  they need the domain only unless they deliberately choose an add-on.
- A domain is optional. If the current renewal price is not worth it right
  now, the free subdomain from deploy-anywhere is respectable. Say
  so and stop here.

## Connecting it

1. In the host's dashboard, add the custom domain to the site first —
   the host then tells you exactly which DNS records it wants.
2. Enter those records at the registrar's DNS panel. Usually: a CNAME
   for `www` pointing at the host, plus apex records for the bare
   domain (GitHub Pages uses four A records; Cloudflare and Netlify
   give their own values). Explain each record in one line as they
   add it.
3. Decide www vs apex together, then make the other one redirect to
   it so both work. Either choice is fine; picking one keeps links
   consistent.
4. Wait for DNS to propagate — minutes to an hour, occasionally
   longer. `dig +short theirdomain.com` shows when it lands.
5. HTTPS: every host on the list issues a free certificate
   automatically once DNS resolves. On GitHub Pages, tick "Enforce
   HTTPS" when it becomes clickable. Confirm the padlock in a real
   browser.

## Done

- Their domain loads their site over HTTPS
- www and apex both resolve, one redirecting to the other
- They know the renewal date, the renewal price, and where to log in
  to manage DNS
- They can say in one sentence what a DNS record does

The domain now belongs on their resume and email signature. If the
site itself needs work, build-website picks up from here.