---
title: Use your own domain as your handle
description: Replace `alice.bsky.social` with `alice.com`. Your own domain becomes your Atmosphere identity. Setup happens on your provider (or via DNS), not on Sifa.
---

Your Atmosphere handle defaults to ending in your provider's domain: `alice.bsky.social` on Bluesky, `alice.eurosky.social` on Eurosky. You can swap that for your own domain (`alice.com`, `me.example.org`) so your professional identity isn't tied to a provider's name.

The setup happens at the **[AT Protocol](https://atproto.com) level**, on your provider. Sifa doesn't run a whitelabel handle service. What Sifa gives you is the profile that uses whichever handle you've configured upstream.

Once your handle is set, your Sifa profile URL becomes `https://sifa.id/p/alice.com` automatically. No further configuration on Sifa.

## What you need before you start

- An Atmosphere account on any provider ([Bluesky](https://bsky.app), [Eurosky](https://eurosky.social), etc).
- A domain you control.
- Either the ability to add DNS TXT records to that domain, or the ability to serve a single file at `https://<your-domain>/.well-known/atproto-did`.

Control DNS but not `.well-known/`? Use the DNS method. Control `.well-known/` (most hosting platforms) but not DNS? Use the file method. Either works.

## Step 1: find your DID

Your DID is the permanent ID for your account. You need its value to point your domain at it.

In the Bluesky app: **Settings → Account → Advanced → Decentralised Identity (DID)**. Copy the long string starting with `did:plc:`.

In Sifa: open your profile page and look in the settings panel.

From the command line:

```bash
curl -s "https://bsky.social/xrpc/com.atproto.identity.resolveHandle?handle=<your-current-handle>" | jq -r .did
```

Swap `bsky.social` for your provider's hostname if you're not on Bluesky.

## Step 2, option A: set a DNS TXT record

On your DNS provider (Cloudflare, Hetzner, Route 53, your registrar's panel, wherever you manage records for the domain):

- **Type:** TXT
- **Name:** `_atproto.<your-domain>`. For `alice.com`, that's literally `_atproto.alice.com`. Some DNS UIs ask for just `_atproto` and append the domain automatically. Both forms are correct.
- **Value:** `did=did:plc:<your-did-here>`
- **TTL:** 300 is fine.

Save. The record propagates in a few minutes.

Verify:

```bash
dig +short TXT _atproto.alice.com
# should return: "did=did:plc:abc123..."
```

## Step 2, option B: serve a `.well-known/atproto-did` file

If you can't set DNS TXT records (some managed hosts block them), serve a plain-text file at:

```
https://<your-domain>/.well-known/atproto-did
```

The file is a single line: your DID. Nothing else.

```
did:plc:abc123def456...
```

The response must be served with `Content-Type: text/plain` and respond over HTTPS. Most static hosts (GitHub Pages, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, plain nginx) let you serve files at any path. Ghost Pro, some managed WordPress, and a handful of SaaS site builders block `/.well-known/`. In that case use the DNS method or move hosts.

Verify:

```bash
curl -s https://alice.com/.well-known/atproto-did
# should print: did:plc:abc123...
```

## Step 3: update your handle on your provider

With DNS or well-known in place, tell your provider you want to change your handle.

**On Bluesky:** Settings → Account → Handle → I have my own domain. Enter `alice.com`. The Bluesky app runs the verification. If it finds your DNS record or fetches your well-known file, the handle is updated.

**On Eurosky / [Tangled](https://tangled.org) / [Blacksky](https://blacksky.community):** roughly the same flow under Settings or Account.

If verification fails, double-check the steps above. DNS sometimes takes a few minutes to propagate. If `dig +short TXT _atproto.<domain>` returns the right value but your provider says no, wait 5 minutes and retry.

## Step 4: verify on Sifa

Sign out of Sifa and sign back in with your new handle. Your profile page is now `https://sifa.id/p/alice.com`.

<Screenshot
  src="public-profile.png"
  alt="A Sifa profile page rendered with a custom-domain handle (@gui.do, where gui.do is the owner's own domain). Same layout as any other Sifa profile: header card with name and handle, section navigation on the left, biography and activity heatmap on the right."
  caption="A Sifa profile served at sifa.id/p/your-domain.com. Example: gui.do, a real custom-domain handle."
/>

Old links pointing at `https://sifa.id/p/alice.bsky.social` still resolve. The AppView indexes by DID, not by handle, so any path that maps to your DID renders the same profile.

## Why do this

- **Independence from your provider.** Move from Bluesky to Eurosky later, and your domain handle stays. People who linked to `alice.com` don't lose anything.
- **Personal-brand surface.** A short, memorable handle that matches your website. `sifa.id/p/alice.com` reads as your CV the way `alice.com` reads as your blog.
- **One-time setup.** DNS records and well-known files don't decay. Set once, runs for years.

## Want to go deeper

- [DIDs, handles, and providers](/docs/dids-handles-providers): what each piece is for. The DID is what makes handle changes work without breaking anything.
- [Move your account to another provider](/docs/move-account): handles paired with provider migration. You can keep your custom domain while switching where your data lives.