Domain

A name under elements.online for an app that has no domain yet, so the first deploy answers on HTTPS with nothing to register. One command claims it and the next deploy points it at the machines.

Claim a Name

Run it in the project, after the machine exists and before the first deploy:

Claim a generated name
elements domain

The name is generated, two words and a number, like tidy-lexer-4821.elements.online, and written to deploy.domain in config.jsoc. To pick the name instead:

Claim a chosen name
elements domain tidy-lexer

A chosen name is 3 to 40 lowercase letters, digits and hyphens. A few names are reserved (www, api, admin, elements and the like), and a name another account holds is refused; the message says which, and elements domain with no name always works.

A domain already in config.jsoc is never replaced quietly. The command stops and says what is there; -force replaces it and -append adds the new name to it, so both are served.

The name belongs to your account, not to a machine or a project. Each account can hold five.

Deploy

Nothing else changes. elements deploy reads deploy.domain, points the name at the environment's machines before it provisions them, and the load balancer gets its certificate the same way it does for a domain of your own. The deploy ends with the url:

Deploy output
Ok
Live at https://tidy-lexer-4821.elements.online

With -json the url is in the result as url. A second deploy onto new machines moves the name with it; the record changes within a minute.

Your Own Domain

The elements.online name is a value of deploy.domain like any other. When you have a domain, point an A record at the machine and put it in config.jsoc in place of the generated name, or alongside it in a list. Both are served and both get a certificate. See Load Balancer (opens in a new tab) for TLS and DNS.

config.jsoc
deploy: {
  domain: ["example.com", "tidy-lexer-4821.elements.online"],
}

Release a Name

Give the name back
elements domain release

The record is deleted and the name leaves config.jsoc; a domain of your own listed beside it stays. The name is held for your account for 90 days, in which only you can claim it again; after that anyone can. Release a name when the app is gone, not when it moves: a redeploy carries the name along.

If your license lapses, the names keep answering for 14 days. Pay inside them and nothing changes. After them the records are removed and the 90 day hold starts, so paying again inside it gets the names back with elements domain <name>.

Agents

An agent setting up a machine asks for nothing about domains. Its one confirmation names the generated url, "It will answer at <name>.elements.online unless you have a domain you want to use", and the user says yes or gives a domain. On yes the agent runs elements domain after provisioning and before the first deploy, then reports the url the deploy prints.