Verify with a redirect

Some hosts cannot put a file at the root of your domain. Webflow, Squarespace, and a domain that only lets you add redirect rules can still verify. Redirect https://your-domain/your-key.txt to the hosted key URL Raylit shows in the Verify dialog.

Raylit serves that key at https://getraylit.com/api/r/domain-id/your-key. The response is the key as plain text and nothing else.

What Raylit accepts#

Open the domain, press Verify domain, and choose Redirect. Copy the path and the hosted key URL. On your domain, add an HTTP 301 or 302 from that path to that URL, then press Recheck.

Raylit requests the key file address and accepts the check only when a response is a 301 or 302 whose Location is exactly the hosted key URL for this domain: Raylit's app URL, this domain's id, and this domain's key. A redirect that stays on your host along the way is followed. Every other redirect to another host is rejected, and Raylit does not request that host.

A chain is fine when each hop stays on your host and one hop is that exact URL. A hop to any other host fails, including a host that would itself redirect to Raylit. An extra slash, a query string, or a different id or key fails.

IndexNow and Bing#

IndexNow checks ownership by crawling the key location you submit. The protocol says that once you submit URLs, search engines crawl the key file to verify ownership (IndexNow documentation, Verifying ownership via the key).

The IndexNow FAQ says engines accept a URL reached by redirect. "Can I submit redirected or deleted URLs using IndexNow? Yes." A page redirected with a 301, 302, or meta refresh is how the engine learns the move, and "IndexNow supports submitting URLs for content that has been deleted, moved, or redirected" (IndexNow FAQ). Bing is a participating engine. The same FAQ lists https://www.bing.com/indexnow as an endpoint, and a submission to one participating endpoint is shared with the others. Bing fetches your key location and follows the 301 or 302 to Raylit's hosted key.

Prefer hosting the file yourself when the platform allows it. Use the redirect when it does not.

Webflow#

Webflow does not let you upload a file to the root of the domain. 301 redirects live under site settings and need a site plan. They apply only after you publish.

1. In Raylit, open the domain, press Verify domain, and choose Redirect. Copy the source path (for example /your-key.txt) and the hosted key URL.
2. In Webflow, open Site settings, then Publishing, then 301 redirects.
3. Add a redirect. Old path is the source path, including the leading slash. Redirect to is the full hosted key URL, including https://.
4. Save, then Publish the site. The redirect is not live until you publish.
5. Open the key file address in a private window. It should show the key. In Raylit, press Recheck.

Webflow's publishing redirects are 301s. Raylit accepts a 301 to the hosted key URL.

Squarespace#

Squarespace URL mappings can send a path to another domain. The format in Squarespace's URL mappings guide is /old-url -> https://other.example/path 301. The destination must start with https://. A mapping runs when the source path is not an existing page. You cannot redirect an uploaded file's CDN address. This key path is not an uploaded file.

1. In Raylit, choose Redirect and copy the source path and the hosted key URL.
2. In Squarespace, open Settings, then Developer tools, then URL mappings. On older 7.0 sites this is Settings, then Advanced, then URL mappings.
3. Add one line, using your path and hosted key URL. There is a space on each side of ->, then the status:

/your-key.txt -> https://getraylit.com/api/r/123/your-key 301

4. Do not add any other text on that line. Click Save. Mappings apply within a couple of minutes.
5. Visit the key file address. It should show the key. In Raylit, press Recheck.

Use 302 instead of 301 at the end of the line when you want a temporary redirect. Raylit accepts either.

Cloudflare redirect rules#

Use a redirect rule when the domain is on Cloudflare, including when the site itself is on a host that cannot serve the file.

1. In Raylit, copy the source path and the hosted key URL.
2. In the Cloudflare dashboard, select the domain.
3. Go to Rules, then Redirect Rules. Rules, then Overview, lists the same Single Redirects.
4. Create rule. Name it IndexNow key.
5. Choose Custom filter expression. Set Field to URI Path, Operator to equals, and Value to the source path, for example /your-key.txt. The expression is (http.request.uri.path eq "/your-key.txt").
6. Under Then, choose a Static redirect. URL is the hosted key URL. Status code is 301. Turn Preserve query string off, so the target has no query string.
7. Deploy.
8. Visit the key file address, then press Recheck in Raylit.

A rule that redirects every path, or that sends the key path anywhere other than the hosted key URL, does not pass. Match only the key path.

If the check fails#

• The target must be the hosted key URL copied from Raylit: the same scheme, host, domain id, and key. An extra slash, a query string, or www on Raylit's host fails.
• Only HTTP 301 and 302 are accepted for that hop. A meta refresh or a JavaScript redirect is not a redirect Raylit follows.
• A redirect to any other host is rejected, and Raylit does not request it.
• After you change the key under Replace key, the path and the hosted URL both change. Update the redirect, then press Recheck.