Deliverability and infrastructure

SPF

Sender Policy Framework

Definition

SPF, Sender Policy Framework, is a DNS TXT record listing which servers may send email for your domain, so receivers can reject unauthorised senders.

SPF in practice

SPF is defined in RFC 7208. You publish one TXT record starting with v=spf1 on the domain, listing the services allowed to send for it, such as include:_spf.google.com for Google Workspace. The receiving server checks the domain used in the envelope sender (the Return-Path) against that list.

Two mistakes cause most SPF failures. Publishing two separate SPF records on one domain, which makes the check fail, and exceeding the limit of 10 DNS lookups the RFC sets, which happens when every tool you add appends another include. Check yours with a domain checker after every new sending tool you connect.

Check your SPF recordRFC 7208: Sender Policy Framework

DKIMDMARCSending domainDeliverabilityMX recordSPF
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Last updated 2026-10-14 by Ishan Vats.

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