Custom domain with inquir
We recently implemented custom domain support in Inquir Compute, and it feels like one of those features that really changes a platform from “works technically” to “ready for production.”
For me, custom domains are a core part of production-grade infrastructure. They are not just cosmetic — they affect branding, trust, onboarding, and the overall developer experience.
I’d be curious how others think about this in serverless and deployment platforms:
At what point do you consider custom domains a must-have?
What parts are usually the hardest in practice: DNS flow, TLS issuance, routing, verification, or UX?
Do you prefer keeping platform subdomains as the canonical entry point, or treating custom domains as the primary one?
Would love to hear how other builders and users think about this.
Replies
Custom domains are a serious trust signal for anything consumer-facing — we noticed the same thing building Hello Aria (an AI assistant launching on PH April 10th). For onboarding, the difference between a branded domain and a random cloud subdomain is night and day. On the infra side, TLS issuance is usually the hairiest part, especially at scale. Does Inquir provision certs on-demand per custom domain or batch them? Also curious whether you're handling DNS verification in-band or handing that off to the user entirely.
Inquir Compute
@sai_tharun_kakirala
Right now Inquir provisions certificates on-demand per custom domain, not in batches. That felt like the right tradeoff for flexibility, especially since we also wanted to keep platform subdomains working while letting users attach their own domains on top.
The tricky part has definitely been TLS + routing together, not just DNS by itself. Once you support both platform-hosted domains and custom domains, a lot of edge cases start showing up around approval, host resolution, and keeping old routes compatible.
For verification, it is currently more user-driven: the user points the domain via DNS, and then we approve it on our side before allowing TLS issuance. So it is not fully “magic” yet. I do want to make that flow smoother over time, with a more guided in-product verification/setup experience.
That balance between flexibility and a clean onboarding flow is one of the hardest parts of infra products in my opinion.