Buying or connecting a domain

OpsCrew can find and buy a domain for your app, or move a domain you already own to Cloudflare. The domain’s DNS always ends up on Cloudflare, where OpsCrew sets up the records, TLS and protection for your app (see Your domain on Cloudflare).

Finding and buying a domain

• npx opscrew domain search <name> checks availability and prices with Cloudflare Registrar.
• npx opscrew domain buy <domain> buys the domain at cost after you confirm the price. It then sets up its Cloudflare zone, DNSSEC and auto-renew, and uses the domain for your deployment.

Prefer another registrar? Add --registrar <id> to buy through Porkbun, Namecheap or GoDaddy instead of Cloudflare, the default. The domain’s DNS still moves to Cloudflare.

npx opscrew domain search <name> --compare lists the live prices of every registrar you set up, side by side and sorted by price only.

OpsCrew never asks for your contact details: registrars use your account’s own contact.

A domain you already own

npx opscrew domain connect <domain> copies the domain’s records into Cloudflare, then switches its nameservers to Cloudflare.

Before you buy

• Purchases cannot be refunded. You type the domain name to confirm. Scripts also need --confirm <domain> and --max-price <amount>.
• Auto-renew is on by default. Cloudflare charges the renewal to your account’s default payment method up to 30 days before the domain expires. Turn it off with npx opscrew domain auto-renew off, or buy with --no-auto-renew.
• At other registrars:
  • Porkbun: OpsCrew sets auto-renew through its API the same way.
  • Namecheap and GoDaddy: your account’s own auto-renew setting applies. You change it, and DNSSEC, in the registrar’s dashboard, and OpsCrew tells you where.

Cloudflare token permissions for buying

Buying needs extra permissions on your Cloudflare API token:

• Account → Registrar → Edit, only when you buy through Cloudflare;
• Zone → Zone → Edit, for all zones of the account.

The zone permissions OpsCrew already asks for must then also cover all zones of the account:

• Zone → Zone → Read;
• Zone → DNS → Edit;
• Zone → Config Rules → Edit;
• Zone → Zone WAF → Edit;
• Zone → SSL and Certificates → Edit;
• Zone → Zone Settings → Edit.

A token limited to the zones you have today does not cover the zone of a domain you buy. If you keep the token limited, add the new domain’s zone to it right after buying, before opscrew dns or opscrew provision.