Jul 18, 2022
New Release: Persisting Domains and Path Propagation
In this update, we bring you a clean & consistent ICNS experience!
Today, we’ve got a small but powerful update for you. Say goodbye to unreadable canister ID domains…
And hello to our fully-functional, human-readable ICNS domains through a new feature addition we’re calling persisted domains with path propagation 👋
This update is focused on creating a consistent, clean experience across ICNS domains. No more indecipherable IC domain addresses that can look a little phishy 🎣❌
But what does this mouthful actually mean? Let’s dive in to explain the power of this very simple new feature.
Persisting Domains + Path Propagation, a Perfect Match
Previously, using your ICNS name as a domain would simply act as a redirection service that made it easy for users to find your website through an ICNS name that you already share publicly.
Input: [ICNS name].icp.xyz → After Redirection: canisterID.ic0.app or customDomain.xyz
Now, when using your ICNS address as a URL to access web content from your domain.icp.xyz address remains consistent instead of redirecting to the URL set as your ICNS address’ host.
Input: ICNSname.icp.xyz → Domain Peristed: ICNSname.icp.xyz
The underlying content is still resolved, but your .icp.xyz domain stays the same.
Path Propagation 🎯
ICNS resolving also works for any additional paths you’d want to access from the underlying content.
Let’s take icns.icp, which points to https://icns.id as an example (this applies to canister IDs as well). Any path that exists on the icns.id site, is also accessible from icns.icp.xyz now!
This is what we mean by path propagation — try it for yourself, icns.icp.xyz/domains/plug/detail will resolve the content that comes from icns.id/domains/plug/detail. The same goes for any ICNS domain whose underlying content has multiple access paths.
Setting Your ICNS Domain
If you have a host record set, you might’ve noticed the change to domain persistence already.
Haven’t set a host record on your ICNS domain yet? It’s easy!
Navigate to your owned ICNS name, and set the host record to wherever you want to domain to redirect. Confirm in your Plug wallet popup and your domain will now redirect to this page & will persist through redirection.
⚠️ Note: When setting your host record to a canister ID, you must use the exact canister ID or [canID].raw.ic0.app ⚠️
That’s all for today 👋
This was a small but powerful aesthetic update to make user experiences consistent and clean across ICNS domains.
We’re always looking for additions requested by the community. Have an idea for a new feature? Maybe a record you want to see added? Hop into our Discord server and have your voice heard 🔊👂
