What is an MX Record?

When someone sends an email to user@example.com, the sending server needs to know where to deliver the message. It performs a DNS lookup for the MX records of example.com, which return one or more hostnames with associated priority values. The sending server attempts delivery to the lowest-priority (highest-preference) server first. If that server is unreachable, it tries the next one in priority order. This simple mechanism is the foundation of all email routing on the internet and has remained largely unchanged since the early days of SMTP.

Proper MX record configuration is critical for email reliability. Best practices include setting up at least two MX records with different priorities to ensure failover if the primary server goes down. The hostnames in MX records should resolve to A or AAAA records (not CNAMEs, which are technically prohibited per RFC 2181 in this context). TTL values should be low enough to allow rapid failover but high enough to avoid excessive DNS query load. Misconfigured MX records can silently prevent email delivery without generating bounces, making them a common but often overlooked source of email problems.

Afterdraft provides dedicated MX endpoints that you point your domain's MX records to during setup. Once configured, all incoming email for your domain flows through Afterdraft's receiving infrastructure, where it is parsed, classified by the AI agent, and routed to the appropriate workflow. The platform supports multiple priority levels for redundancy and includes real-time monitoring that alerts you if your MX records are misconfigured or if receiving servers experience connectivity issues.