New Client Subdomain — Vercel Setup

🎬 This guide includes videos.

This guide is for one job: giving a new client their own web address, like airbearstl.directestimatepro.com.

In the past we did this in GoDaddy and GoHighLevel. Now our client sites live on Vercel. This guide is the Vercel version of that same job.

IMPORTANT

You do this FIRST — before the website pages are built. Since 2026-07-22, the /new-client bot names the whole client site from the address you attach here (it never makes up a name). So the order is: client signs → you attach the domain (this guide) → an Operator runs /new-client and picks your attached address from a list. When you finish this guide, tell the Operator the address is attached so they can run /new-client. (This order came from the Hendersonville launch, where a hand-typed name and the real attached address disagreed and the site broke.)

The job has two parts, and you do both:

1. Add the address — inside the project (directestimatepro).
2. Add one DNS record — in the account view (the team's Domains page — it works like GoDaddy did).

Vercel does not do part 2 for you. After part 1 it will show you a red Invalid Configuration — that is normal and expected. It means "this address does not point at me yet." Part 2 fixes it.

TIP

🎬 Watch Sean do this exact process first: Loom — adding a new client subdomain on Vercel (filmed 2026-07-15, doing the real AirBear STL setup). The steps below are the same flow in writing.

IMPORTANT

This guide is only for a brand-new address that nobody is using yet. If a client is already live and already has a website that ads or customers use, do not use this guide. Changing a live address is a different, riskier job that an agent does. See When to STOP and ask an agent near the bottom.

Word list (so the steps are clear): - Project — the folder on Vercel that holds all our client sites. Its name is directestimatepro. Every client address lives inside this one project. - Domain — a web address, like airbearstl.directestimatepro.com. Adding one is called "adding a domain." - Valid Configuration — the green words Vercel shows when the address is connected correctly. This is your finish line. - The site — the actual web pages (the booking page). The build team makes these. You do not build pages. You only connect the address.

WARNING

If Vercel says the domain/CNAME is already in use → STOP, do not fight the dashboard. That hostname already has a DNS record pointing at the old GoHighLevel site (every pre-migration subdomain kept its record so nothing broke on migration day). Changing a LIVE hostname's record is agent territory with Sean's go-word — post in #🖋️task-assign: " subdomain already exists, needs the agent flip." An agent handles the scaffold + record swap + verification. (First case: Paradise Heating, 2026-07-21.)

Before you start — the 3 checks

Do not start until all three are true. If one is missing, wait or ask.

1. The client is signed and the setup fee is paid. - Billing (or Sean) confirms this. No setup fee = do not make the address.

2. The site pages are built. - The build team makes the client's booking page inside the directestimatepro project. - They tell you it is ready in Discord (in #🖋️task-assign or the client's channel). - If nobody has said "the site is ready," ask in #🖋️task-assign first. No pages = the address will show an error.

3. You know the exact address to use. - It is always the client's short name, then .directestimatepro.com. - Example: AirBear STL → airbearstl.directestimatepro.com. - The build team tells you the exact short name (it must match the folder they made). Do not invent it. If unsure, ask.

The steps

Follow these in order. Do one, then the next.

Step 1 — Sign in to Vercel. - Open vercel.com in your browser. - Click Log In (top right) and sign in with your Local Leap account. - If you land on your personal space, look at the top-left corner. Click the name there and choose the team Local Leap Media. You must be in this team, not your own.

Step 2 — Open the directestimatepro project. - On the team home page you see a list of projects. - Click the one named directestimatepro. - This one project holds every client's address. You will always use this same project.

Step 3 — Open the Domains page. - In the project's left menu, click Domains. - You now see a list of every client address we already have. - (Tip: open a second browser tab now — you will hop between two screens in a minute.)

Step 4 — Add the new address. - Click Add Existing (top right — NOT "Buy"). - Type the full address, all lowercase, no spaces. Example: airbearstl.directestimatepro.com. - Keep Connect to an environment → Production selected (it is the default). - Click Add Domain.

Step 5 — Expect RED. This is normal. - The address appears in the list with a red Invalid Configuration label. - Nothing is broken. It only means the address does not point at Vercel yet. You fix that in Steps 6–7. - Click Learn more next to the red label. A small table opens (the DNS Records tab) showing Type / Name / Value. It looks like this:

WARNING

Copy that Value. Never type it from memory. The Value is different per project, and Vercel sometimes changes which one it prefers. Use the little copy icon next to it. Do not copy the value off another client's row, and do not use one you remember from a guide. The screen in front of you is the only correct source. (Ignore the Vercel DNS tab next to that table — it only shows nameserver info. It is not where the record goes.)

Step 6 — Go to the ACCOUNT view. - The record is added in a different place: the team's own Domains page, not the project. - Click the Local Leap Media logo (very top-left) to go back to the home screen. - In the left menu, click Domains. - Click directestimatepro.com in the list. - This screen works like GoDaddy did — a list of DNS records with a form to add one.

Step 7 — Add the DNS record. - In the add-record form, enter exactly the three values from the Step 5 table: - Type: CNAME - Name: the client short name only (e.g. airbearstl) — not the full address - Value: paste the value you copied - Leave everything else as its default. - Click Add. - Forgot a value? Hop back to your other tab — the red row's table still shows all three.

Step 8 — Wait for the check mark. - Go back to the project's Domains page (your other tab). - Click Refresh on the address row after ~30 seconds. - Red Invalid Configuration becomes a check mark + Valid Configuration. That is "on." - If it is still red after 2–3 tries over a few minutes → stop and post in #🖋️task-assign. Do not start changing values to see what works.

How to know it worked

Do both checks. Both must pass.

Check 1 — Green words in Vercel. - On the Domains page, the new address shows Valid Configuration or a green check.

Check 2 — The page opens and shows the right client. - Open a new browser tab. - Type the full address: https://airbearstl.directestimatepro.com (use the real one). - You should see that client's booking page — their name, their colors, their calendar. - If the page loads and it is the correct client → you are done. 🎉

NOTE

A new address can take a few minutes to open the first time, and up to a few hours on some home internet. If Vercel shows green but the page is slow to open, wait 5–10 minutes and try again in a fresh tab. Green words in Vercel are the true finish line; the browser is just a second confirmation.

Last step — tell the team. - Post one line in #🖋️task-assign: <Client> address is live: https://<address> . - This lets the build team point the calendar and ads at the new address.

When to STOP and ask an agent

This guide is safe only for brand-new addresses. Stop and post in #🖋️task-assign (an agent will take over) in any of these cases:

1. The client is already running and already has a live website. - If ads, setters, or customers already use a web address for this client, do not touch it here. - Moving a live client to Vercel is a different job. It must be done carefully so running ads and booking links do not break. An agent does this with extra checks (we call it "path parity"). It is not your job and it is not this guide.

2. It is still red after you added the DNS record and refreshed a few times. - Red immediately after adding the address is normal (Step 5). Red that will not go away after Step 6 is not. - Stop. Do not experiment with different values. Hand it to an agent.

3. The page opens but shows the wrong client, a blank page, or an error like 404 / DEPLOYMENT_NOT_FOUND. - This almost always means the site pages are not built yet, or the short name does not match the folder. - Stop. The address is connected but there is nothing behind it. Ask the build team to check the pages.

4. You are being asked to change or delete an address that already exists. - Editing or removing a live address can take a client's site offline. Always hand this to an agent.

WARNING

The single rule that keeps you safe: you only ADD brand-new addresses that nobody uses yet. Anything that touches a live client's existing address goes to an agent.

If something looks wrong

Golden rule when unsure: it is always safe to stop and ask. You cannot break a client by asking. You can break one by guessing a DNS value or editing a live address.

Quick reference card

Print this or keep it open. It is the whole job in six lines.

1. Sign in at vercel.com → team Local Leap Media.
2. Open the directestimatepro project → Domains.
3. Add Existing → type <clientshortname>.directestimatepro.com → keep Production → Add Domain.
4. It turns RED. That is normal. Click Learn more → copy the Value shown.
5. Top-left logo → home screen → Domains → click directestimatepro.com.
6. Add record: Type CNAME · Name <clientshortname> · Value = what you copied → Add.
7. Back on the project's Domains page → Refresh the row → check mark + Valid Configuration.
8. Open the address in a new tab → see the right client → post "live" in #🖋️task-assign.

Never: invent the short name · type a CNAME value from memory (always copy it off the screen) · touch an address a live client already uses · "fix" an amber DNS Change Recommended. When any of these come up → #🖋️task-assign.