A record
A DNS record mapping a hostname to an IPv4 address, used for short-link domains where a CNAME is not possible.
Updated August 14, 2026
An A record maps a hostname directly to an IPv4 address. Its counterpart for IPv6 is the AAAA record, and the two coexist happily on the same name: clients pick whichever family they can use. This is the oldest and most literal thing DNS does — the answer is the address itself, with no second lookup.
For short links, address records are the fallback route. When the hostname is an apex domain, or when the provider offers no ALIAS-style record, you point the name at the platform's published ingress addresses instead of at a canonical name. Seeing two A records on one hostname is normal rather than a mistake: the addresses sit in different locations and clients move to the second if the first is unreachable.
The cost is maintenance. Addresses are pinned into your zone, so if the platform renumbers its ingress you must edit DNS, which a CNAME would have avoided — prefer a subdomain with a CNAME wherever the choice exists. And an A record cannot share a name with a CNAME; providers reject the combination.