Summary
SPF neutral is an authentication result indicating that a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record exists for a domain, but it does not explicitly authorize or deny the sending IP address. A broken SPF record, conversely, is typically misconfigured, incomplete, or exceeds technical limits, leading to authentication failures like softfail or even no result at all. Both scenarios can significantly impact email deliverability, as receiving mail servers may view these emails with suspicion, increasing the likelihood of them being marked as spam or rejected.
Key findings
- SPF neutral definition: It occurs when an SPF record exists with a ?all mechanism, meaning the domain owner chooses not to assert whether a sending IP is authorized.
- Broken record causes: Common issues include misconfigurations, syntax errors, or exceeding the 10-DNS lookup limit or 255-character length limit. For more details on lookup limits, see how to fix SPF record exceeding DNS lookup limit.
- Impact on deliverability: Both neutral and broken records hinder a receiving server's ability to verify sender authenticity, potentially leading to emails being sent to spam or rejected outright.
- Authentication consequences: While neutral might not immediately cause rejection, a broken record (or softfail) significantly undermines SPF's protective function, especially when DMARC is in place. Learn more about how broken SPF records affect deliverability.
Key considerations
- Regular checks: Routinely validate your SPF record for proper syntax and to ensure it includes all legitimate sending services.
- DNS lookup limit: Be mindful of the 10-DNS lookup limit. Consolidate entries or use SPF flattening services if you have many includes.
- Bounce domain authentication: Ensure your SPF record authenticates the correct bounce domain, which is often different from the From: address.
- DMARC alignment: A neutral SPF result may not align with your DMARC policy, potentially causing DMARC to fail. This is crucial for email security.
- Testing: For a definitive understanding of SPF mechanisms, consult the IETF Datatracker SPF classic specification.
What email marketers say
Email marketers often encounter SPF neutral or broken records when trying to ensure their campaigns land in the inbox. The technical nuances of SPF can be challenging, leading to frustration when initial fixes, like adding a TXT record, result in unexpected "neutral" outcomes instead of a clear "pass." They seek straightforward solutions to these complex DNS authentication issues that directly impact their email marketing efforts.
Key opinions
- Initial confusion: Marketers are often puzzled by the shift from softfail to neutral, expecting a "pass" after making changes.
- Impact on campaigns: They report concerns about internal and external emails being affected, causing deliverability headaches for important communications.
- Reliance on developers: Many depend on backend developers or IT teams to handle DNS and SPF configurations, highlighting a knowledge gap.
- Seeking header analysis: Marketers frequently ask for help analyzing email headers to diagnose the specific SPF issue and understand why their emails are not authenticating correctly.
Key considerations
- Verify domain authentication: Confirm that the SPF record is authenticating the correct domain being used for sending emails.
- Review ?all mechanism: If seeing neutral, marketers should check if a ?all mechanism is present and understand its implications. For more details on this, refer to DuoCircle's explanation of SPF neutral.
- Consider SPF lookup limits: Marketers should be aware that adding new includes, like for Google Workspace, can push them over the 10-DNS lookup limit.
- Collaboration with IT: Effective resolution requires clear communication and collaboration with DNS administrators or developers. Troubleshooting intermittent issues requires expertise.
- Test email flow: After any SPF changes, sending test emails to various providers is vital to confirm the fix. This can prevent delivery failures.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks describes a common frustration: after addressing an SPF softfail for their internal G-Suite emails by attempting to add a TXT record based on G-Suite documentation, the situation unexpectedly shifted to an SPF neutral result. This outcome was confusing, as the expectation was a clear 'pass' for improved deliverability. The marketer's experience highlights the challenges many face when dealing with email authentication protocols. It underscores the difficulty in translating documentation into precise DNS configurations, especially when relying on internal development teams who may not specialize in email deliverability. Such scenarios often lead to a search for external guidance and clarification, as the subtle differences between SPF results like softfail, none, and neutral are not always intuitively understood by those managing email systems.
Marketer view
A marketer from Email Geeks offers assistance, stating a willingness to examine the email header details if provided. This approach is typical among community members aiming to help diagnose complex email authentication issues. The direct offer to review technical information underscores the collaborative nature of troubleshooting deliverability problems within expert forums. It suggests that hands-on inspection of raw headers is often necessary to pinpoint the exact cause of an SPF neutral or broken record. Such insights derived from header analysis are invaluable for understanding the specific path an email took and where the authentication failed, guiding the user towards a targeted solution.
What the experts say
Email deliverability experts emphasize that both SPF neutral and broken SPF records indicate underlying issues that compromise email authentication. While "neutral" might seem benign, it often reflects a lack of definitive policy, and a broken record points to critical misconfigurations that can lead to severe deliverability problems. They stress the importance of understanding the technical details of SPF for proper diagnosis and resolution, guiding users away from common pitfalls.
Key opinions
- `Neutral` vs. `none`: Experts explain that SPF neutral (due to ?all) is diagnostically distinct from none (no SPF record found), though their enforcement might sometimes be similar.
- Common causes of breakage: Beyond syntax errors, exceeding the DNS lookup limit (e.g., more than 10 include or a mechanisms) is a frequent cause of broken records. This can lead to demystifying the SPF TempError in your DMARC reports.
- Bounce domain importance: Correctly authenticating the bounce domain (also known as the Return-Path or Mail From address) is crucial, as SPF checks this specific domain.
- Header analysis: Experts consistently recommend examining email headers for detailed SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication results to pinpoint the exact failure. This is key for effective troubleshooting SPF and DMARC settings.
- DMARC implications: A neutral SPF result can lead to DMARC alignment failures, reducing the overall authentication strength for the domain. This affects what SPF not aligned in a DMARC report means.
Key considerations
- Accurate record syntax: Ensure the SPF TXT record adheres strictly to SPF syntax, starting with v=spf1 and ending with a policy mechanism like ~all, -all, or ?all.
- Manage lookups: Implement strategies such as SPF flattening or careful consolidation of authorized senders to avoid exceeding the 10-DNS lookup limit. Best practices for SPF flatteners and managing SPF records are important.
- Align with DMARC: Configure SPF in conjunction with DKIM and DMARC to establish a robust email authentication framework. Consult a simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.
- Regular monitoring: Continuously monitor SPF status through DMARC reports or dedicated tools to detect and resolve issues promptly.
- Holistic approach: Consider the entire email flow and all sending services, including internal systems, transactional platforms, and marketing automation tools. AutoSPF offers insights on broken SPF record meaning and how to fix it.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks advises confirming whether the correct domain is being authenticated, emphasizing that SPF typically verifies the bounce domain for email validation. This distinction is critical because the "From" address visible to recipients might differ from the actual domain used for SPF checks. Misalignment or incorrect configuration of the bounce domain is a common cause of SPF failures, leading to emails being flagged. Proper identification and configuration of this domain ensure that receiving mail servers can accurately verify the sender's authenticity. Ensuring this foundational element is correctly set up is often the first step in troubleshooting any SPF-related deliverability issue.
Expert view
An expert from Email Geeks explains that Google's SPF record itself includes three lookups. This is a significant detail because adding Google's SPF record to your own domain's SPF can push you over the strict 10-DNS lookup limit imposed by the SPF specification. Exceeding this limit causes a PermError, effectively rendering your SPF record broken and unreadable by receiving mail servers. This often leads to legitimate emails failing authentication, impacting deliverability. Awareness of the lookup count, especially when integrating multiple third-party sending services, is crucial for maintaining a valid and effective SPF record and avoiding hidden deliverability traps.
What the documentation says
Official specifications and documentation for SPF (Sender Policy Framework) define the various mechanisms and qualifiers that govern its operation. The SPF standard details how a receiving mail server should interpret different SPF results, including neutral, softfail, and fail, and outlines the technical constraints such as the DNS lookup limit. Adherence to these guidelines is paramount for proper email authentication and deliverability, ensuring emails are processed as intended across the internet.
Key findings
- `?all` mechanism: The ?all mechanism explicitly results in a "neutral" SPF verdict, indicating no definitive policy regarding the sending IP.
- PermError for invalid records: The SPF specification mandates that an SPF record that is syntactically invalid or exceeds processing limits (like the 10-DNS lookup limit) should result in a PermError.
- SPF `none`: A "None" result means no SPF record was published for the domain or could be determined for the given identity.
- Purpose of SPF: SPF aims to prevent email spoofing by allowing domain owners to specify which IP addresses are authorized to send mail on their behalf.
- Scope of SPF check: The SPF check applies to the Return-Path or Mail From address (the bounce address), not necessarily the From header.
Key considerations
- RFC compliance: Ensure your SPF records strictly comply with RFC 7208 and previous specifications to avoid misinterpretation by receiving servers.
- Technical limits: Pay close attention to the 10-DNS lookup limit and the 255-character string limit for each TXT record entry, as exceeding these will break your SPF.
- Mechanism ordering: Understand the order in which SPF mechanisms are evaluated, as this affects the final result.
- Explicit policies: For stronger authentication, documentation encourages explicit policies like ~all (softfail) or -all (fail) over ?all (neutral). For further reading, see seanthegeek.net's guide to DMARC.
- DNS publishing: Ensure SPF records are published as TXT records in the DNS, following standard DNS practices.
Technical article
The IETF Datatracker documentation describes that an SPF result of "None" indicates either no SPF records were published by the domain, or no checkable sender domain could be determined from the given identity. This is a crucial distinction, as it implies a complete absence of an SPF policy, rather than a specific policy being set. When a domain has no SPF record, it leaves it entirely vulnerable to spoofing. Mail servers have no guidance on whether an incoming email is from an authorized source, often leading to it being treated with suspicion or flagged as spam. This state is usually addressed by publishing at least a basic SPF record, even if it's a neutral one, to begin establishing an authentication posture.
Technical article
DuoCircle documentation states that SPF neutral messages occur when the domain owner does not wish to assert that the sending IP address is authorized to send email on their behalf. This is a deliberate choice within the SPF policy, typically represented by the ?all mechanism. This policy does not explicitly permit or deny, leaving the decision to the receiving server's discretion. While it provides more information than no SPF record at all, it doesn't offer the strong authentication signal of a pass or a definitive fail. Such a neutral stance is often used during the initial stages of SPF deployment or for domains with highly variable or numerous sending sources that are difficult to enumerate precisely.
Related resources
5 resources
Related pages
Why is my SPF record showing as neutral?
How to fix SPF record exceeding DNS lookup limit?
How do broken SPF records affect email deliverability and authentication?
How do I troubleshoot and fix SPF and DMARC settings?
What does it mean when SPF is not aligned in a DMARC report?
A simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM
What are the best practices for using SPF flatteners?
Demystifying the SPF TempError in your DMARC reports
Why your emails fail at Microsoft: the hidden SPF DNS timeout
How to troubleshoot intermittent email delivery failures?
