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Renew a domain before it expires

tech.renew-domain·version 1.0.0·draft2 to verify

Renew a domain before it expires

Every company-held domain is renewed on time, in the company's name, with auto-renew confirmed — no domain lapses.

KasparsInfrastructure Engineerruns itProfile ›
Whenscheduled · by a deadline — weekly sweep of the domain list plus the renewal watch 60 days before each expiry
Who actsthe agent acts after approval
Time10 min per domain active; runs as a weekly sweep
Countryany country
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When to use

A company-held domain has an expiry approaching, or the weekly sweep found one. Not for a domain held at another registrar that the company wants to consolidate — use tech.move-domain-to-bc first, then this playbook covers it. Not for a domain the company does not yet hold — use tech.register-domain. The recurring watch over *all* contract deadlines is ops.contract-renewal-watch; this playbook is the domain-specific one the watch points at.

Before you start

  • The domain list is current: holder, registrar, expiry, auto-renew state for each domain.
  • The billing contact is a role address (domains@company), not a person's mailbox.
  • The keep/drop rule is known — default: keep anything that resolves, has mail on it, or is defensive for a live brand.

What a run requires1

  • Approval · S4 · ownerthe run stops until a named person records the decision

Any step can wait until a date and reopens by itself; every closed step leaves evidence (a note, a link, a number).

The trail8 steps

  1. Sweep the listagent

    Read every domain's expiry and auto-renew state from the registrar (or bc domains onboard <domain> --tenant <slug> in dry-run for a read-only view of delegation state).

    Done when each domain is marked: ok (>90 days) · renew soon (≤90 days) · urgent (≤30 days) · dropped-on-purpose.

  2. Check the holder and the contactsagent

    For each domain due, confirm the holder is the company and the registrant e-mail is a role address that is actually read.

    Done when any domain held in a person's name or pointing at a dead mailbox is flagged in the report.

    ⛔ A domain renewed under a departed employee's name stays un-renewable by the company when that person's account is closed.

  3. Check each domain is still wantedagent

    For each urgent domain, look up what uses it: website, mail, redirects, DNS records beyond a placeholder.

    Done when each domain has keep / drop / ask-owner, with the evidence ("MX records live for 12 mailboxes" or "no records, no site, last seen in 2023 campaign").

  4. Decide and approveownerneeds approval · owner

    Approval · S4 · owner — the run stops until a named person records the decision

    Present the renew-soon and urgent list with price per year per domain and the S3 recommendation.

    Done when the owner has marked each domain renew or drop, and approved the total spend.

    ⛔ The agent never pays the renewal invoice without this approval — a renewal is a payment to a third party.

  5. Renewagent

    Pay the approved renewals from the company's payment method, for the term the owner chose (default 1 year).

    Done when the registrar shows the new expiry date for each renewed domain.

  6. Fix what S2 flaggedagent

    For domains with a wrong holder or dead contact: update the registrant data to the company and the role address. For .lv this runs through the NIC.lv account; if the holder change needs NIC.lv approval, open the task and track it.

    Done when the registrar shows the company as holder, or a dated task exists for the pending change.

  7. Confirm auto-renew and the watchagent

    Turn auto-renew ON for every kept domain (where the owner has not said otherwise) and confirm the expiry sits in the renewal watch.

    Done when the domain list shows auto-renew = on and the next sweep date for each domain.

  8. Record and hand backagent

    Log each renewal (domain, amount, term, new expiry, payment reference) and send the owner a three-line summary: renewed, dropped, flagged.

    Done when the summary is sent and the log row exists.

Checks — how we know it worked

  • New expiry dates read back from the registrar match the log (not from the payment receipt alone).
  • Holder = the company's registration number on every kept domain.
  • Auto-renew = on and the billing contact is a live role address.
  • For one sampled renewed domain: the zone still answers and the site still opens over HTTPS.

If it goes wrong

SymptomResponse
Domain already expiredRenew immediately; if past the grace period it enters redemption — expect a recovery fee several times the renewal ⚠ verify current redemption fee and window at the registrar and, for .lv, nic.lv rules. Do not re-register the name before redemption ends.
Auto-renew charged a personal cardDo not renew again; move the card on file to the company's method, then renew in S5.
Registrar account unreachable (ex-employee)Escalate to the owner the same day; recovery runs through the registrar's account-recovery process ⚠ verify process per registrar; for .lv via nic.lv support.
Owner wants a drop but mail runs on itDo not drop — show the S3 evidence back, propose moving mail first (tech.create-mailbox), drop only after mail is off.
Renewal price far above list priceCheck the registrar's list price; if inflated, approve the renewal this year (do not lapse) and plan the transfer to tech.move-domain-to-bc in the next cycle.

What each step leaves behind

  1. S1each domain is marked: ok (>90 days) · renew soon (≤90 days) · urgent (≤30 days) · dropped-on-purpose.
  2. S2any domain held in a person's name or pointing at a dead mailbox is flagged in the report.
  3. S3each domain has keep / drop / ask-owner, with the evidence ("MX records live for 12 mailboxes" or "no records, no site, last seen in 2023 campaign").
  4. S4the owner has marked each domain renew or drop, and approved the total spend.
  5. S5the registrar shows the new expiry date for each renewed domain.
  6. S6the registrar shows the company as holder, or a dated task exists for the pending change.
  7. S7the domain list shows auto-renew = on and the next sweep date for each domain.
  8. S8the summary is sent and the log row exists.

Evidence to keep

Per domain: expiry before and after · payment reference and amount · holder as shown by the registrar · auto-renew state · the owner's renew/drop decisions in S4 (who, when) · any task opened in S6 with its date.

How this playbook improves

After every 10 sweeps ask: did any renewal happen inside 30 days, and why did the earlier reminder not land? Did any drop decision later cause a re-registration or lost mail? Did any domain still sit in a person's name? A new version changes the sweep or the reminder that failed, and says so in its change note.