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After you add a custom domain like docs.example.com, your default <subdomain>.mintlify.app address stays publicly reachable and search engines can continue to crawl it. In some cases the default address outranks your custom domain in search results.

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Why this happens

Mintlify does not automatically disable, redirect, or apply noindex to your default address when you add a custom domain. Some setups depend on the default address to serve the custom domain, so turning it off would take those sites down. Pages on your default address already set their canonical URL to your custom domain, but the canonical tag is a hint that search engines can ignore. This is more likely when the default address has more inbound links or a longer indexing history than your custom domain.

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Disable the default address

Support can make your default <subdomain>.mintlify.app address return a 404 so search engines drop it from their index. Your custom domain keeps working. This is only available if your custom domain’s CNAME points to cname.mintlify.builders, as shown on the Custom domain setup page. If your CNAME points to your <subdomain>.mintlify.app address, or you serve your docs through a reverse proxy, disabling the default address also takes down your custom domain. To disable the default address, email support@mintlify.com from an email address associated with your organization. Include:
  • Your custom domain, like docs.example.com.
  • Your default address, like acme.mintlify.app.
  • The organization and project, formatted as app.mintlify.com/<your-org>/<your-project>.
While the default address is disabled, you cannot add a new custom domain from the dashboard. Contact support if you need to change domains later.

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Speed up removal from search results

  • If you set a canonical URL in seo.metatags.canonical in your docs.json or in a page’s frontmatter, make sure it uses your custom domain. See Set a canonical URL.
  • In Google Search Console, add your custom domain as a property and submit its sitemap at https://<your-custom-domain>/sitemap.xml.
  • To hide default address URLs from Google results sooner, add <subdomain>.mintlify.app as a Search Console property and use the Removals tool. Verify the property with a google-site-verification meta tag before support disables the default address, because verification requires the address to be reachable.