ar.io DocumentationBuying and managing an ArNS name in ar.io Console
The ar.io Console registers ArNS names and manages them alongside uploads, deploys and credits. This guide describes Console 4.11.0. To use the standalone ArNS app instead, see Purchasing an ArNS name using arns.ar.io.
Before you start
An ArNS name is owned by a Solana wallet. The Console gets one for you in one of these ways:
- Sign in with a Solana wallet, such as Phantom, Solflare, or the Solana account in MetaMask. That wallet owns your names.
- Sign in with email. The Console creates a Solana wallet for your account.
- Sign in with an Arweave or Ethereum wallet, then link a Solana wallet. Your signed-in wallet stays your account and pays with its credits; the linked Solana wallet owns the names and approves changes to them. Link one from the Account page, or when the checkout asks.
Credits are spent from the account you signed in with, not from the wallet that owns the name. On an Arweave or Ethereum session, top up the signed-in account, not the linked Solana wallet.
Register a name
Go to console.ar.io/arns and search for the name you want. If it is available, choose a lease of 1 to 5 years or Permabuy, a permanent registration.
Optional: choose what the name points at. Pick one of your recent deploys, Pages or uploads, or paste an Arweave transaction ID. It is set as the name is registered, at no extra cost. Leave it alone to point the name at the default placeholder, and change it later from the name's page.
Choose how to pay:
- Credits: paid from your credit balance.
- Card: paid by card through Stripe. The card buys credits first (at least $5; anything over the price stays on your balance), then the name is bought from those credits with one wallet approval.
- Crypto: a token from the list. Every token except ARIO, such as SOL or USDC on Solana, is sent from your signed-in wallet to buy credits first, then the name is bought from those credits: two wallet approvals, with the amount worked out for you.
ARIO is a row in the Crypto list, and works differently. It is paid from the Solana wallet that owns the name (the linked wallet on an Arweave or Ethereum session) straight to the ArNS registry, with no Turbo infrastructure fee. That wallet also needs a little SOL for Solana account rent and the network fee. ARIO is marked "Best price" when it is the cheapest route for that name, counting the SOL.
ARIO is the only route where your wallet pays the Solana costs of the purchase; with credits, a card or another token, Turbo pays them. Sending SOL or USDC on Solana still spends a little SOL on that transfer's own network fee. The checkout shows the costs before you pay.
Approve each step in your wallet when it asks. The name appears under Manage Domains.
If a purchase does not finish
If a purchase paid with credits, a card, or a token does not finish because you closed the wallet prompt, approved too late, or left the page, Manage Domains shows what happened to that attempt and its credits: when they return to your balance, or that they are already back. Once the credits are back, it offers Try again. The notice appears in the browser where you started the purchase, for 30 minutes.
Manage a name
Open a name from Manage Domains, or go to console.ar.io/domains/NAME. Replace NAME with the name. Each section of the page has its own actions:
| Section | Actions |
|---|---|
| Overview | Renew or upgrade a lease: extend it, make it permanent, or add undername slots. A permanent name has Add undername slots |
| Details | Edit the name's nickname, ticker, logo, description, and keywords |
| Ownership | Transfer the name to another wallet, Reassign it to a different name token, or Release a permanent name back to the registry |
| Controllers | Manage the wallets allowed to edit its records |
| Records | Add record, edit a record with its pencil, or remove an undername |
The header also has Set as primary, which makes the name your primary name, and Visit, which opens it.
Transfer, Reassign, and Release are available only to the owner, and each asks you to confirm before it goes ahead. A transfer cannot be undone.
Edit records
The Records table lists the root record (@, the name itself) and every undername. Undernames use an underscore: UNDERNAME_NAME.ar.io. Select a record's name to open what it serves.
To change where the name points, select the pencil on the @ row. To add an undername, select Add record and enter the undername.
Enter the Target (Arweave TX ID) and the Cache time (TTL, seconds), then save. The change shows in the table as soon as it is saved, while the page confirms it against the chain.
Who pays for a change
On a name's page, record changes, transfers, and controller changes have a small cost, paid one of two ways:
- If the wallet that owns the name holds enough SOL, it signs the change and pays the Solana network fee, usually a fraction of a cent. A transfer or a new controller can also pay rent on accounts it creates, up to about 0.005 SOL, so those use SOL only when the wallet holds at least that much. Pay with credits instead switches to credits when both would work.
- Otherwise, credits pay, and Turbo pays the Solana fee. For these changes, a wallet with no SOL, such as an email account that holds no SOL, uses credits.
Editing the name's details, setting a primary name, reassigning and releasing are not paid by Turbo. Your wallet signs and pays a small Solana fee, so it needs a little SOL. Setting a primary name also charges an ARIO fee from that wallet.
For record changes, transfers, and controller changes, the cost is shown before you confirm. Editing details, setting a primary name, reassigning, and releasing say that your wallet pays a Solana fee, without an amount. IPFS targets and record priority are always signed by your wallet and need a little SOL; the editor says so before you save.
Controllers can edit records, edit the name's details, and renew or upgrade it, but cannot set it as their primary name, transfer, reassign, release, or manage controllers. For record and detail changes, a controller signs and pays the Solana fee from their own wallet.
Renewing, upgrading, and adding undername slots are paid with credits, a card, a token, or ARIO. A card pays for the change in one step. A token buys credits first; once they arrive, select Continue to pay for the change from them.
Assign a name to an upload, deploy or capture
When you upload a file, deploy a site, capture a page, or publish a Page in the Console, you can point one of your names at it. For a name you own, assigning it here is paid in credits; a controller's wallet signs and pays the Solana fee. After an upload, deploy, or capture, the success message has Visit, which opens the name, and Manage NAME, which opens the name's page.
Gateway operators
A gateway operator gets a 20% discount on ArNS purchases, renewals, upgrades, and undername slots when the wallet paying in ARIO is the gateway's operator wallet, and the gateway:
- is joined to the network,
- has run for at least 180 days, and
- has passed at least 90% of its epochs.
The gateway's operations wallet qualifies too, but only on a gateway at schema 1.2.0 or later. The discount never applies to primary names. The checkout shows it as its own line. With credits, a card, or another token, Turbo pays the registry, and the discount does not apply.
Next steps
Turbo Credits
Buy credits, and see which tokens and wallets can pay.
Set ArNS records programmatically
Update records from code with the ar.io SDK.
How is this guide?