Setup Guide

1. Sign up and pay

Go to /signup, enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the site you want to protect, and complete payment via Stripe ($49/month).

We resolve your domain to its current IP address before you make any DNS changes. This becomes the "origin IP" that Yod proxies traffic to.

2. Wait for provisioning (~3 minutes)

After payment, Yod automatically provisions a dedicated instance for your domain. You'll receive an email with your instance IP address, admin password, and DNS instructions.

You can also watch provisioning progress on your dashboard.

3. Update your DNS

Create a DNS A record pointing to your Yod instance IP:

example.com<your-instance-ip>

This routes your site's traffic through Yod. Your console is available from a link on your dashboard.

DNS propagation typically takes 5-30 minutes. Your dashboard auto-checks and shows a green indicator when ready. Yod automatically provisions a TLS certificate for your domain.

4. Configure your Yod console

Once your DNS resolves, open the console link on your dashboard and log in with your admin password.

Session cookies (recommended)

Enter your application's session cookie name(s) - for example PHPSESSID, connect.sid, or _session_id. This enables session-level attack detection (correlating multiple requests from the same attacker). Without it, Yod still detects per-request attacks.

AI provider (optional)

For AI-powered attack analysis, configure an Anthropic API key or Ollama URL. Without an AI provider, Yod still detects and redirects - just without AI analysis summaries.

5. Origin firewall (recommended)

For maximum protection, configure your origin server's firewall to only accept HTTP/HTTPS traffic from your Yod instance IP. This prevents attackers from bypassing Yod by connecting directly to your origin.

# Example: UFW on Ubuntu

ufw allow from <yod-instance-ip> to any port 443

ufw allow from <yod-instance-ip> to any port 80

Automatic failover

If Yod ever becomes unresponsive, traffic automatically fails over to your origin server directly. Your site stays up - just temporarily unprotected. When Yod recovers, traffic routes back through it automatically. You'll see failover alerts on your dashboard and receive an email notification.

FAQ

What happens if Yod goes down?

Your site stays online. Health checks run every 5 seconds and traffic automatically fails over to your origin directly. When Yod recovers, it switches back.

Do I need to change my application code?

No. Yod sits transparently in front of your site. No SDKs, no code changes, no agents to install.

What's included in $49/month?

A dedicated Yod instance, automatic TLS, real-time detection console, automatic updates with rollback, and failover protection. AI analysis is BYOAI - you provide your own Anthropic API key or Ollama URL.

Why do I need to bring my own AI provider?

Keeping AI costs out of the base price lets us offer Yod at $49/month with 88% gross margin. You control your AI spend and can choose between cloud (Anthropic) or self-hosted (Ollama) models.

Is my data shared with other customers?

No. Every customer gets a completely isolated instance. No shared infrastructure, no shared state. Your traffic and detection data never leaves your environment.

What if I exceed the 2TB traffic allowance?

Contact us. We can upgrade your instance to handle more traffic.

How do updates work?

Yod checks for new versions every 15 minutes and updates automatically with rollback if anything goes wrong. Zero maintenance on your end.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. Go to Dashboard > Billing > Manage Subscription to cancel. Yod spins down your instance when the current billing period ends.

What session cookies should I configure?

The cookie your application uses to track logged-in users. Common examples: PHPSESSID (PHP), connect.sid (Express.js), _session_id (Rails), JSESSIONID (Java). Check your browser's developer tools (Application > Cookies) to find yours.

Is there an SLA?

Not for the MVP tier. Yod is designed for high availability with automatic failover, but we don't offer formal SLA guarantees yet.

Can I protect both example.com and www.example.com?

Each Yod instance protects one domain. Set up a 301 redirect from one to the other (most DNS providers offer redirect records, or configure it in your web server), then protect whichever is canonical.