What counts as a customer surface
A customer surface is any endpoint where a customer can submit a request and receive a quote from your Book. Kordless supports three kinds:- Hosted quote path — A page on your
kordless.sitesubdomain (or a connected custom domain) where customers describe what they need and receive a priced quote. - Embedded form — A quote widget you install on your own website. It uses the same Book and produces the same quotes as the hosted path.
- API — Programmatic access for your own code or integrations. Covered separately in Developers.
Website chat, review workflows, and other customer-facing features are part of the website surface, not separate surfaces. They share the same domain and Book.
Where surfaces are configured
Surfaces are configured in Settings, under the Customer surfaces tab. Each row shows its status and links to the surface that owns its configuration:
The Book workspace owns the pricing model. Settings projects a link to it — it does not become a second pricing authority.
Hosted subdomain
Every workspace gets akordless.site subdomain at provisioning. The subdomain is auto-allocated from your business name with a short random suffix to guarantee uniqueness.
Renaming your subdomain
You can rename your subdomain from the dashboard. The rename is immediate:- The new URL works right away.
- The old URL returns a permanent redirect (301) to the new one for 180 days, so existing links, print collateral, and bookmarks continue to resolve.
- After the grace window, the old name is released back into the available pool.
Custom domains
You can connect a custom domain you own. DNS verification confirms you control the domain before it goes live. Once verified, the custom domain serves the same hosted quote path as your subdomain. Multiple custom domains are supported on Scale and Enterprise tiers. Pro supports one custom domain in addition to the subdomain.Embedded forms
An embedded form is a quote widget you install on your own website. It loads your published Live Book and lets customers submit requests without leaving your page.Installation
Each embed installation has a unique ID and a secret. The installation is scoped to the domain you register — requests from unregistered origins are rejected. You can rotate the installation secret or revoke the installation entirely from the Developers page.What embeds share with hosted paths
- The same published Live Book version.
- The same evaluator and pricing logic.
- The same quote receipt and derivation.
- The same commitment mechanics (hold, deposit, handoff).
Canonical surfaces
You can designate which surfaces are canonical — the primary places customers should reach you. This affects how the system presents your contact information and where it directs follow-up actions. Canonical surfaces are configured as a policy in Settings, under the Quote handling tab. The policy is part of the published Live Settings version, so changes go through the same compile-and-publish flow as other settings.What happens when a surface is not configured
If no customer surface is connected, the Book is still Live but customers cannot reach it. The Post-Publish card on the Book home reminds you to connect a surface as the first activation step after publishing. You can always start in Test mode — the hosted path and API work with test keys without affecting Live customers or billing.What surfaces do not control
- Pricing — The Book workspace owns the pricing model. Surfaces use whatever version is published Live.
- Commitment mechanics — Deposit defaults, hold durations, and expiry actions are policies in Settings, not per-surface configuration.
- Customer records — Customer data is contextual to Quotes and Commitments, not stored in the surface configuration.
- Billing — Active-book metering is triggered by the first identified quote, regardless of which surface received it.