Branding your workspace

A branded workspace puts your organization's identity on every surface employees see — sign-in card, chrome, transactional emails. You set it once; AxisSynapse propagates it everywhere. Beyond the logo and accent color, you can point a custom domain at the workspace (e.g. workspace.acme.com instead of acme.axissynapse.com) and add a sign-in banner for compliance reminders.

TL;DR — Open Settings → Branding. Upload light + dark logos, pick an accent color, optionally configure a custom domain with the CNAME pattern AxisSynapse provides, save. The new branding appears on every device within seconds.

Before you start

• Have your logo as PNG or SVG at a generous resolution. The workspace renders the logo at ~240px wide; ship a 2× version (480px) so retina screens render crisply.
• Have a dark-mode variant if your main logo doesn't survive on a dark background (light text on transparent typically does; filled logos with dark accents typically don't).
• Pick an accent color that meets WCAG AA contrast against both white and the dark surface. The form validates contrast and warns if the color fails.
• For custom domain: have DNS access for the parent domain so you can add the CNAME record AxisSynapse will give you.

Upload your logo and accent

1. 1

   Open Settings → Branding

   The page shows the current logo (both modes), accent color, custom domain status, and the sign-in banner if configured.

2. 2

   Drop a light logo

   Drag a PNG or SVG onto the Light logo dropzone. The sign-in preview updates live with the new asset.

3. 3

   Drop a dark logo (optional)

   Drag a dark-mode variant onto Dark logo. If you don't provide one, the light logo is used in dark mode too.

4. 4

   Pick an accent color

   Click a swatch from the palette, or click Custom and type a hex value. The form validates contrast against both white and the dark surface and warns if the choice fails AA.

5. 5

   Save

   The new branding takes effect within seconds. Active sessions refresh on their next page load; the in-product help drawer refreshes its theme automatically.

Add a custom domain

A custom domain points your team at workspace.acme.com instead of acme.axissynapse.com. The platform issues and renews a TLS certificate for it automatically.

1. 1

   Open Settings → Branding → Custom domain

   The page shows the current state: not configured, pending CNAME, pending TLS, or active.

2. 2

   Enter the hostname

   Type the full hostname (e.g. workspace.acme.com). Subdomain only; root domains are not supported.

3. 3

   Copy the CNAME target

   AxisSynapse generates the CNAME target for your record. Copy it.

4. 4

   Add the CNAME in your DNS

   In your DNS provider's console, create a CNAME from your chosen subdomain to the target AxisSynapse gave you. TTL of 300-3600 seconds is typical.

5. 5

   Click "Verify"

   AxisSynapse polls DNS until the CNAME resolves. When it does, the platform requests a TLS certificate; issuance typically completes within a minute.

6. 6

   Switch primary domain

   Toggle Make primary to redirect the AxisSynapse-issued URL to your custom domain on every link AxisSynapse generates (invites, password resets, notification emails).

Sign-in banner

A short message that appears under the workspace name on the sign-in card. Most workspaces use it for a compliance reminder ("Authorized use only").

Every field, explained

What appears in the audit log

The branding surface emits configuration-change events under the account category — workspace metadata isn't a security-grade event, but every change is recorded for traceability.

• A profile / branding change on the workspace emits the standard configuration-update line associated with the action; the line carries the before/after values.

The custom-domain CNAME and TLS-issuance steps emit operational events that surface on the Custom domain card; they do not emit dedicated audit codes today.

Common gotchas

• "My logo looks blurry on retina." Ship a 2× density version. The auto-thumbnailer doesn't upscale; it only downscales.
• "My SVG isn't rendering — the upload says success." Some SVG exports include screen-fonts the browser can't resolve. Export with all text converted to paths.
• "The accent color warning won't go away." The color genuinely fails contrast. Pick a slightly darker or lighter variant; the form shows the contrast ratio against both surfaces in real time.
• "The custom domain CNAME points right, but verify says pending." DNS propagation isn't instant. Wait 10-30 minutes and retry. If your DNS provider is dnsimple / cloudflare / route53, propagation is typically faster than that.
• "My TLS certificate isn't renewing." The renewal process re-checks the CNAME. If your DNS team rotates the target without telling you, renewal fails. Confirm the CNAME still points to the AxisSynapse-provided target.
• "My sign-in banner shows on the SSO redirect page." It shouldn't; the banner is workspace-scoped, not IdP-scoped. Hard refresh the IdP page; if the banner persists, you're seeing the AxisSynapse-side sign-in page (which is expected).

Troubleshooting

| Error code | What it means | Fix | |---|---|---| | BRANDING_LOGO_TOO_LARGE | Upload exceeded 2 MB. | Re-export at a smaller size. | | BRANDING_LOGO_FORMAT_UNSUPPORTED | The file isn't PNG / SVG / JPG. | Use a supported format. | | BRANDING_ACCENT_CONTRAST_FAIL | The accent color fails AA against one or both surfaces. | Pick a different shade. | | BRANDING_DOMAIN_CNAME_NOT_FOUND | The CNAME didn't resolve at verify time. | Confirm the record in your DNS, wait, retry. | | BRANDING_DOMAIN_TLS_FAILED | TLS issuance failed for the configured domain. | Confirm the CNAME still points to the AxisSynapse target. | | BRANDING_DOMAIN_NOT_SUBDOMAIN | A root domain was submitted. | Use a subdomain. |