What is a TXT record?
A TXT record holds text published in DNS for other systems to read. Mail depends on several kinds: SPF lists who may send for the domain, DMARC (at _dmarc) sets the policy for failures, and services such as Google and Microsoft 365 ask for a TXT token to prove you control the domain.
Reading the result
Each record is shown in full with its TTL and what it is, named only from its own text: a version tag such as v=spf1, or a prefix a service documents for verification. Anything else is marked as not identified. Where Cloudflare’s answer shows a record split into several strings, the count is shown, because SPF joins those strings with no space added.
Beat runs on the same engine, on a schedule, across all 41 checks and 25 blacklists. What it adds is asking again, noticing when an answer changes and telling you what to do about it.
Common problems it finds
Two SPF records
RFC 7208 section 4.5 makes the result permerror when more than one record starts with v=spf1, so SPF never passes. Merge them into one.
One SPF record split into two records
A long SPF record has to stay one record made of several strings. Publish its second half as a separate TXT record and that half has no v=spf1 at the start, so receivers ignore it.
Strings that run together
RFC 7208 section 3.3 joins a record’s strings with no space. If the first string does not end in a space, its last term fuses with the next one and the record stops meaning what it says.
Quotes inside the record
Pasting a record with its quotes into a panel that adds its own leaves quote marks in the text. A record that begins with a quote mark does not begin with v=spf1, so receivers do not read it as SPF.
DMARC published at the domain itself
Receivers look for DMARC only at _dmarc.yourdomain (RFC 7489 section 6.1). A v=DMARC1 record at the bare domain is never read.