---
name: "Mail::DKIM::DkimPolicy"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "perl-mail-dkim"
version: "1.20240923-3"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Mail::DKIM::DkimPolicy"
---

# Mail::DKIM::DkimPolicy(3pm)

represents a DKIM Sender Signing Practices record

## NAME

Mail::DKIM::DkimPolicy - represents a DKIM Sender Signing Practices record

## VERSION

version 1.20240923

## DESCRIPTION

The Sender Signing Practices (SSP) record can be published by any domain to help a receiver know what to do when it encounters an unsigned message claiming to originate from that domain.

The record is published as a DNS TXT record at \_policy.\_domainkey.DOMAIN where DOMAIN is the domain of the message's "From" address.

This record format has been superceded by ADSP. See Mail::DKIM::AuthorDomainPolicy for information about ADSP. It is implemented here because at one time it appeared this is what would be standardized by the IETF. It will be removed from Mail::DKIM at some point in the future. The last version of the SSP specification can be found at \<http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dkim-ssp-02\>.

## CONSTRUCTORS

### fetch()

Lookup a DKIM signing practices record.

```
  my $policy = Mail::DKIM::DkimPolicy->fetch(
            Protocol => 'dns',
            Author => 'jsmith@example.org',
          );
```

### new()

Construct a default policy object.

```
  my $policy = Mail::DKIM::DkimPolicy->new;
```

## METHODS

### apply()

Apply the policy to the results of a DKIM verifier.

```
  my $result = $policy->apply($dkim_verifier);
```

The caller must provide an instance of Mail::DKIM::Verifier, one which has already been fed the message being verified.

Possible results are:

- accept

  The message is approved by the sender signing policy.

- reject

  The message is rejected by the sender signing policy. It can be considered very suspicious.

- neutral

  The message is neither approved nor rejected by the sender signing policy. It can be considered somewhat suspicious.

### flags()

Get or set the flags (t=) tag.

A colon-separated list of flags. Flag values are:

- y

  The entity is testing signing practices, and the Verifier SHOULD NOT consider a message suspicious based on the record.

- s

  The signing practices apply only to the named domain, and not to subdomains.

### is\_implied\_default\_policy()

Is this policy implied?

```
  my $is_implied = $policy->is_implied_default_policy;
```

If you fetch the policy for a particular domain, but that domain does not have a policy published, then the "default policy" is in effect. Use this method to detect when that happens.

### location()

Where the policy was fetched from.

If the policy is domain-wide, this will be domain where the policy was published.

If the policy is user-specific, TBD.

If nothing is published for the domain, and the default policy was returned instead, the location will be `"undef"`.

### policy()

Get or set the outbound signing policy (dkim=) tag.

```
  my $sp = $policy->policy;
```

Outbound signing policy for the entity. Possible values are:

- "unknown"

  The default. The entity may sign some or all email.

- "all"

  All mail from the entity is signed. (The DKIM signature can use any domain, not necessarily matching the From: address.)

- "strict"

  All mail from the entity is signed with Originator signatures. (The DKIM signature uses a domain matching the From: address.)

### signall()

True if policy is "all".

### signall\_strict()

True if policy is "strict".

### testing()

Checks the testing flag.

```
  my $testing = $policy->testing;
```

If nonzero, the testing flag is set on the signing policy, and the verify should not consider a message suspicious based on this policy.

## BUGS

- •

  If a sender signing policy is not found for a given domain, the **fetch()** method should search the parent domains, according to section 4 of the dkim-ssp Internet Draft.

## AUTHORS

- •

  Jason Long \<jason@long.name\>

- •

  Marc Bradshaw \<marc@marcbradshaw.net\>

- •

  Bron Gondwana \<brong@fastmailteam.com\> (ARC)

## THANKS

Work on ensuring that this module passes the ARC test suite was generously sponsored by Valimail (https://www.valimail.com/)

## COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

- •

  Copyright (C) 2013 by Messiah College

- •

  Copyright (C) 2010 by Jason Long

- •

  Copyright (C) 2017 by Standcore LLC

- •

  Copyright (C) 2020 by FastMail Pty Ltd

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.6 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.