Getting free js.org subdomains for your JavaScript projects

Apr 19, 2020 by Kolappan N

Do you know you can obtain a free sub-domain under js.org like your-project.js.org for your JavaScript projects. I obtained it for one of my projects. It is one of the coolest sub-domains you can get for free. But your project must be related to JavaScript to avail the subdomain.

Here is how to get your js.org subdomain,

A existing library or project based on JavaScript is required. You are not allowed to reserve names in advance.
If you don’t have one already, create a website for your project and update it with relevant content. Hint: You can use GitHub pages, which is also free for open source sites.
Choose a sub domain name for your project. The subdomain name should match the name of your project. Minor variances are allowed. Refer js.org’s wiki regarding Sub domain determination.
Check the existing list of sub domains to know if your project name is already taken.
Fork the js.org repo.
Update the CNAME file for the GitHub pages send a pull request to the js.org repo.
Wait till the Pull Request is processed. In case of naming conflicts, improper naming, non-eligibility, etc… the Pull Request will be rejected.
If the PR is merged then your new URL will go live within 24 hours.
For further information on Name conflicts, etc… read the guidelines of js.org.
You can also obtain the sub domain at an organizational level so that all your GitHub / GitLab pages will have URLs based on it. For further reference see this wiki.

I have a domain for my js project. Can I get a js.org domain and redirect it to my website?

Js.org does not allow redirecting at the time of writing. However, NEXT.js and Vue.js have created simple pages that point the users to their website. Such behaviour is also seemed to be encouraged by js.org members^Ref.

Note: In the future should your domain go unused, returns a 404, etc…. js.org can remove the sub domain from you. However they will try to contact you and provide you time to get things right. Here is an issue discussing one of the domain clean-ups as it happened. This ensures that sub domain names are not reserved and ensures availability for those who need it.