Keep Unowned Stale Vendor TXT Records Until Dependencies Are Confirmed During Mail Cutovers

The piece argues that during an edtech company's mail provider change, unknown vendor TXT verification records should be kept rather than deleted. Its reasoning is that an unowned record may still support a third-party verification dependency, and deleting it is the main risk even though retained records mostly add clutter. It recommends recording ownership when records are created, reviewing the zone periodically, and using stable record names so verifications do not accumulate. The author proposes a review process that keeps approved mail intent separate from the observed DNS state and labels unresolved tokens as needing ownership review. The hypothetical example is framed as illustrative planning rather than measured data.