---
title: "Use existing AWS resources"
section: "build-a-backend/add-aws-services/notifications"
platforms: ["javascript", "react-native", "swift", "android", "flutter", "angular", "nextjs", "react", "vue"]
gen: 2
last-updated: "2026-07-30T16:47:07.000Z"
url: "https://docs.amplify.aws/react/build-a-backend/add-aws-services/notifications/existing-resources/"
---

Pass `domainName` to `defineNotifications` to attach to an Amazon Connect Customer Profiles domain that already exists:

```ts title="amplify/backend.ts"
import { defineBackend } from '@aws-amplify/backend';
import { defineNotifications } from '@aws-amplify/backend-notifications';
import { auth } from './auth/resource';

defineBackend({
  auth,
  notifications: defineNotifications({
    domainName: 'amazon-connect-my-instance'
  })
});
```

In this mode Amplify **attaches** to the domain rather than creating one. It registers the `AmplifyProfile` object type into the domain additively and does not create an Amazon Connect instance or a Customer Profiles domain. Object types that already exist on the domain are left unchanged, so you can attach to a domain that other workloads are using.

## Requirements for the existing domain

The domain must meet the following requirements:

- **Same AWS account and Region as your Amplify project.** The construct references the domain by name, which resolves only within the account and Region your backend deploys to.
- **The name must begin with `amazon-connect-`.** This is a functional requirement, not a naming preference. The AWS-managed `AmazonConnectServiceLinkedRolePolicy` grants your Amazon Connect instance access to Customer Profiles only on domains matching `arn:aws:profile:*:*:domains/amazon-connect-*`. A domain named otherwise is unreachable by the instance, and the Amazon Connect console reports that it does not have permission to access Customer Profiles. Because the service-linked role and its managed policy cannot be edited, the domain name is the only way to satisfy the policy.
- **Customer Profiles enabled on your Amazon Connect instance.** The most common domain to attach to is the one Amazon Connect creates for you when you enable Customer Profiles, which is named `amazon-connect-<instance-alias>`.

> **Info:** To find the domain name, open the [Amazon Connect console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/connect/), select your instance, and choose **Customer Profiles**.

## Properties that do not apply

`instanceAlias` and `expirationDays` configure a domain that Amplify creates, so they cannot be combined with `domainName`. Set the data retention period on the existing domain in the Amazon Connect console instead.

To have Amplify create the Amazon Connect instance and the domain for you, see [Set up notifications](/[platform]/build-a-backend/add-aws-services/notifications/set-up-notifications/).