Cloudflare Platform Documentation

A comprehensive guide to securing, accelerating, and building on the Cloudflare global network. From free-tier DNS and CDN to enterprise-grade Zero Trust and edge computing.

Learning Path

1. Foundation

Start here to understand how Cloudflare sits between your users and your origin server.

• DNS and Domain Services — Authoritative DNS, 1.1.1.1 Resolver, Domain Registrar, and Email Routing
• SSL and Encryption — Universal SSL, TLS Modes, and Post-Quantum Cryptography

2. Performance & Protection

Master the core value of Cloudflare: make your site fast and keep it safe.

Pillar	Module	Focus
Speed	CDN and Caching	Content Delivery, Cache Rules, and Speed Brain
Shield	DDoS Protection	L3/L4 and HTTP DDoS Mitigation
Guard	Application Security	Turnstile, Challenges, and Bot Fight Mode

3. Zero Trust & Networking

Secure access to internal applications without a traditional VPN.

• Zero Trust and SASE — Access, Gateway, WARP Client, and Cloudflare Tunnel

4. Developer Platform

Build and deploy serverless applications at the edge.

• Cloudflare Pages — Comprehensive guide to Cloudflare Pages, Wrangler CLI, and API
• Cloudflare Workers — Comprehensive guide to the V8 Isolate edge compute platform

5. Insights & Management

Monitor traffic, configure rules, and manage your Cloudflare zones.

• Analytics and Observability — Traffic Analytics, Web Analytics, and Cloudflare Radar
• Traffic Control and Site Management — Rules, Ruleset Engine, and Notifications
• Miscellaneous Services — Zaraz, Time Services, and Randomness Beacon

6. Advanced Topics & Reference

Optimize performance, design architecture, and troubleshoot your setup.

• Performance Optimization — Advanced Caching, Protocols, and Browser Acceleration
• Strategy and Architecture — Edge-First, GitOps, and SaaS Patterns
• Troubleshooting and Monitoring — DNS/SSL Diagnostics and Worker Debugging
• Reference and Cheatsheet — Wrangler CLI, API, and Error Codes Reference

How Cloudflare Works

Cloudflare operates as a reverse proxy that sits between your visitors and your origin server. Every request passes through Cloudflare's global network (330+ cities), where it is inspected, cached, and accelerated before reaching your server.

flowchart LR
    USER[Visitor] -->|HTTPS Request| CF_EDGE["Cloudflare Edge\n(Nearest PoP)"]
    CF_EDGE -->|DDoS Check| WAF["Security Layer\n(WAF / Bot / DDoS)"]
    WAF -->|Cache Hit?| CACHE["Cache Layer\n(CDN)"]
    CACHE -->|Miss| ORIGIN["Your Origin Server"]
    ORIGIN -->|Response| CACHE
    CACHE -->|Optimized Response| USER

    style CF_EDGE fill:#f6821f,color:#fff,stroke:#e5711e
    style WAF fill:#c7402d,color:#fff,stroke:#a8331e
    style CACHE fill:#2563eb,color:#fff,stroke:#1e40af
    style ORIGIN fill:#6b7280,color:#fff,stroke:#4b5563

Free vs Paid at a Glance

Category	Free Features	Paid-Only Features
DNS	Authoritative DNS, 1.1.1.1, DoH, DoT, Registrar, Email Routing	Internal DNS, Secondary DNS, DNS Firewall
SSL	Universal SSL, SSL/TLS, Post-Quantum Crypto	Advanced Certificate Manager, Key Transparency
CDN	CDN, Cache, Speed Brain	Smart Tiered Caching, Cache Reserve, Argo
DDoS	L3/L4 + HTTP DDoS Protection	Magic Transit
Security	Turnstile, Challenges, Super Bot Fight Mode	WAF, API Shield, Page Shield, Rate Limiting
Zero Trust	WARP Client, Cloudflare Tunnel, Access (limited), Gateway (limited)	Browser Isolation, DEX, Network Firewall
Compute	Workers, Pages, KV (limited), D1 (limited), Queues (limited), Secrets Store	Workers AI, Containers, R2, Vectorize
Analytics	Analytics, Web Analytics, Radar	GraphQL API, Log Explorer, Logpush
Rules	Rules, Ruleset Engine (limited), Notifications	Waiting Room, Health Checks
Misc	Zaraz (limited), Time Services, Randomness Beacon	—

Quick Start

Add your site to Cloudflare (overview)

# 1. Sign up at https://dash.cloudflare.com/sign-up (free)

# 2. Add your domain — Cloudflare will scan existing DNS records

# 3. Update your domain's nameservers to the ones Cloudflare assigns:
#    e.g.  ns1.cloudflare.com  /  ns2.cloudflare.com

# 4. Wait for propagation (usually under 5 minutes, can take up to 24 hours)

# 5. Your site is now proxied through Cloudflare — SSL, CDN, and DDoS
#    protection are active by default!

Prerequisites

• A registered domain name
• Access to your domain registrar's nameserver settings
• Basic understanding of DNS (A records, CNAME records)

Success Criteria

By the end of this documentation, you will be able to:

• Configure Cloudflare DNS and understand proxy mode vs DNS-only.
• Harden your site with free SSL, DDoS protection, and bot management.
• Set up Cloudflare Tunnel for secure, private access to internal services.
• Deploy serverless applications on Workers, Pages, D1, R2, and Workers AI.
• Optimize performance using modern protocols (HTTP/3) and advanced caching.
• Build edge-first architectures with GitOps deployment pipelines.
• Troubleshoot origin connectivity, SSL handshakes, and Worker exceptions.
• Monitor traffic with Cloudflare Analytics, Web Analytics, and Radar.