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Cloudflare Integration ☁️

Connect your Cloudflare account to PayRequest and give your customers the power to manage DNS records and set up domain forwarding — all from within their customer portal. No need to share Cloudflare login credentials or handle DNS changes manually.
Who is this for? If you sell domain subscriptions through PayRequest (using OpenProvider for registration), the Cloudflare integration lets your customers manage their domain settings themselves — saving you time and support tickets.

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What You Can Do

DNS Management

Your customers can view, add, edit, and delete DNS records for their domain directly from their subscription page. No more back-and-forth emails about DNS changes.

Domain Forwarding

Customers can redirect their domain to any URL — like a social media page, a new website, or a landing page. Everything is handled through Cloudflare’s redirect system.

Admin Dashboard

As a business owner, you get a full Cloudflare management panel in your dashboard. View all zones, manage DNS records, and configure forwarding for any domain.

Automatic Setup

When customers set up forwarding, the required DNS records are created automatically. No manual configuration needed.

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Getting Started

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Prerequisites

Before connecting Cloudflare, make sure you have:
  • A Cloudflare account (sign up free)
  • Your domains added to Cloudflare (nameservers must point to Cloudflare)
  • An API token with the right permissions

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Step 1: Create a Cloudflare API Token

1

Go to your Cloudflare dashboard

Log in at dash.cloudflare.com and click on your profile icon in the top right corner.
2

Navigate to API Tokens

Go to My Profile → API Tokens → Create Token
3

Set up permissions

Create a custom token with the following permissions:
PermissionAccess LevelWhat it does
ZoneReadAllows PayRequest to list your domains
DNSEditAllows managing DNS records
Zone RulesetsEditRequired for domain forwarding
Under Zone Resources, select either “All Zones” or specific zones you want to manage through PayRequest.
4

Copy your token

Click Continue to summary → Create Token. Copy the token — you’ll only see it once!
Keep your token safe! Store it somewhere secure before closing the page. Cloudflare only shows the token once. If you lose it, you’ll need to create a new one.

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Step 2: Find Your Account ID

Your Account ID is visible on your Cloudflare dashboard:
  1. Go to dash.cloudflare.com
  2. Click on any domain
  3. Look in the right sidebar under API — you’ll see your Account ID
  4. Copy it
Your Account ID is also visible in the URL when you’re on your Cloudflare dashboard: dash.cloudflare.com/ACCOUNT_ID_HERE

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Step 3: Connect in PayRequest

1

Open the App Store

In your PayRequest dashboard, go to Settings → App Store → Cloudflare
2

Add your credentials

Click Add Cloudflare Integration and enter:
  • Account ID: The ID you copied from Cloudflare
  • API Token: The token you just created
3

Sync your zones

After connecting, PayRequest will automatically sync all your Cloudflare zones (domains). You’ll see them listed on the Cloudflare management page.
4

Verify the connection

Click Test Connection to make sure everything is working. You should see a green “Connected” badge.

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Managing DNS Records

Once connected, DNS management becomes available for any domain that exists as both a domain subscription in PayRequest and an active zone in Cloudflare.

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For Business Owners (Admin Dashboard)

From the Cloudflare app page in your dashboard:
  1. Find the domain in Your Zones
  2. Click Manage DNS to view all DNS records
  3. Edit or delete existing records
  4. Add new records as needed

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For Your Customers (Customer Portal)

Your customers will automatically see a DNS tab on their domain subscription page. From there, they can:
  • View all DNS records for their domain
  • Add new records (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SRV, CAA)
  • Edit existing records — change the content, TTL, or proxy settings
  • Delete records they no longer need
  • Refresh to see the latest state from Cloudflare
DNS changes are applied through Cloudflare’s network and typically take effect within minutes, though full global propagation can take up to 48 hours.

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Domain Forwarding

Domain forwarding lets your customers redirect their entire domain to another URL. This is one of the most requested features for domain customers.

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Common Use Cases

  • Social media redirect: Forward mybrand.com to instagram.com/mybrand
  • Website migration: Redirect an old domain to a new one
  • Short URL: Use a short domain as a branded redirect to a longer URL
  • Coming soon: Point a domain to a temporary page while a website is being built

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How It Works

1

Customer opens their subscription

From the customer portal, your customer navigates to their domain subscription and clicks the Forwarding tab.
2

Enter the target URL

They enter the URL they want their domain to forward to — for example, https://www.instagram.com/mybrand.
3

Choose redirect options

  • Redirect Type: Permanent (301) or Temporary (302)
  • Preserve Path: If enabled, domain.com/about forwards to target.com/about
  • Preserve Query String: If enabled, domain.com?ref=abc forwards to target.com?ref=abc
4

Save and done

Click Set Up Forwarding. PayRequest automatically:
  1. Creates the required DNS record for Cloudflare to handle the redirect
  2. Sets up the redirect rule in Cloudflare
  3. Shows a confirmation with the active forwarding details

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Redirect Types Explained

TypeCodeBest For
Permanent301Moving to a new domain permanently. Search engines will update their index to the new URL.
Temporary302Short-term redirects like promotions or maintenance. Search engines keep the original URL.
Not sure which to pick? Use Permanent (301) if the redirect will stay forever (like forwarding to a social media page). Use Temporary (302) if you plan to use the domain for something else later.

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Managing Forwarding as a Business Owner

You can also manage forwarding from the admin Cloudflare dashboard:
  1. Go to Settings → App Store → Cloudflare
  2. Find the zone in Your Zones — domains with active forwarding show a purple Forwarding badge
  3. Click Edit Forwarding to change settings, or Set Up Forwarding to configure a new one

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What Your Customers See

When a customer has a domain subscription and the domain is managed in Cloudflare, their subscription page gets extra tabs:
Shows domain information: domain name, expiry date, nameservers, authorization code, and auto-renewal status. This tab is always available for domain subscriptions.
A full DNS record table where customers can view, add, edit, and delete records. Uses a clean table layout with record type badges, proxy status indicators, and action buttons.
A simple form to set up or manage domain forwarding. Shows the current forwarding status (active or not configured), the target URL, and all forwarding options.
The DNS and Forwarding tabs only appear when the domain is active in Cloudflare. If a domain hasn’t been added to Cloudflare yet, customers will only see the Domain tab.

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Troubleshooting

This means your Cloudflare API token is missing the Zone Rulesets: Edit permission. DNS features will still work, but forwarding requires this extra permission.Fix: Go to your Cloudflare dashboard → My Profile → API Tokens → edit your token → add Zone Rulesets: Edit permission.
These tabs only show when:
  1. The subscription is for a domain product
  2. The domain has a domain registration linked to it
  3. The domain exists as an active zone in your Cloudflare account
  4. Your Cloudflare integration is connected and active in PayRequest
Check each of these conditions. The most common issue is that the domain hasn’t been synced from Cloudflare — click Refresh Zones on the Cloudflare app page.
  • Double-check your API token — make sure you copied the full token
  • Verify the Account ID — it should match what’s in your Cloudflare dashboard URL
  • Check token permissions — it needs Zone: Read, DNS: Edit, and Zone Rulesets: Edit
  • Token expired? — Cloudflare tokens can have expiry dates. Create a new one if needed.
Click Refresh Zones on the Cloudflare management page. If zones still don’t appear:
  • Make sure your domains are added to Cloudflare
  • Check that the API token has access to the correct zones
  • Verify the zones are in “Active” status in Cloudflare (nameservers must be pointing to Cloudflare)

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Best Practices

Use Descriptive Token Names

Name your Cloudflare API token something like “PayRequest Integration” so you can easily find it later in your Cloudflare dashboard.

Limit Token Scope

Only give the token access to the zones you manage through PayRequest. This follows the principle of least privilege and keeps your other domains safe.

Monitor Forwarding Usage

Check the Cloudflare dashboard for zones with active forwarding. The purple “Forwarding” badge in PayRequest makes it easy to see which domains have redirects configured.

Educate Your Customers

Let your customers know they can manage DNS and forwarding themselves. This reduces support requests and gives them more control over their domains.

App Store

Manage all your integrations

Customer Portal

Learn about the customer experience

Subscriptions

Set up domain subscriptions
Quick Access: Manage your Cloudflare integration anytime from Settings → App Store → Cloudflare in your PayRequest dashboard.