> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.payreque.st/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Cloudflare Integration

> Connect Cloudflare to manage DNS records and set up domain forwarding for your customers

# 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.

<Info>
  **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.
</Info>

## What You Can Do

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="DNS Management" icon="server">
    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.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Domain Forwarding" icon="arrow-right">
    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.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Admin Dashboard" icon="cog">
    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.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Automatic Setup" icon="bolt">
    When customers set up forwarding, the required DNS records are created automatically. No manual configuration needed.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Getting Started

### Prerequisites

Before connecting Cloudflare, make sure you have:

* A Cloudflare account ([sign up free](https://dash.cloudflare.com/sign-up))
* Your domains added to Cloudflare (nameservers must point to Cloudflare)
* An API token with the right permissions

### Step 1: Create a Cloudflare API Token

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to your Cloudflare dashboard">
    Log in at [dash.cloudflare.com](https://dash.cloudflare.com) and click on your profile icon in the top right corner.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Navigate to API Tokens">
    Go to **My Profile** → **API Tokens** → **Create Token**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up permissions">
    Create a custom token with the following permissions:

    | Permission        | Access Level | What it does                           |
    | ----------------- | ------------ | -------------------------------------- |
    | **Zone**          | Read         | Allows PayRequest to list your domains |
    | **DNS**           | Edit         | Allows managing DNS records            |
    | **Zone Rulesets** | Edit         | Required for domain forwarding         |

    Under **Zone Resources**, select either "All Zones" or specific zones you want to manage through PayRequest.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Copy your token">
    Click **Continue to summary** → **Create Token**. Copy the token — you'll only see it once!
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  **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.
</Warning>

### Step 2: Find Your Account ID

Your Account ID is visible on your Cloudflare dashboard:

1. Go to [dash.cloudflare.com](https://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

<Tip>
  Your Account ID is also visible in the URL when you're on your Cloudflare dashboard: `dash.cloudflare.com/ACCOUNT_ID_HERE`
</Tip>

### Step 3: Connect in PayRequest

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the App Store">
    In your PayRequest dashboard, go to **Settings** → **App Store** → **Cloudflare**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add your credentials">
    Click **Add Cloudflare Integration** and enter:

    * **Account ID**: The ID you copied from Cloudflare
    * **API Token**: The token you just created
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sync your zones">
    After connecting, PayRequest will automatically sync all your Cloudflare zones (domains). You'll see them listed on the Cloudflare management page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify the connection">
    Click **Test Connection** to make sure everything is working. You should see a green "Connected" badge.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 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.

### 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

### 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

<Info>
  DNS changes are applied through Cloudflare's network and typically take effect within minutes, though full global propagation can take up to 48 hours.
</Info>

## 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.

### 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

### How It Works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Customer opens their subscription">
    From the customer portal, your customer navigates to their domain subscription and clicks the **Forwarding** tab.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the target URL">
    They enter the URL they want their domain to forward to — for example, `https://www.instagram.com/mybrand`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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`
  </Step>

  <Step title="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
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Redirect Types Explained

| Type          | Code | Best For                                                                                   |
| ------------- | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Permanent** | 301  | Moving to a new domain permanently. Search engines will update their index to the new URL. |
| **Temporary** | 302  | Short-term redirects like promotions or maintenance. Search engines keep the original URL. |

<Tip>
  **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.
</Tip>

### 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

## What Your Customers See

When a customer has a domain subscription and the domain is managed in Cloudflare, their subscription page gets extra tabs:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Domain Tab">
    Shows domain information: domain name, expiry date, nameservers, authorization code, and auto-renewal status. This tab is always available for domain subscriptions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="DNS Tab">
    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.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Forwarding Tab">
    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.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Info>
  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.
</Info>

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Forwarding shows 'Authentication error'">
    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.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="DNS and Forwarding tabs don't appear for a customer">
    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.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Connection test fails">
    * **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.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Zones not showing after connection">
    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)
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Best Practices

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Use Descriptive Token Names" icon="tag">
    Name your Cloudflare API token something like "PayRequest Integration" so you can easily find it later in your Cloudflare dashboard.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Limit Token Scope" icon="shield-check">
    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.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Monitor Forwarding Usage" icon="chart-bar">
    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.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Educate Your Customers" icon="academic-cap">
    Let your customers know they can manage DNS and forwarding themselves. This reduces support requests and gives them more control over their domains.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Related Documentation

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="App Store" icon="squares-2x2" href="/business-settings/app-store">
    Manage all your integrations
  </Card>

  <Card title="Customer Portal" icon="users" href="/customer-management/customer-portal">
    Learn about the customer experience
  </Card>

  <Card title="Subscriptions" icon="arrow-path" href="/subscriptions/creating-subscriptions">
    Set up domain subscriptions
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

<Tip>
  **Quick Access**: Manage your Cloudflare integration anytime from **Settings** → **App Store** → **Cloudflare** in your PayRequest dashboard.
</Tip>