Cloudflare Pages

Deploy frontend projects with preview builds, edge functions, and global CDN delivery on Cloudflare's network.

When to Use

• Deploying static sites (React, Vue, Astro, Hugo, Next.js static export).
• Full-stack applications using Pages Functions for server-side logic.
• Projects that need automatic preview deployments per pull request.
• Teams that want zero-config CDN with custom domain and TLS.
• Migrating from Vercel, Netlify, or GitHub Pages to Cloudflare's ecosystem.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm installed locally.
• A Cloudflare account (free tier works for most projects).
• Wrangler CLI installed: npm install -g wrangler.
• Authenticated via wrangler login or CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN environment variable.
• Source code in a Git repository (GitHub or GitLab for dashboard integration).

Project Setup via Wrangler

Create a New Project

# Create a new Pages project
npx wrangler pages project create my-site

# List existing projects
npx wrangler pages project list

# Delete a project (removes all deployments)
npx wrangler pages project delete my-site

Deploy from Local Build Output

# Build your framework first
npm run build

# Deploy the output directory
npx wrangler pages deploy dist --project-name=my-site

# Deploy with a custom branch name (triggers preview URL)
npx wrangler pages deploy dist --project-name=my-site --branch=feature-auth

# Deploy and get the deployment URL in JSON
npx wrangler pages deploy dist --project-name=my-site --branch=main 2>&1 | tail -1

List and Manage Deployments

# List recent deployments
npx wrangler pages deployment list --project-name=my-site

# Tail live logs from a deployment
npx wrangler pages deployment tail --project-name=my-site --environment=production

Dashboard Git Integration

1. Navigate to Workers & Pages > Create application > Pages.
2. Connect your GitHub or GitLab account.
3. Select the repository and configure:
   • Production branch: main
   • Build command: npm run build
   • Build output directory: dist (or build, .next, public depending on framework)
4. Set environment variables per environment (Production vs Preview).

Framework Presets

Cloudflare auto-detects frameworks. Override if needed:

Framework	Build Command	Output Directory
React CRA	npm run build	build
Vite	npm run build	dist
Next.js	npx @cloudflare/next-on-pages	.vercel/output/static
Astro	npm run build	dist
Hugo	hugo	public
SvelteKit	npm run build	.svelte-kit/cloudflare

Preview Deployments

Every non-production branch gets a unique preview URL automatically.

# URL format for preview deployments
https://<commit-hash>.<project-name>.pages.dev
https://<branch-name>.<project-name>.pages.dev

Branch-Based Access Control

# Set preview branch patterns in wrangler.toml (Pages-specific)
# Or configure via dashboard: Settings > Builds & deployments
# Include branches: feature/*, staging
# Exclude branches: dependabot/*

Preview Comment on Pull Requests

Enable the Cloudflare Pages GitHub App to post deployment URLs as PR comments. Configure under Settings > Builds & deployments > Preview comment.

Pages Functions

Pages Functions provide server-side logic deployed alongside your static site. Place files in a functions/ directory at the project root.

Basic API Route

// functions/api/hello.ts
export const onRequestGet: PagesFunction = async (context) => {
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ message: "Hello from the edge" }), {
    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  });
};

// functions/api/users/[id].ts — dynamic route parameter
export const onRequestGet: PagesFunction = async (context) => {
  const userId = context.params.id;
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ userId }), {
    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  });
};

Middleware

// functions/_middleware.ts — runs before all routes
export const onRequest: PagesFunction = async (context) => {
  const authHeader = context.request.headers.get("Authorization");
  if (!authHeader || !authHeader.startsWith("Bearer ")) {
    return new Response("Unauthorized", { status: 401 });
  }
  return context.next();
};

Functions with Bindings

// functions/api/data.ts — using KV and D1 bindings
interface Env {
  MY_KV: KVNamespace;
  MY_DB: D1Database;
  MY_BUCKET: R2Bucket;
}

export const onRequestGet: PagesFunction<Env> = async (context) => {
  // Read from KV
  const cached = await context.env.MY_KV.get("key");
  if (cached) return new Response(cached);

  // Query D1
  const result = await context.env.MY_DB.prepare(
    "SELECT * FROM items LIMIT 10"
  ).all();

  // Cache in KV
  await context.env.MY_KV.put("key", JSON.stringify(result.results), {
    expirationTtl: 300,
  });

  return Response.json(result.results);
};

Wrangler Configuration

# wrangler.toml — Pages project configuration
name = "my-site"
compatibility_date = "2024-09-01"
pages_build_output_dir = "dist"

# KV namespace binding
[[kv_namespaces]]
binding = "MY_KV"
id = "abc123def456"

# D1 database binding
[[d1_databases]]
binding = "MY_DB"
database_name = "my-app-db"
database_id = "xxxx-yyyy-zzzz"

# R2 bucket binding
[[r2_buckets]]
binding = "MY_BUCKET"
bucket_name = "app-assets"

# Environment variables
[vars]
API_BASE_URL = "https://api.example.com"

Headers and Redirects

Custom Headers

# public/_headers
/assets/*
  Cache-Control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable

/*
  X-Frame-Options: DENY
  X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
  Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
  Permissions-Policy: camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=()
  Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'

/api/*
  Access-Control-Allow-Origin: https://example.com
  Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, POST, OPTIONS

Redirects

# public/_redirects
/old-page  /new-page  301
/blog/:slug  /posts/:slug  301
/docs/*  https://docs.example.com/:splat  302
/home  /  302

Custom Domains

# Add a custom domain via Cloudflare dashboard:
# Pages project > Custom domains > Set up a custom domain

# Or via API
curl -X POST "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/pages/projects/my-site/domains" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CF_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"www.example.com"}'

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy to Cloudflare Pages
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: npm
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - uses: cloudflare/wrangler-action@v3
        with:
          apiToken: ${{ secrets.CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN }}
          accountId: ${{ secrets.CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID }}
          command: pages deploy dist --project-name=my-site

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Build fails with out-of-memory	Build exceeds 1 GB RAM limit	Reduce dependencies; use NODE_OPTIONS=--max_old_space_size=768
Functions return 404	functions/ directory not at project root	Move functions/ to repo root, not inside src/
Preview URL shows old content	Browser cache or stale deployment	Hard refresh; check deployment list for latest commit hash
Custom domain shows SSL error	DNS not proxied through Cloudflare	Enable orange cloud (proxy) on the CNAME record
_headers file ignored	File not in build output directory	Place in public/ so it copies to dist/ during build
Bindings undefined in Functions	Missing wrangler.toml or dashboard config	Add bindings in wrangler.toml and redeploy
1 MB function size limit exceeded	Too many dependencies bundled	Tree-shake; move large deps to KV or R2

Related Skills

• cloudflare-workers - Edge backend logic and API routes
• cloudflare-r2 - Object storage for assets and uploads
• cloudflare-zero-trust - Protect preview deployments with Access policies
• cdn-setup - General CDN configuration patterns