Connect Cloudflare domain to website builder sites: one CNAME, proxy decided
If your domain's DNS is on Cloudflare, connecting it to an Anticode site is a few minutes in two dashboards. Anticode's Domains panel tells you the records; you add them under DNS Records in Cloudflare, usually as a CNAME set to DNS only. Anticode itself runs custom domains on Cloudflare for SaaS, so the certificate is issued for you once the record resolves.
Before you begin
- A paid Anticode plan. Custom domains aren't on the free plan; see pricing.
- A published site. A domain points at something live, so publish first.
- DNS really on Cloudflare. The domain's nameservers must be Cloudflare's. If the domain is merely registered with Cloudflare but uses other nameservers, add the records wherever those point.
- A hostname chosen.
www.yourbusiness.comor a subdomain such asbook.is the straightforward case. - No API access needed. To connect Cloudflare domain to website builder accounts like Anticode you add DNS records and nothing else; it never needs your Cloudflare login.
Step one: ask Anticode for the records
Open the project, go to Domains, type the hostname under Connect a domain without https:// or a path, and press Connect. Anticode registers the name with Cloudflare for SaaS and shows a table: always a CNAME for your hostname pointing at Anticode's target, and sometimes a TXT record that proves ownership. Each value has a Copy button. The row reads Waiting for DNS until the checks pass.
Step two: add them in Cloudflare
Cloudflare's guide to creating DNS records covers the screen. For each record Anticode showed:
- In the Cloudflare dashboard, pick the domain and open DNS Records, then Add record.
- Set Type to CNAME (or TXT for the ownership record).
- In the name field, enter the part before your domain, such as
www, if Cloudflare is already showing your domain beside the box. For the TXT record, copy the name Anticode gave you in the same way. - Paste the target or content from Anticode's Copy button.
- For the CNAME, set Proxy status to DNS only for now (the next section explains why). TXT records have no proxy setting.
- Choose Save, then go back to Anticode and press Check again.
If an A, AAAA or CNAME record already exists for the same name, from an old website for example, delete it first. Two records for one name conflict, and a stale one keeps visitors on the old site.
Proxied or DNS only
Cloudflare can proxy a CNAME (the orange cloud) or just answer DNS queries with it (grey). Because Anticode's own end is also on Cloudflare, a proxied record creates what Cloudflare calls Orange-to-Orange. Its Cloudflare for SaaS documentation explains that your zone's settings are then applied to the traffic first, and the SaaS provider's afterwards. With DNS only, only the provider's side handles the request.
That layering is useful if you deliberately want your own Cloudflare rules in front of the site, but it means a second set of settings applies to every request, yours as well as Anticode's. The simple path is DNS only until Anticode shows Live, and to leave it there unless you have a reason. Anticode's servers already redirect plain HTTP to HTTPS, and serve the site with its own security headers, whichever you choose.
How the certificate happens
When you press Connect, Anticode asks Cloudflare for a domain-validated certificate with TLS 1.2 as the minimum, validated over HTTP. Anticode lets those validation requests through on plain HTTP before HTTPS exists for the name, so nothing on your side needs configuring. The hostname only starts serving your site when Cloudflare reports both the hostname and the certificate as active, which is when the panel turns to Live. Visitors never see a half-ready domain with a certificate warning.
The bare domain
DNS doesn't normally allow a CNAME at the zone apex (yourbusiness.com itself). Anticode's panel says a bare domain works only where the DNS provider supports CNAME flattening or ALIAS records. Cloudflare's documentation describes CNAME flattening, which lets a CNAME sit at the zone apex, so Cloudflare meets that condition; not every DNS host does. Connect the bare domain and check it reaches Live before you rely on it. Anticode doesn't redirect between www and the bare domain itself, so if you want both to work, connect the one you want people to use and send the other to it with a redirect at Cloudflare.
Limits
- One site per hostname. A name already connected to any Anticode site is refused.
- A set number of domains per plan, shown in the panel when you reach it.
- Email is untouched, as long as you don't change MX or other existing records. Connecting a website changes only the records you add.
- Removing the domain in Anticode stops the site answering there at once; delete the Cloudflare record too.
- Unpublishing a site releases its domains, so publishing again means connecting the domain again.
When it stays on Waiting for DNS
- The name doubled
- You typed
www.yourbusiness.comwhere Cloudflare adds the domain itself, creatingwww.yourbusiness.com.yourbusiness.com. Edit the name towww. - The record is proxied
- If nothing else explains the wait, try DNS only, so only Anticode's side handles the requests, and press Check again.
- Nameservers aren't Cloudflare's
- Records added in Cloudflare are ignored. Add them at the DNS host the nameservers point to.
- Couldn't verify
- Cloudflare timed out. Fix the record, remove the domain in Anticode and connect it again.
For the general version of these steps, see connecting a custom domain, the custom domains feature, or CNAME vs A records.
Questions people ask
Do I have to move my domain away from Cloudflare?
No. Your DNS stays on Cloudflare; you only add a record. Anticode never asks for your Cloudflare login or an API token.
Can I keep the orange cloud on?
You can, and Cloudflare then applies your zone's settings before Anticode's. DNS only is simpler: only Anticode's side handles the requests, so there's one set of settings to think about.
How long does it take?
Anticode's panel says it usually takes a few minutes and sometimes up to a day. Press Check again after adding the record.
Does my anticode.dev address stop working?
No. It keeps serving the site alongside your own domain.