Cloudflare CLI Cheat Sheet

Tunnel Management

# Install
cloudflared tunnel login
# Create tunnel
cloudflared tunnel create my-tunnel
# List tunnels
cloudflared tunnel list
# Route DNS to tunnel
cloudflared tunnel route dns my-tunnel example.com
# Delete tunnel
cloudflared tunnel delete my-tunnel
# Run tunnel
cloudflared tunnel run my-tunnel

Config File (YAML)

# ~/.cloudflared/config.yaml
tunnel: my-tunnel
credentials-file: /root/.cloudflared/my-tunnel.json
ingress:
  - hostname: app.example.com
    service: http://localhost:8080
  - hostname: example.com
    service: http://localhost:80
  - service: http_status:404

Service Management

# Install as system service
cloudflared service install
# Start/Stop
systemctl start cloudflared
systemctl stop cloudflared
systemctl restart cloudflared
systemctl status cloudflared
# View logs
journalctl -u cloudflared -f

Multiple Hostnames (Single Tunnel)

ingress:
  - hostname: site1.com
    service: http://localhost:8897
  - hostname: site2.com
    service: http://localhost:8898
  - hostname: site3.com
    service: http://localhost:8899
  - service: http_status:404

API Token Management

# Login (generates cert.pem)
cloudflared tunnel login
# API tokens in env
export TUNNEL_TOKEN=eyJ...
cloudflared tunnel run --token $TUNNEL_TOKEN

DNS via API

# List zones
curl -X GET "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
# Add DNS record
curl -X POST "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE/dns_records" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"type":"A","name":"example.com","content":"1.2.3.4","proxied":true}'
# Purge cache
curl -X POST "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE/purge_cache" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"purge_everything":true}'

Useful Flags

# Run in foreground with verbose logging
cloudflared tunnel --loglevel debug run my-tunnel
# Metrics endpoint
cloudflared tunnel --metrics localhost:2000 run my-tunnel
# Health check
curl http://localhost:2000/metrics