Setup

Last updated Jul 29, 2026Copy as MarkdownView as MarkdownAgent setup

OverviewBefore you begin1. Convert your zone and review DNS records2. Verify ownership for your domain3. Add DNS recordsOther record types

A CNAME setup (also known as partial setup) allows you to use Cloudflare's reverse proxy while maintaining your primary and authoritative DNS provider.

Use this option to proxy only individual subdomains through Cloudflare when you cannot change your authoritative DNS provider. You will be able to create A, AAAA, and CNAME records, which are the DNS record types that can be proxied.

Availability

A CNAME setup (partial) is only available to customers on a Business or Enterprise plan. Partial setups are not supported on Cloudflare Registrar domains.

Before you begin

Create a Cloudflare account and add your domain.
Choose Business or Enterprise as your plan.
If you are onboarding a new domain to Cloudflare, ignore the instructions to change your nameservers.
(Recommended) Plan for SSL/TLS certificates:

If you are only using Universal SSL prior to converting your zone, a certificate will be provisioned for your subdomains only after each of the respective DNS records (step 3 below) are proxied. Refer to Enable Universal SSL for details.

If your domain is sensitive to downtime, instead of using Universal SSL, consider using an advanced certificate with delegated DCV.

1. Convert your zone and review DNS records

Make sure you have the correct plan

Make sure your zone is on the Business or Enterprise plan. If you have Free or Pro, the options mentioned below will not be displayed.

On the Overview page, select Convert to CNAME DNS Setup.
Select Convert to confirm.
Save the information from the Verification TXT Record. If you lose the information, you can also access it on the DNS Records page, under Verification TXT Record.
Make sure that you have all the DNS records (A, AAAA, or CNAME) for subdomains that you want to proxy through Cloudflare.

If you are adding a zone for the first time via API you can add it directly with a type of partial, without converting it.

Required API token permissions

At least one of the following token permissions is required:

Zone Zone Edit
Zone DNS Edit

Create Zonebash

curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones" \
	--request POST \
	--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
	--json '{
		"name": "example.com",
		"account": {
				"id": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID"
		},
		"type": "partial"
	}'

2. Verify ownership for your domain

Add the Verification TXT Record at your authoritative DNS provider. Cloudflare will verify the TXT record and send a confirmation email. This can take up to a few hours.

Example verification record

A verification record for example.com might be:

Type	Name	Content
TXT	`cloudflare-verify.example.com`	966215192-518620144

Note

If your authoritative DNS provider automatically appends DNS record name fields with your domain, make sure to only insert cloudflare-verify as the record name. Otherwise, it may result in an incorrect record name, such as cloudflare-verify.example.com.example.com.

After creating the record, you can use this Dig Web Interface link to search (dig) for cloudflare-verify.<YOUR DOMAIN> and validate if it is working.

The verification record must remain in place for as long as your domain is active on a CNAME setup on Cloudflare.

If your organization has multiple Cloudflare accounts, also consider using zone holds to have more control over domain ownership.

Note

If your zone stays in Pending Nameserver Update status after adding the verification TXT record, confirm your authoritative DNS provider serves the record (for example, with dig TXT cloudflare-verify.<YOUR_DOMAIN> or a web-based tool such as digwebinterface.com or whatsmydns.net ). For the full activation troubleshooting flow, refer to Zone stuck in Pending Nameserver Update.

3. Add DNS records

At your authoritative DNS provider:
1. Create CNAME records pointing to {your-hostname}.cdn.cloudflare.net for every hostname you wish to proxy through Cloudflare.
Example CNAME record at authoritative DNS provider

The CNAME record for www.example.com would be:
```
www.example.com CNAME www.example.com.cdn.cloudflare.net
```
Remove any previously existing A, AAAA, or CNAME records referencing the hostnames you want to proxy through Cloudflare. For these hostnames, leave only the records pointing to {your-hostname}.cdn.cloudflare.net.
Repeat this process for each subdomain that should be proxied to Cloudflare.

Other record types

If you are preparing a conversion from CNAME setup (partial) to primary setup (full), or if you have a more specific use case, you can use the Create DNS Record API endpoint to create DNS records of any supported type.

PreviousAbout NextDNS resolution

Was this helpful?

YesNo

Edit page Report issue