What it is

Cloudflare Pages (direct) pushes your built site to Cloudflare's edge network via the Direct Upload API. No git push, no webhook relay, no wrangler CLI — just an HTTPS upload. Cloudflare serves the files from 300+ PoPs worldwide with automatic HTTPS and unlimited bandwidth on the free tier.

This replaces the legacy Cloudflare (webhook) provider, which only POSTed to a build hook URL. That one still exists for backwards compatibility, but new sites should pick Cloudflare Pages (direct).

When to use it

• Your site is static (no SSR, no custom server logic)
• You want the fastest possible first-byte time globally (10–30 ms at edge)
• You want the lowest cost ($0 on free tier for typical small sites)
• You're OK with Cloudflare as a dependency (DNS optional, project can still use any registrar)

When NOT to use it

• Your site is a Next.js SSR app — use Vercel, Fly.io (rebuild), or Cloudflare Workers.
• You need write-at-runtime content storage (uploads, form submissions) — Pages is immutable static.
• You're already committed to Fly for other services and want one hosting provider — use Fly.io Live.

How it works

1. CMS admin builds your site locally (deploy/)
2. Posts all files as multipart/form-data to POST /accounts/:id/pages/projects/:name/deployments
3. Cloudflare processes the upload, creates a new deployment, and propagates to the edge
4. The new version is live globally in ~3–10 seconds

On first deploy, the admin automatically creates the Pages project (type: Direct Upload). Subsequent deploys just add new deployments to the existing project.

Setup

1. Get your Cloudflare credentials

Account ID — Cloudflare dashboard → select any domain → right sidebar, copy the Account ID.

API token — Cloudflare dashboard → My Profile → API Tokens → Create Token → Custom token with:

• Permissions: Account → Cloudflare Pages → Edit
• Account resources: Include → your account

No other scopes are needed. Save the token securely — it won't be shown again.

2. Configure the provider

Settings → Deploy → Cloudflare Pages (direct). Provide:

• API token — from step 1
• Account ID — from step 1
• Project name — lowercase, digits, hyphens (e.g. my-site). Auto-generated from your site name if left empty. Max 58 characters.

3. Click Deploy

First click creates the Cloudflare Pages project and uploads your files. You'll see the live URL: https://<project-name>.pages.dev (or your custom domain if configured).

4. Custom domain (optional)

Cloudflare dashboard → Pages → your project → Custom domains → Set up a custom domain. Cloudflare handles DNS + certs automatically.

Payload format

The upload uses multipart form-data. Field names are paths with leading slash (e.g. /index.html, /assets/app.js). Binary files are sent as-is — Cloudflare handles content-type detection.

There's no HMAC signing on this provider — Cloudflare uses your Bearer token directly. Keep the token secret.

Rollback

In the Cloudflare dashboard, each deployment is listed under Pages → your project → Deployments. Click any historical deployment → Rollback. The Pages URL updates immediately.

The CMS admin doesn't expose Cloudflare rollback in UI yet — use the dashboard for now.

Limits (free tier)

• 500 builds per month — a build = one deploy. Most sites do 10–30/month.
• Unlimited requests — no bandwidth caps.
• 25 MB per file — large videos should go to R2 or another CDN.
• 20 000 files per deployment — enough for any normal site.

Paid Pro ($20/mo) raises the build limit to 5000/month. Most small sites never need to pay.

Comparison

Troubleshooting

"project name invalid" — project names must be lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens (max 58 chars). The admin slugifies your site name — if that fails, enter a valid name manually.

"deployment rejected" — Cloudflare returns a reason in the error. Common causes: oversized file (>25 MB), too many files (>20k), expired token.

"account ID missing" — copy the Account ID exactly from the Cloudflare dashboard. It's 32 hex characters.

Related

• Fly.io Live — when you want everything on Fly
• Deploy settings — full provider reference
• Instant Content Deployment — the push-to-running-Next.js pattern, not relevant for static sites on Pages