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Connect my domain when I manage it at Cloudflare

There is a short film of this. Three records and one redirect - a minute or two, no sound needed, showing the whole thing on a real site.

The prompt

“My domain’s DNS is managed at Cloudflare. Walk me through adding the records to connect [my domain] to my bernard site, including the redirect for the bare domain and which records should be proxied, and check whether they’re working yet.”

Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).

Connecting a Cloudflare-managed domain comes down to four things: three DNS records and one redirect. Bernard’s Custom domain page (open your site, then Custom domain) shows the exact values for your address - keep it open beside the Cloudflare dashboard and copy each one across. (New to connecting a domain generally? Start with connecting your own domain - this page adds the Cloudflare-specific part.)

You can also Connect Cloudflare to bernard without giving it control of my DNS with Zone Read. That lets bernard confirm that this exact domain is visible in the Cloudflare account you choose. If a later migration inventory needs to read the existing record list, bernard asks the account owner separately for DNS Read. Neither permission can edit the records below, so you still add or change them yourself.

The three DNS records

In Cloudflare: your domain → DNS → Records → Add record.

  1. Your site’s address - a CNAME named www pointing at customers.bernardhosts.com. Set its cloud to grey (“DNS only”).
  2. Proof of ownership - a TXT record; paste the name and code exactly as bernard shows them.
  3. The padlock helper - a small record that keeps your security certificate renewing itself. Cloud grey on this one too.

Leave every other record - your email, anything else you use - exactly as it is.

The redirect for your bare domain

People who type your address without the www need to end up on your site too. At Cloudflare that’s a redirect rule: point your bare domain at the www address, and leave the bare domain’s DNS record orange (proxied) - the orange cloud is what lets Cloudflare apply the redirect. Ask bernard to show you the exact rule for your domain if you want it step by step.

So the clouds are simple: orange on the bare domain, grey on everything you add for bernard.

What the switch-over looks like

Allow 15–30 minutes end to end. Bernard checks your records and moves you over automatically - no button to press. Around fifteen minutes in you may briefly see a “site not available” page on your domain; that’s the middle of the handover, not a mistake. Roughly ten minutes later your site is live at your own address.

If it’s still stuck after half an hour, ask bernard to check my domain - it walks every step from your records to the live site and tells you which one is waiting, in plain English.

Questions people ask

Which records get the orange cloud, and which don’t?
The record for www and the certificate helper must be grey (‘DNS only’) - bernard serves your site through its own secure route, so Cloudflare just passes visitors along. The bare-domain record is the opposite: leave it orange, because the orange cloud is what lets Cloudflare run your redirect.
I see an error page saying 1014 or ‘Cross-User Banned’.
The www record has been left orange. Open it in Cloudflare’s DNS page, click the cloud so it turns grey, and give it a few minutes.
I saw ‘site not available’ partway through - did I break something?
No - that’s the normal middle of the switch-over. Around fifteen minutes in, your domain can briefly show ‘site not available’ while the handover completes; roughly ten minutes later it’s live. Bernard runs the checks and switches you over automatically, and it never changes your live site without your approval - the switch-over simply completes the connection you asked for.
Will this affect my email?
How you receive email is never touched. Your MX and email records at Cloudflare stay exactly as they are - you’re only adding the new records bernard shows you, not changing existing ones.

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