Cloudflare DNS

Cloudflare DNS hosts your domain's records, so Avaloi can attach the domain to a site without you typing a single record. Open DNS in the dashboard to add a zone and manage its records.

Avaloi answers DNS queries from Cloudflare. Records Avaloi writes are DNS-only, so traffic goes straight to the address in each record. Records Avaloi imports keep the proxy setting they had.

Add a zone

1. Open DNS.
2. Choose Add zone.
3. Type your domain.

Avaloi creates the zone, scans the records the domain has today, and imports them, so nothing is lost.

Adopt a zone that already exists in Cloudflare

If the domain is already a zone in Avaloi's Cloudflare account, Avaloi does not create a second one. It adopts the zone that is there and imports every record it holds: A, AAAA, CNAME, TXT, MX, SRV, CAA, and NS, with each record's proxy setting. Nothing in Cloudflare is changed by the import.

A zone belongs to one Avaloi account, and that account must control the name:

• If you registered the domain through Avaloi, the zone is adopted at once.
• Otherwise the zone page shows a TXT record. Add it in the Cloudflare zone, then choose Check and adopt, or Check activation. Avaloi adopts the zone as soon as the record resolves.

An adopted zone shows a notice: this zone already existed in your Cloudflare account, Avaloi imported its records, and changes here change your live DNS. Deleting an adopted zone in Avaloi only stops Avaloi managing it. The zone and its records stay in Cloudflare.

If another Avaloi account already manages the zone, Avaloi refuses the add and says so. If the domain is a zone on a different Cloudflare account, the add fails with a clear message: keep the zone where it is and attach the domain to a site with the nameserver or delegated CNAME flow on the Domains tab instead.

Activate the zone

The zone shows two nameservers, each with a copy button.

1. Set the two nameservers at your registrar.
2. Back in Avaloi, choose Check activation.

The check queries the zone's nameservers and tells you which one to add or remove. The zone goes live when both match. An adopted zone that already points at Cloudflare is live at once. When a zone is active, the check also refreshes its records from Cloudflare.

Manage records

The Records tab lists every record with its type, name, content, TTL, and whether it is proxied. Add A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SRV, CAA, and NS records. Avaloi validates each record before it saves, writes it to Cloudflare, and snapshots the zone. It refuses:

• a CNAME at the apex,
• a CNAME beside other records,
• duplicates, and
• a TTL outside 60 seconds to one day.

The SPF counter shows the DNS lookups your record causes. It warns at 8 and refuses to save at 10.

Records with a lock were written by Avaloi for an attached domain or a signed-mail identity. You cannot delete them. Remove the domain or the sending identity to remove them. Deleting any other record through the API needs confirm: true.

A record marked Points at a live site answers for one of your sites. Avaloi asks you to confirm before you change or delete such a record when it came from Cloudflare, because the change is live at once.

Refresh records from Cloudflare

Choose Refresh records from Cloudflare on the Records tab whenever records changed in Cloudflare directly. Avaloi reads the zone and updates its copy: new records are imported, changed ones updated, and records that are gone from Cloudflare leave the list. Cloudflare itself is never written by a refresh.

Snapshots

Every change saves a snapshot of the zone. Open the Snapshots tab to:

• Save snapshot before a risky change, with a reason that shows in the list.
• Roll back to any version. A restore replaces every unmanaged record with the snapshot's set, including each record's proxy setting, and leaves locked records alone. The API call needs confirm: true.
• Delete a version you no longer need. The zone's records do not change. The API call needs confirm: true.

Delete a zone

Avaloi refuses to delete a zone while a domain still attaches through it. Remove the domain first. The API call needs confirm: true. A zone Avaloi created is removed from Cloudflare. An adopted zone stays in Cloudflare.

Limits

• TTL: 60 seconds to one day.
• SPF: warns at 8 DNS lookups, refuses to save at 10.
• Two nameservers must match before the zone activates.

Quick answers

Adding my zone says it already exists. The name is already a zone somewhere. If it is in Avaloi's Cloudflare account, Avaloi adopts it: register the domain with Avaloi, or add the TXT record the zone page shows. If another Avaloi account manages it, ask that account's owner or contact support. If it is on a different Cloudflare account, use the nameserver or delegated CNAME flow on the Domains tab.

Check activation says the zone is live, but the records list is empty. Choose Refresh records from Cloudflare. The list fills from the records Cloudflare holds.

The activation check keeps failing. It names the nameserver to add or remove. Registrars take time to publish nameserver changes, so check again later.

Can I delete a locked record? No. Remove the attached domain or the sending identity that created it.

I broke my zone. How do I undo it? Open the Snapshots tab and restore the version from before the change.

API

• GET /v1/dns/zones
• POST /v1/dns/zones
• GET /v1/dns/zones/{id}
• DELETE /v1/dns/zones/{id}
• POST /v1/dns/zones/{id}/activation-check
• POST /v1/dns/zones/{id}/adopt
• GET /v1/dns/zones/{id}/records
• POST /v1/dns/zones/{id}/records
• POST /v1/dns/zones/{id}/records/refresh
• PATCH /v1/dns/zones/{id}/records/{rid}
• DELETE /v1/dns/zones/{id}/records/{rid}
• GET /v1/dns/zones/{id}/snapshots
• POST /v1/dns/zones/{id}/snapshots
• POST /v1/dns/zones/{id}/snapshots/{version}/restore
• DELETE /v1/dns/zones/{id}/snapshots/{version}
• GET /v1/dns/zones/{id}/nameserver-request
• POST /v1/dns/zones/{id}/nameserver-request

Related

• Domains
• Mail from WordPress
• Domain registration (planned)