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[DNS] Dedicated section for proxied CNAME #23666

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[DNS] Dedicated section for proxied CNAME #23666

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5f5de06
Create dedicated section for proxied CNAMEs
RebeccaTamachiro Jul 15, 2025
a65c64a
Add example where other records are not returned if orange CNAME
RebeccaTamachiro Jul 15, 2025
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33 changes: 30 additions & 3 deletions src/content/docs/dns/manage-dns-records/reference/dns-record-types.mdx
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Expand Up @@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ sidebar:

---

import { Details, Render, APIRequest } from "~/components"
import { Details, Render, APIRequest, GlossaryTooltip, Example } from "~/components"

This page provides information about some of the different types of DNS records that you can manage on Cloudflare. For guidance on how to add, edit, or delete DNS records, refer to [Manage DNS records](/dns/manage-dns-records/how-to/create-dns-records/).

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -107,9 +107,36 @@ These records include the following fields:
* If the **Proxy Status** is **DNS Only**, you can customize the value.
* **Proxy status**: For more details, refer to [Proxied DNS records](/dns/proxy-status/).

You can use CNAME records to point to other CNAME records (`www.example2.com` --> `www.example1.com` --> `www.example.com`), but the final record must point to a hostname with a valid IP address (and therefore a valid A or AAAA record) if this hostname is meant to proxy traffic.
#### Proxied CNAME records

Cloudflare uses a process called CNAME flattening to deliver better performance. This process supports a few features and can interact with [different setups that depend on CNAME records](/dns/cname-flattening/#aspects-to-keep-in-mind). Refer to the [CNAME flattening section](/dns/cname-flattening/) to learn more about this.
Observe the following aspects, especially before changing a CNAME record from <GlossaryTooltip term="proxy status" link="/dns/proxy-status/">proxied</GlossaryTooltip> to DNS-only or vice versa:

- If a hostname is meant to proxy traffic, you can use CNAME records to point to other CNAME records (`www.example2.com` --> `www.example1.com` --> `www.example.com`), but the final record must point to a hostname with a valid IP address (and therefore a valid A or AAAA record). Also, queries for other record types on the same name are not supported.

<Details header="Example">

<Example>
DNS management for **example.com**:

| Type | Name | Content | Proxy status |
| -------- | ------- | ----------------------- | ------------- |
| CNAME | abc | `target.external.test` | DNS Only |
</Example>

<Example>
DNS management for **external.test**:

| Type | Name | Content |
| ------- | --------- | --------------------- |
| A | target | `192.0.2.1` |
| TXT | target | `"some TXT content"` |
</Example>

In this example, a query for TXT in `abc.example.com` will **not** return the TXT content in the target zone.

</Details>

- Cloudflare uses a process called CNAME flattening to deliver better performance. This process supports a few features and can interact with [different setups that depend on CNAME records](/dns/cname-flattening/#aspects-to-keep-in-mind). Refer to the [CNAME flattening section](/dns/cname-flattening/) to learn more about this.

:::note
Specific CNAME record values with traffic proxied through Cloudflare will enable Orange-to-Orange (O2O) routing for the Shopify SaaS provider. Refer to the [Shopify provider guide](/cloudflare-for-platforms/cloudflare-for-saas/saas-customers/provider-guides/shopify/) for more information.
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