Cache / CDN

Origin Range Requests: Serving large files without range-request tuning Blog

Naive byte-range caching can waste gigabytes of origin bandwidth on small requests. We rebuilt our cache architecture in Pingora to coordinate partial fetches automatically, cutting R2 p99 latency in half.

Invalidate cached content instead of purging it

You can now invalidate cached content instead of purging it. Invalidation marks matching content as stale. On the next request, Cloudflare revalidates the content with your origin. If your origin responds with 304 Not Modified, Cloudflare reuses the cached content instead of downloading it again. Use invalidation to refresh a group of assets when only some of them have changed. For example, inval…

Purge now forces a cache miss for Cache Reserve content

Purge requests now force a cache miss for Cache Reserve content, regardless of purge type. Previously, purging by cache tag, hostname, prefix, or everything marked matching Cache Reserve content for revalidation. Purging by URL already removed content from Cache Reserve and is unchanged. This change applies to purge requests from the API and the dashboard. Cache Reserve now handles purges the sam…

Configure Origin Range Requests with the Rulesets API

The Rulesets API now supports Origin Range Requests in Cache Rules. This setting lets Cloudflare fetch large files from your origin in cache-aligned byte ranges. Cloudflare may expand a client range and issue several single-range origin requests. Set origin_range_requests.mode to on, off, or default for any traffic matched by a Cache Rule. To override Cloudflare's default Origin Range Requests be…

Cache multiple versions of a URL with Vary

Your origin can serve different responses for the same URL — different languages based on Accept-Language, or different formats based on Accept — by returning a Vary ↗︎ response header. Cloudflare's cache now honors that header directly in Cache Rules, so the same URL can hold multiple cached versions and each request is matched to the right one. Content that previously had to bypass cache to sta…

BYPASS status now returned for uncacheable responses

Cloudflare now returns a BYPASS cache status whenever a response is not cacheable, instead of the previous mix of BYPASS and MISS that depended on why Cloudflare chose not to cache the response. There are multiple reasons Cloudflare may refuse to cache a response — for example, the response exceeds the maximum cacheable file size for your plan, the origin sends Cache-Control: no-cache, private, o…

Pingora now powers Cloudflare's cache

Cloudflare's cache now runs on a new proxy built on Pingora ↗︎, the Rust-based framework that already serves a significant portion of Cloudflare's network traffic. The new proxy is faster, more memory-safe, and designed to evolve our cache architecture. It delivers immediate performance improvements and enables new caching capabilities. What this brings Lower latency: The new proxy reduces per-re…

Cache Response Rules now support zone versioning

Cache Response Rules now work with Version Management. You can version response-phase cache settings and promote them through environments, just like Cache Rules and other supported configurations. What changed Previously, Cache Response Rules were excluded from zone versioning. Any response-phase rule you created applied globally across all environments with no way to test changes in staging fir…

Smart Tiered Cache optimizes public cloud origins

You can now achieve higher cache HIT rates and reduce origin load for origins hosted on public cloud providers with Smart Tiered Cache. By setting a cloud region hint for your origin, Cloudflare selects the optimal upper-tier data center for that cloud region, funneling all cache MISSes through a single location close to your origin. Previously, Smart Tiered Cache could not reliably select an opt…

Cache Response Rules

You can now control how Cloudflare handles origin responses without changing your origin. Cache Response Rules let you modify Cache-Control directives, manage cache tags, and strip headers like Set-Cookie from origin responses before they reach Cloudflare's cache. Whether traffic is cached or passed through dynamically, these rules give you control over origin response behavior that was previousl…

Asynchronous stale-while-revalidate

Cloudflare's stale-while-revalidate support is now fully asynchronous. Previously, the first request for a stale (expired) asset in cache had to wait for an origin response, after which that visitor received a REVALIDATED or EXPIRED status. Now, the first request after the asset expires triggers revalidation in the background and immediately receives stale content with an UPDATING status. All fol…

Audit Logs for Cache Purge Events

You can now review detailed audit logs for cache purge events, giving you visibility into what purge requests were sent, what they contained, and by whom. Audit your purge requests via the Dashboard or API for all purge methods: Purge everything List of prefixes List of tags List of hosts List of files Example The detailed audit payload is visible within the Cloudflare Dashboard (under Manage Acc…

Inspect Cache Keys with Cloudflare Trace

You can now see the exact cache key generated for any request directly in Cloudflare Trace. This visibility helps you troubleshoot cache hits and misses, and verify that your Custom Cache Keys — configured via Cache Rules or Page Rules — are working as intended. Previously, diagnosing caching behavior required inferring the key from configuration settings. Now, you can confirm that your custom lo…

Smart Tiered Cache Fallback to Generic

Smart Tiered Cache now falls back to Generic Tiered Cache when the origin location cannot be determined, improving cache precision for your content. Previously, when Smart Tiered Cache was unable to select the optimal upper tier (such as when origins are masked by Anycast IPs), latency could be negatively impacted. This fallback now uses Generic Tiered Cache instead, providing better performance…

Workers Fetch API can override Cache Rules

You can now programmatically override Cache Rules using the cf object in the fetch() command. This feature gives you fine-grained control over caching behavior on a per-request basis, allowing Workers to customize cache settings dynamically based on request properties, user context, or business logic. How it works Using the cf object in fetch(), you can override specific Cache Rules settings by:…

All cache purge methods now available for all plans

You can now access all Cloudflare cache purge methods — no matter which plan you’re on. Whether you need to update a single asset or instantly invalidate large portions of your site’s content, you now have the same powerful tools previously reserved for Enterprise customers. Anyone on Cloudflare can now: Purge Everything: Clears all cached content associated with a website. Purge by Prefix: Targe…

Configurable multiplexing HTTP/2 to Origin

You can now configure HTTP/2 multiplexing settings for origin connections on Enterprise plans. This feature allows you to optimize how Cloudflare manages concurrent requests over HTTP/2 connections to your origin servers, improving cache efficiency and reducing connection overhead. How it works HTTP/2 multiplexing allows multiple requests to be sent over a single TCP connection. With this configu…

Fight CSAM More Easily Than Ever

You can now implement our child safety tooling, the CSAM Scanning Tool, more easily. Instead of requiring external reporting credentials, you only need a verified email address for notifications to onboard. This change makes the tool more accessible to a wider range of customers. How It Works When enabled, the tool automatically hashes images for enabled websites as they enter the Cloudflare cach…

Smart Tiered Cache optimizes Load Balancing Pools

You can now achieve higher cache hit rates and reduce origin load when using Load Balancing with Smart Tiered Cache. Cloudflare automatically selects a single, optimal tiered data center for all origins in your Load Balancing Pool. How it works When you use Load Balancing with Smart Tiered Cache, Cloudflare analyzes performance metrics across your pool's origins and automatically selects the opti…

Smart Tiered Cache automatically optimizes R2 caching

You can now reduce latency and lower R2 egress costs automatically when using Smart Tiered Cache with R2. Cloudflare intelligently selects a tiered data center close to your R2 bucket location, creating an efficient caching topology without additional configuration. How it works When you enable Smart Tiered Cache for zones using R2 as an origin, Cloudflare automatically: Identifies your R2 bucket…

Stage and test cache configurations safely

You can now stage and test cache configurations before deploying them to production. Versioned environments let you safely validate cache rules, purge operations, and configuration changes without affecting live traffic. How it works With versioned environments, you can: Create staging versions of your cache configuration. Test cache rules in a non-production environment. Purge staged content ind…

Shard cache using custom cache key values

Enterprise customers can now optimize cache hit ratios for content that varies by device, language, or referrer by sharding cache using up to ten values from previously restricted headers with custom cache keys. How it works When configuring custom cache keys, you can now include values from these headers to create distinct cache entries: accept* headers (for example, accept, accept-encoding, acc…

One-click Cache Rules templates now available

You can now create optimized cache rules instantly with one-click templates, eliminating the complexity of manual rule configuration. How it works Navigate to Rules > Templates in your Cloudflare dashboard. Select a template for your use case. Click to apply the template with sensible defaults. Customize as needed for your specific requirements. Available cache templates Cache everything: Adjust…

Regionalized Generic Tiered Cache for higher hit ratios

You can now achieve higher cache hit ratios with Generic Global Tiered Cache. Regional content hashing routes content consistently to the same upper-tier data centers, eliminating redundant caching and reducing origin load. How it works Regional content hashing groups data centers by region and uses consistent hashing to route content to designated upper-tier caches: Same content always routes to…