Custom Domain Setup

Overview

Cloudflare Pages makes it easy to use a custom domain for your Astro portfolio. You can connect a domain registered with any provider, and Cloudflare will automatically provision SSL certificates and handle DNS configuration. The production site uses lewiskori.com as configured in astro.config.mjs:11-17:

const SITE_URL = 'https://lewiskori.com';

export default defineConfig({
  site: SITE_URL,
  // ...
});

The site configuration is used for generating absolute URLs in sitemaps, RSS feeds, and canonical links.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

A deployed Cloudflare Pages project
A registered domain name (can be from any registrar)
Access to your domain’s DNS settings

Setup Options

You can connect a custom domain in two ways:

Domain on Cloudflare (Recommended) - Transfer or use an existing domain managed by Cloudflare
External Domain - Point an external domain to Cloudflare Pages using CNAME records

Option 1: Domain on Cloudflare (Recommended)

Add Domain to Cloudflare

If your domain isn’t already on Cloudflare:

Log in to the Cloudflare Dashboard
Click Add a Site
Enter your domain name (e.g., example.com)
Select a plan (Free plan works great)
Cloudflare will scan your existing DNS records

You don’t need to transfer your domain registration. You only need to point your domain’s nameservers to Cloudflare.

Update Nameservers

At your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.):

Find the nameserver settings
Replace existing nameservers with Cloudflare’s nameservers:
- ns1.cloudflare.com
- ns2.cloudflare.com (Exact nameservers will be shown in your Cloudflare dashboard)
Save changes

DNS propagation can take up to 24-48 hours, but often completes within minutes.

Connect to Pages Project

Once your domain is active on Cloudflare:

Navigate to Pages > Your project
Go to Custom domains tab
Click Set up a custom domain
Enter your domain (e.g., lewiskori.com or www.lewiskori.com)
Click Continue

Cloudflare will automatically:

Create DNS records
Provision SSL certificate
Configure CDN routing

Configure Apex and WWW

Decide on your preferred domain structure:Option A: Use apex domain (example.com)

Add example.com as custom domain
Optionally add www.example.com with redirect to apex

Option B: Use www subdomain (www.example.com)

Add www.example.com as custom domain
Add example.com with redirect to www

The project’s site URL is set to https://lewiskori.com (apex domain). Update this in astro.config.mjs if using a different structure.

Option 2: External Domain

If you prefer to keep your domain with your current registrar:

Add Custom Domain in Pages

Navigate to Pages > Your project > Custom domains
Click Set up a custom domain
Enter your domain name
Cloudflare will provide CNAME target

Add CNAME Record

At your domain registrar’s DNS settings:

Type	Name	Target
`CNAME`	`@` or `www`	`[project-name].pages.dev`

Some registrars don’t support CNAME records for apex domains (@). In this case, use www subdomain or consider moving DNS to Cloudflare.

Wait for DNS Propagation

DNS changes typically propagate within:

15 minutes to 1 hour: Most changes
Up to 24-48 hours: Maximum wait time

Check status with:

dig yourdomain.com

Verify SSL Certificate

Once DNS is active, Cloudflare automatically provisions an SSL certificate. This usually takes 1-2 minutes.Your site will be available at https://yourdomain.com with full SSL encryption.

DNS Configuration Details

Recommended DNS Records

For a complete setup with apex and www:

Type	Name	Target	Proxy Status
`CNAME`	`@`	`[project-name].pages.dev`	Proxied (orange cloud)
`CNAME`	`www`	`[project-name].pages.dev`	Proxied (orange cloud)

Cloudflare automatically handles these when you add a custom domain to Pages.

Additional Subdomains

To add subdomains (e.g., blog.example.com):

In Cloudflare Pages, add the subdomain as a custom domain
Cloudflare creates the necessary DNS record automatically
SSL certificate covers the subdomain

SSL/TLS Configuration

Cloudflare Pages automatically provides:

Free SSL Certificate: Universal SSL for your custom domain
Automatic Renewal: Certificates renew automatically before expiration
TLS 1.3 Support: Modern encryption protocols
HTTP/2 and HTTP/3: Fast, efficient protocols enabled by default

SSL Settings

Verify SSL Mode

In Cloudflare Dashboard:

Go to SSL/TLS > Overview
Ensure mode is set to Full or Full (strict)

Cloudflare Pages uses edge certificates, so Full (strict) mode works seamlessly.

Enable Always Use HTTPS

Force all traffic to HTTPS:

Navigate to SSL/TLS > Edge Certificates
Enable Always Use HTTPS
All HTTP requests will redirect to HTTPS automatically

Enable HSTS (Optional)

For enhanced security:

Go to SSL/TLS > Edge Certificates
Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)
Configure max-age (recommended: 6 months)

HSTS is a commitment to HTTPS only. Ensure your site works perfectly on HTTPS before enabling, as it cannot be easily undone in browsers.

Updating Site Configuration

After connecting your custom domain, update the Astro configuration:

Update astro.config.mjs

Change the SITE_URL constant to your custom domain:

const SITE_URL = 'https://yourdomain.com';

export default defineConfig({
  site: SITE_URL,
  // ...
});

Rebuild and Deploy

Commit and push your changes:

git add astro.config.mjs
git commit -m "Update site URL to custom domain"
git push

Cloudflare Pages will automatically rebuild with the new configuration.

Verify Sitemap and SEO

After deployment, check:

https://yourdomain.com/sitemap-index.xml - Should use your custom domain
Page canonical URLs - Should reference custom domain
Open Graph tags - Should use custom domain for images and URLs

The sitemap configuration in astro.config.mjs:64-106 automatically uses the site value for generating URLs.

Domain Management

Multiple Domains

You can add multiple custom domains to one project:

Production domain: Main domain (e.g., lewiskori.com)
Alternate domains: Additional domains that redirect to main
Localized domains: Country-specific domains (e.g., lewiskori.co.uk)

All domains get automatic SSL and can be configured to redirect to your primary domain.

Domain Redirects

Set up redirects in Cloudflare:

Bulk Redirects: Redirect multiple patterns at once
Page Rules: Create custom redirect rules (3 rules on free plan)
Transform Rules: Modern way to handle redirects

Example: Redirect www to apex domain automatically with Cloudflare’s redirect rules.

Troubleshooting

Domain Not Working

Check DNS Propagation

Use DNS Checker to verify your domain resolves globally:

dig yourdomain.com

Verify CNAME Target

Ensure CNAME points to correct target:

Should be [project-name].pages.dev
Check in Cloudflare Pages dashboard for exact value

Check Custom Domain Status

In Cloudflare Pages > Custom domains:

Domain should show “Active” status
SSL certificate should show “Active”

SSL Certificate Issues

Certificate Pending: Wait 1-2 minutes for provisioning
Certificate Error: Verify DNS is pointing to Cloudflare
Mixed Content: Ensure all assets load over HTTPS

Redirect Loops

If you experience infinite redirects:

Check SSL/TLS mode is Full or Full (strict)
Disable “Always Use HTTPS” temporarily to test
Clear browser cache and cookies
Check for conflicting redirect rules

Performance Optimization

With your custom domain on Cloudflare:

Global CDN: Content cached at 300+ locations worldwide
HTTP/3: Enabled automatically for improved performance
Brotli Compression: Automatic compression for faster loading
Smart Routing: Argo Smart Routing for optimal paths (paid feature)

Your Astro portfolio is already optimized with static assets in dist/, which are automatically cached by Cloudflare’s CDN.

Get Started

Core Features

Content Management

Customization

Deployment

Overview

Prerequisites

Setup Options

Option 1: Domain on Cloudflare (Recommended)

Option 2: External Domain

DNS Configuration Details

Recommended DNS Records

Additional Subdomains

SSL/TLS Configuration

SSL Settings

Updating Site Configuration

Domain Management

Multiple Domains

Domain Redirects

Troubleshooting

Domain Not Working

SSL Certificate Issues

Redirect Loops

Performance Optimization

Next Steps

Environment Variables

Cloudflare Pages

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​Setup Options

​Option 1: Domain on Cloudflare (Recommended)

​Option 2: External Domain

​DNS Configuration Details

​Recommended DNS Records

​Additional Subdomains

​SSL/TLS Configuration

​SSL Settings

​Updating Site Configuration

​Domain Management

​Multiple Domains

​Domain Redirects

​Troubleshooting

​Domain Not Working

​SSL Certificate Issues

​Redirect Loops

​Performance Optimization

​Next Steps

Environment Variables

Cloudflare Pages

Overview

Prerequisites

Setup Options

Option 1: Domain on Cloudflare (Recommended)

Option 2: External Domain

DNS Configuration Details

Recommended DNS Records

Additional Subdomains

SSL/TLS Configuration

SSL Settings

Updating Site Configuration

Domain Management

Multiple Domains

Domain Redirects

Troubleshooting

Domain Not Working

SSL Certificate Issues

Redirect Loops

Performance Optimization

Next Steps