cloudflareJun 10, 2026

Route public traffic to private applications with Cloudflare (opens in new tab)

Cloudflare is extending its application security, performance, and programmability services to applications hosted on private networks. Its new Application Services for Private Origins allows public traffic to reach private origins through existing connectivity such as IPsec, GRE, Cloudflare Tunnel, CNI, or Cloudflare Mesh—without public IP exposure, inbound firewall rules, or `cloudflared` on the origin. The feature is entering closed beta for eligible Enterprise customers. ## Unifying Public and Private Application Traffic - Private applications—including internal APIs, AI backends, MCP servers, and operational tools—can now use: - WAF - Bot management - Rate limiting - Caching - Traffic acceleration - Rewrites - Workers - Cloudflare treats private IPs as valid origin targets for public hostnames. - The model supports four traffic combinations: - Public users to public applications - Private users to public applications - Public users to private applications, which is shipping now - Private users to private applications, planned for the future ## Reusing Existing Private Connectivity - The feature builds on Cloudflare’s existing private networking layer. - Supported connectivity models include: - Cloudflare Tunnel - Cloudflare One Client - IPsec and GRE tunnels - CNI links - Cloudflare Mesh - Customers can manage routing through Cloudflare’s dashboard and APIs rather than maintaining separate networking stacks. - Workers VPC bindings and Spectrum private-origin routing also use this shared connectivity layer. ## Application Services for Private Origins - Customers can enable **Use private network routing** on a proxied A or AAAA DNS record. - Cloudflare continues applying WAF, rate limiting, caching, bot management, and transform rules at its edge. - Only the final connection differs: Cloudflare sends traffic through the customer’s private network instead of over the public Internet. - Private routing is automatically enabled for: - RFC 1918 IPv4 ranges such as `10.0.0.0/8` - RFC 6598 CGNAT ranges such as `100.64.0.0/10` - RFC 4193 IPv6 unique-local addresses such as `FC00::/7` - Public IPs reachable only through a private network can be configured manually. ## API Configuration - Private routing is represented as an additional DNS record attribute: ```json { "type": "A", "name": "app.example.com", "content": "10.0.0.50", "ttl": 300, "proxied": true, "use_private_routing": true } ``` - Cloudflare’s Origin API returns the `use_private_routing` flag. - When the proxy sees that flag, it passes the request to Cloudflare’s private networking layer, which selects the appropriate private path. ## Beyond HTTP - The same routing approach supports non-HTTP services. - Potential origins include: - TCP databases - UDP logging endpoints - Private APIs accessed by Workers - Spectrum can extend the model to TCP and UDP services, while Workers VPC enables direct access from serverless code. Cloudflare’s recommendation is effectively to use existing private connectivity as the transport layer while centralizing application security, performance, and routing at Cloudflare’s edge. The feature is currently limited to eligible Enterprise customers in closed beta.

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cloudflareApr 14, 2026

Secure private networking for everyone: users, nodes, agents, Workers — introducing Cloudflare Mesh (opens in new tab)

Cloudflare introduces Mesh as a private networking layer designed for humans, services, and autonomous AI agents. It connects devices, servers, cloud VPCs, Workers, Durable Objects, and Agents SDK applications without exposing private services publicly or relying on manual VPN and SSH workflows. Mesh builds on Cloudflare One, so existing Gateway policies, Access rules, device posture checks, and other Zero Trust controls apply automatically. ## Why Agent Workloads Need Private Networking - AI agents increasingly need access to private databases, APIs, repositories, MCP servers, object stores, and home infrastructure. - Traditional solutions are poorly suited to autonomous software: - VPNs often require interactive login. - SSH tunnels require manual setup. - Public exposure increases the risk of unauthorized access. - Basic connectivity does not provide sufficient visibility into agent activity. - Agents may have powerful permissions, including shell, filesystem, and network access, making misconfiguration especially dangerous. ## New Agentic Workflows - **Accessing personal agents remotely** - A user can run an agent such as OpenClaw on a home Mac mini. - Phones, laptops, and work devices can connect securely without exposing the agent directly to the public Internet. - **Letting coding agents access staging systems** - Agents such as Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex can reach private staging databases, analytics systems, APIs, and object stores. - Developers avoid exposing those systems or tunneling an entire laptop into a cloud VPC. - **Connecting deployed agents to private services** - Agents running on Cloudflare Workers can call internal APIs and databases. - Mesh is intended to provide scoped access, auditability, and reduced credential exposure. ## How Cloudflare Mesh Works - Mesh uses a lightweight connector and a single binary to connect: - Personal devices - Remote servers - User endpoints - Private cloud networks - Connected devices communicate over private IPs through Cloudflare’s global network, which spans more than 330 cities. - Cloudflare’s existing terminology is simplified: - WARP Connector becomes a **Cloudflare Mesh node**. - WARP Client becomes the **Cloudflare One Client**. - Example deployments include: - Connecting an iPhone to a home Mac mini running an agent. - Connecting a developer laptop to staging databases and internal APIs. - Connecting Linux servers and external cloud VPCs so agents can reach private resources and MCP servers. ## Security and Cloudflare One Integration - Mesh traffic automatically inherits Cloudflare One protections, including: - Gateway network, DNS, and HTTP policies - Device posture checks - DNS filtering - Access rules - Existing Cloudflare One customers can use Mesh without adopting a separate security platform. - Organizations can later expand into: - Access for Infrastructure for SSH and RDP management - Browser Isolation - Data Loss Prevention - Cloud Access Security Broker capabilities - The goal is to protect agent traffic with the same controls already used for human users and services. Cloudflare Mesh is positioned as a practical starting point for securely connecting agents to private infrastructure. Teams can begin with simple private networking and later add more advanced Zero Trust controls without migrating to a different platform.

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