Connect a domain at Cloudflare

Add the DNS record HYDLNK shows at Cloudflare, with the exact menus and fields, and what to check if it doesn’t verify.

Guide 8 of 10 · 5 min read

First add your domain in the HYDLNK editor under Domains and keep that screen open. It shows the record to add. This guide covers the Cloudflare side. The setting that matters most is Proxy status: it must be DNS only.

Check that your DNS is managed here

Sign in to Cloudflare and select your domain.
Look at the domain’s status. It must say Active. Pending Nameserver Update means you haven’t switched your nameservers to Cloudflare yet, so records you add here don’t work.
Open DNS, then Records. That page is where you add records.

Subdomain: add the CNAME

Use this for links.yourbrand.com, so your website keeps working.

On the domain’s DNS Records page, select Add record.
Set Type to CNAME.
In Name, enter links.
In Target, paste the value HYDLNK shows.
Set Proxy status to DNS only (the gray cloud), then select Save.

The value is the one HYDLNK shows on the Domains screen of the editor. Copy it from there; never type it from memory or from another guide.

Root domain: add the A record

Use this for yourbrand.com itself.

Delete any existing A, AAAA or CNAME record on @ that you no longer need.
On the DNS Records page, select Add record.
Set Type to A and Name to @.
In IPv4 address, paste the address HYDLNK shows.
Set Proxy status to DNS only (the gray cloud), then select Save.

The value is the one HYDLNK shows on the Domains screen of the editor. Copy it from there; never type it from memory or from another guide.

Common problems at Cloudflare

The orange cloud. Records you add in the dashboard are proxied by default. Set every HYDLNK record to DNS only. With the orange cloud on, HYDLNK can’t verify the domain or issue its certificate.
Too many redirects. This is the Flexible SSL mode of a proxied record. Turn the proxy off for the HYDLNK record and the loop ends.
Pending Nameserver Update. The domain isn’t on Cloudflare yet. Finish switching the nameservers at your registrar.
An AAAA record on the same name. Remove it. If a name has an AAAA record, some visitors are sent there instead of to your page.
A CNAME that shares its name with another record. A CNAME can’t sit next to any other record on the same name. Delete the others first, or use a different subdomain.
A CAA record that doesn’t allow us. If your domain has a CAA record, it must allow letsencrypt.org, or https won’t start. If you have no CAA records, you don’t need to add one.

How long it takes, then check in HYDLNK

DNS only records can use a TTL from 60 seconds to a day, and changes usually show within minutes.

Then open Domains in the HYDLNK editor. The screen looks again on its own, and Check DNS now looks straight away. When it says Verified, https starts on its own, usually within a few minutes, and your page loads at your domain. There is nothing else to turn on.

If it still says Waiting for DNS after the time above, read If it doesn’t verify in the main guide.

Checked October 2026. Dashboards change; if a menu is named differently when you look, the field names above still apply.