DNS records quick scan
To help all customers get started when a new zone is created, Cloudflare offers a DNS records quick scan.
How the quick scan works
The scan is built upon a list of recurring patterns of DNS records type and name, that Cloudflare identifies as being used in existing active zones.
Since DNS record names are automatically appended with the domain that the records are set for, two completely different domains - domain.com and test.xyz, for example - would probably have a few matches if the lists of DNS records on their zones were compared side by side and the criterion was type/name combination.
The DNS records content would be different for each zone but, based on record type and name, Cloudflare can identify recurring patterns and expect to find the same pairs when a new domain is added.
The following section provides some examples of DNS records type/name combinations that the scan usually finds.
Use case examples
Address records
| Type | Name | Content | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|
A | @ | <IPv4> | <TTL> |
The value @ indicates the domain apex - in the example above, domain.com or test.xyz.
Virtually all zones on a full setup are expected to have at least one address record pointing to the IP address where the website or application is hosted.
www records
| Type | Name | Content | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|
CNAME | www | <TARGET> | <TTL> |
| Type | Name | Content | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|
A | www | <IPv4> | <TTL> |
Since it is still common that visitors type www.<DOMAIN> in their browsers expecting to reach the domain, zones will usually have a CNAME or an A record named www. This allows queries for www.<DOMAIN> to return the expected result.
Email records
| Type | Name | Mail server | TTL | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
MX | @ | webmail.<DOMAIN> | <TTL> | <PRIORITY> |
| Type | Name | Content | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|
CNAME | mail | <TARGET> | <TTL> |
| Type | Name | Content | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|
A | webmail | <IPv4> | <TTL> |
Mail exchanger (MX) and other record types combined with names like mail, webmail, or smtp, are also commonly found. As explained in the Set up email records page, there are several DNS records that can be used to make sure email reaches your mail server and to prevent other email senders from spoofing your domain.
Limitations
Since the DNS records quick scan is based on this predefined list of commonly used record types and names, and is not tailored to the specific zone you are adding to Cloudflare, there can be cases where not all records are picked up.
For example, if you have very specific hostnames - such as my-store1900.example.com instead of store.example.com - or if you have set up a DKIM record that uses a more custom name - this._domainkey instead of default._domainkey - it is expected that the scan will not find the specific DNS records.