Purpose: One place to walk people through Cloudflare: account + domain, named tunnel, and how that ties into Super Dodo Terminal (SDT) and HostHelper / Dodo Builder.
Who this is for: Hosts who need a stable public URL (same link every time) for subscriptions, webhooks, or sharing the dashboard—instead of a random trycloudflare.com URL each session.
Cloudflare changes their dashboard wording sometimes. If a step does not match what you see, use the official links in each section.
Official Cloudflare docs (bookmark these)
| Topic | Link |
|---|---|
| Create a remote (named) tunnel | Cloudflare Zero Trust — Create a tunnel |
Install cloudflared (Windows & others) |
Downloads / install |
| Register a domain with Cloudflare | Cloudflare Registrar — get started |
| Zero Trust / tunnels overview | Cloudflare Tunnel documentation |
1) Cloudflare account and domain
Create an account
- Go to https://dash.cloudflare.com and sign up.
- Verify email and complete any security prompts Cloudflare shows.
Get a domain (two common paths)
A — Buy the domain through Cloudflare (simplest DNS setup)
- In the dashboard, use Domain Registration (or Registrar) to search and buy a domain.
- Follow Cloudflare’s checkout; the domain will use Cloudflare’s DNS automatically.
- Official: Register a domain.
B — You already own a domain elsewhere
- Add the domain to Cloudflare as a site and change the nameservers at your registrar to the pair Cloudflare gives you.
- Wait for DNS to show Active in Cloudflare (can take up to 24–48 hours, often faster).
Turn on Zero Trust (needed for named tunnels)
Named tunnels live under Cloudflare Zero Trust (sometimes labeled Teams on older accounts).
- In the dashboard, open Zero Trust (you may need to pick a team name once).
- Complete any free-tier setup Cloudflare asks for.
2) Create a named tunnel and public hostname
This is the flow that gives you:
- A long tunnel token (paste into SDT — see section 4).
- A stable hostname on your domain (e.g.
https://dodo.yourdomain.com).
High-level steps (matches Cloudflare’s “remote tunnel” wizard)
- In Zero Trust, go to Networks → Tunnels (wording may be Access → Tunnels on some accounts).
- Create a tunnel — choose the type that installs a connector on your PC (remote / cloudflared).
- Name the tunnel something you’ll recognize (e.g.
sdt-home). - Install the connector: Cloudflare shows a command like
cloudflared.exe service install <TOKEN>
orcloudflared tunnel run --token <TOKEN>
The token is the secret string—treat it like a password. You will paste the same token into Super Dodo Terminal if you want SDT to start the tunnel (see section 4). - Public hostname (route): Add a Public Hostname for this tunnel:
- Subdomain: e.g.
dodoorhost - Domain: your zone
- Service type: HTTP
- URL: the local service the tunnel should forward to
- Subdomain: e.g.
Critical: which local URL to use for Super Dodo Terminal
Super Dodo Terminal’s built-in tunnel (quick or stable mode from General Settings) forwards to the SDT dashboard web server on your PC:
http://localhost:7070
So in Cloudflare, the tunnel’s Public Hostname service URL should be http://localhost:7070 (unless you have changed SDT’s dashboard port in a custom build—default is 7070).
After saving, your Stable Public URL in SDT should match what visitors use—e.g. https://dodo.yourdomain.com (HTTPS is normal on the public side; Cloudflare terminates SSL and talks HTTP to localhost).
Install cloudflared on Windows
- Use Cloudflare’s installer / download page:
https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/connections/connect-networks/downloads/ - After install, open a new Command Prompt or PowerShell and run
cloudflared --versionto confirm it’s on your PATH. - If SDT says the tunnel won’t start,
cloudflaredmissing or not on PATH is the most common fix.
3) Two ways SDT can run the tunnel
| Mode | What SDT does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Quick tunnel (stable domain off) | Runs something equivalent to cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:7070 |
Testing; URL changes each run (*.trycloudflare.com). |
| Stable domain (checkbox on) | Runs cloudflared tunnel run --token "…" with your Named Tunnel Token |
Production; same public hostname you configured in Zero Trust. |
You still need SDT running and its dashboard server listening on 7070 when the tunnel is active.
4) Enter settings in Super Dodo Terminal (General Settings)
Open Super Dodo Terminal → General Settings → CLOUDFLARE TUNNEL.
- Use stable domain tunnel (named tunnel token) — turn ON for a fixed URL.
- Stable Public URL — full URL visitors use, e.g.
https://dodo.yourdomain.com(must match the Public Hostname you created in Cloudflare). - Named Tunnel Token — paste the token from the Cloudflare tunnel setup (the same secret used with
cloudflared tunnel run --token). - Click Save (saves tunnel-related settings).
- Start Tunnel — SDT launches
cloudflaredwith your token. - Public URL field — should show your stable URL when running. Use Copy URL when you need to paste it elsewhere.
- Auto-start selected tunnel mode when SDT opens — optional; enables the tunnel automatically when SDT starts.
Tip: The UI notes that stable mode helps subscriptions / webhooks because the URL does not change every time.
5) HostHelper, Dodo Builder, and Cloudflare
HostHelper runs its own local API on a port (often 8090 in defaults—check Website / Dodo Builder settings on your build). That is separate from SDT’s 7070 dashboard tunnel.
What HostHelper reads from SDT
HostHelper’s Dodo Builder can look for SDT’s tunnel preferences in:
%AppData%\SuperDodoTerminal\tunnel-settings.json
It checks whether named tunnel mode is enabled and whether a public URL is filled in—useful for setup checklists (e.g. “domain / tunnel configured”).
So: configure the tunnel in SDT first (section 4), save, then open HostHelper / Dodo Builder so it can see consistent settings.
Pointing the website at the right API
- In Dodo Builder / HostHelper, the API base URL (or equivalent field) must point at wherever the browser can reach HostHelper’s API:
- Local only:
http://localhost:8090(example port—use whatever HostHelper shows as running). - Public: if you put HostHelper behind its own tunnel or reverse proxy, use that HTTPS URL instead.
- Local only:
- Do not assume one Cloudflare hostname covers both SDT (7070) and HostHelper (different port) unless you configured Cloudflare routes for both (e.g. two hostnames or path-based rules). Many hosts use one tunnel hostname for SDT and a separate setup for the website API.
CORS / “browser blocked” issues
HostHelper’s API allows requests from localhost and from origins it recognizes (including the configured public / tunnel URL). If the exported website is on Netlify (or another host) and API calls fail:
- Confirm the API URL in Dodo Builder matches the exact public origin HostHelper expects.
- Confirm the tunnel (if any) for HostHelper is running and matches that URL.
(Exact menu names in HostHelper can change between versions—use the live labels in the app.)
6) Quick troubleshooting
| Problem | Things to check |
|---|---|
| SDT says tunnel won’t start | cloudflared installed? New terminal after install? Try cloudflared --version. |
| 502 / error at public URL | Is SDT open and dashboard on 7070 running? Tunnel service URL must be http://localhost:7070 for the SDT dashboard tunnel. |
| Wrong page loads | Public Hostname in Cloudflare points at wrong local port or wrong machine. |
| Token rejected | Regenerate token in Zero Trust only if needed; paste full token, no spaces; old tokens can be invalidated if you rotate secrets. |
| HostHelper “domain” step not checking off | Save SDT General Settings; confirm tunnel-settings.json exists under %AppData%\SuperDodoTerminal\. |
7) Security reminders (for people you coach)
- The tunnel token is secret—anyone with it can run a connector as that tunnel.
- Do not post tokens in Discord screenshots or stream them.
- Use Cloudflare Access or other controls if you need to restrict who can open tunneled URLs (optional, advanced).
Related wiki pages
- Your Website — quick vs stable tunnel in plain language, built-in site vs DodoBuilder.
- HostHelper — Dodo Builder, API URL, team setup.
For editors (this repo)
- Source:
thedodosuite.com/wiki-source/cloudflare-setup.md(this file). - Published page: run
npm run build:wikifrom thethedodosuite.comfolder to regeneratewiki-cloudflare-setup.html.
Update this page when Cloudflare renames dashboard sections or when SDT/HostHelper defaults change.