1What FoxPlug reads from Cloudflare Web Analytics
These are the exact things it reads, and nothing else.
| What | The details it takes |
|---|---|
| Page loads and visits, whole window | count and sum.visits from rumPageloadEventsAdaptiveGroups, last 7 days |
| Daily series | count and visits per date, up to 40 rows |
| 14-day daily series | visits and pageviews per day so a drop after a deploy can be read against the week before |
| Top pages | requestPath with count, top 10 kept |
| Top referrers | refererHost with count, top 10 kept; (none) dropped |
| Referrers in each half of the window | refererHost counts for the first and second half, top 12 each |
| Pricing page views | views of top pages whose path matches pricing, plans or upgrade |
2Moments it finds, and what each becomes
A moment is one thing that happened in Cloudflare Web Analytics worth a second look. Each one is scored, then it becomes a post, a changelog entry, a thing to fix or an idea to email, or it is skipped.
Visits fall after a deploy
The moment is titled like this: Fix line: 'Visits are down 42 percent since you deployed. Look before you post.'
Cloudflare's 14-day series shows 120 visits a day before a Tuesday deploy and 70 since. Needs at least 3 days before, 2 after and 10 visits a day before.
One site sends several times its earlier traffic
The moment is titled like this: Say line: 'Thank that site: it sent 5x its earlier traffic.'
news.example sent 8 visits in the first half of the week and 40 in the second. At least 15 later and 3 times before qualifies. The site name is an example.
Visitors view the pricing page
The moment is titled like this: Brain context: 'TRAFFIC (Cloudflare, real, last 7d, covering this site): 310 pageviews, 180 visits, 14 pricing-page views. Top pages:... Top referrers:...'
180 visits and 14 pricing views tells the brain whether the problem is not enough arrivals or arrivals that do not convert.
Connection has no site tag and no matching host
The moment is titled like this: Scope note: 'These figures are for the whole Cloudflare account, not just example.com...'
The pull tries the site tag, then the project's own domain, then the whole account. In account scope the brain is told not to state the totals as this site's.
3How the brain uses it
The rules below are the ones that apply to Cloudflare Web Analytics. The same rules, with worked examples, are on the brain page.
- Nothing is read until the owner presses Build the brief (Today) or Refresh on the traffic board; a failed pull leaves the last real numbers on screen. How the brain decides
- Reads are read-only: FoxPlug never changes anything in the analytics tool. How the brain decides
- Visits down after a deploy: a deploy made 2 to 6 days ago, at least 3 days of data before it, at least 2 full days after and at least 10 visits a day before; a drop of 30 percent or more becomes a fix line. How the brain decides
- With at least 6 days of daily visits, arrivals that more than double (or more than halve) between the first and second half of the window raise a question card on the traffic board. How the brain decides
- A referrer worth thanking: at least 15 visits in the later half of the window and at least 3 times its earlier half becomes a say line. How the brain decides
- Account-wide figures are never presented as this site's; the brain is told not to build an action on their level. How the brain decides
4Set up Cloudflare Web Analytics in a few steps
Access: API token with Account Analytics read. What to give it: an API token with Account Analytics read, your Account ID, and the Web Analytics site tag (Account, Account Analytics, Read).
- Open the Account API tokens page in the Cloudflare dashboard.
- Create Token, Custom token: Account, Account Analytics, Read, with Account Resources set to the account that owns the site.
- Copy the token.
- Copy the Account ID (search 'Copy account ID' on Account home).
- Open Web Analytics, your site, Manage site; the site tag is the token value in the snippet.
- Paste the token, Account ID and site tag into FoxPlug.
5Limits worth knowing
Where it stops, so nothing surprises you.
- Window is 7 days, plus a 14-day daily series
- Top 10 pages and top 10 referrers kept
- Scope ladder: site tag, then host, then whole account; the next rung is tried only when Cloudflare refuses a filter
- A 401/403 parks the connection; a 5xx leaves it alone
- Without a site tag and with no matching host, figures span every property on the account
6What it never reads
Read only means read only, and the list below is what the code leaves alone.
- Other analytics datasets on the account beyond Web Analytics page loads (the query names only rumPageloadEventsAdaptiveGroups)
- Sessions, session length or bounce rate (Cloudflare RUM has none; left empty)
7How Cloudflare Web Analytics differs from the tools next to it
Cloudflare is the only tool in this group where FoxPlug reads the top pages, the top referrers and the referrers split by half of the window, which powers the 'thank that site' line and the pricing-page count. Its window is 7 days (plus a 14-day series) where the others use 30, and it has no sessions, session length or bounce rate.
8Questions
Why does FoxPlug need a site tag as well as the Account ID?
Cloudflare's dataset is scoped to the account. The site tag limits the read to one Web Analytics site; without it FoxPlug falls back to your domain, then to the whole account, and says so.
What does FoxPlug do with the top pages and referrers?
They tell the brain which pages and which sites your visits come from, and they let it spot a referrer that suddenly sends several times its earlier traffic.
Does it need a paid Cloudflare plan?
No. Web Analytics is on every Cloudflare plan including free, per FoxPlug's connect guide.
FoxPlug reads this tool only when you press Check for what's new, and only to read. Plans and limits are on the pricing page. Questions: support.