Choose the narrowest protection
Bot controls use Cloudflare signals to identify automated traffic. IP Access rules act on an address, range, ASN or country and can affect every request in their scope. Prefer a narrowly matched security rule when the problem is limited to a hostname, path or request pattern.
Protect search engines and integrations
Verified bots, payment callbacks, uptime checks and application clients can look automated. Record their documented identity and test them before enabling broad mitigation. Do not allow an entire network merely because one legitimate integration uses an address within it.
Use challenge, block and allow correctly
A Managed Challenge is useful when legitimate humans may share the suspicious signal. Block is appropriate for traffic that must never reach the application. Allow rules bypass relevant protections and therefore need a precise scope, owner, reason and review date.
Test for false positives
Send a request that should match and one that should not, then confirm the resulting security event and application response. Test signed webhooks, login, checkout, API clients and accessibility tools after a broad bot or access change.
Avoid administrator lockout
Keep a separate trusted connection before blocking an administrator address, network or country. Add a temporary narrow exception first when necessary, confirm it works, then apply the block. Remove temporary exceptions after the investigation.
Review and recover
Inspect matched security events, disable only the rule causing the false positive and restore the previous state. Replace emergency broad allows with a rule that matches the legitimate request's stable properties. Record why the exception exists and when it must be reviewed.
