VPC Networks
VPC Networks allow your Workers to access any service in your private network without pre-registering individual hosts or ports. You can bind to a specific Cloudflare Tunnel to reach any service behind that tunnel, or bind to Cloudflare Mesh to reach any Mesh node, client device, subnet route or hostname route announced through Cloudflare Tunnel or Mesh, or destination reachable through a Cloudflare WAN on-ramp (GRE, IPsec, or CNI).
At runtime, the URL you pass to fetch() or the address you pass to connect() determines the destination — any hostname or IP address reachable through the bound Cloudflare Tunnel or through Cloudflare Mesh. Use fetch() for HTTP traffic, and connect() for raw TCP connections (Redis, MQTT, custom protocols, and other non-HTTP services). This differs from VPC Services, which require you to create a separate binding for each target host and port combination.
Reference a specific Cloudflare Tunnel directly by its UUID:
{ "vpc_networks": [ { "binding": "MY_VPC", "tunnel_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000", "remote": true } ]}[[vpc_networks]]binding = "MY_VPC"tunnel_id = "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"remote = trueThe remote flag must be set to true to enable remote bindings during local development.
Cloudflare Mesh (formerly WARP Connector) connects your services, devices, and Workers through Cloudflare's global network. When you bind a Worker to Cloudflare Mesh using network_id: "cf1:network", your Worker can reach:
- Any Mesh node or client device in your account
- Subnet routes and hostname routes announced through Cloudflare Tunnel or Cloudflare Mesh
- Destinations reachable through Cloudflare WAN on-ramps (GRE, IPsec, and CNI)
- Public Internet destinations through Cloudflare Gateway — with your existing Zero Trust traffic policies enforced and traffic logged in DNS, HTTP, and Network logs
All of this without specifying a particular Cloudflare Tunnel UUID.
Use cf1:network when:
- Your Workers need to reach private services across multiple Cloudflare Tunnels, Mesh nodes, or Cloudflare WAN on-ramps
- You want to access your entire private network from a Worker without managing individual Cloudflare Tunnel bindings
- Your private network topology may change (new connections, new nodes, new routes) and you do not want to update Worker configuration each time
- You want Worker egress to public destinations to flow through Cloudflare Gateway for policy enforcement and visibility
Bind to Cloudflare Mesh using network_id: "cf1:network":
{ "vpc_networks": [ { "binding": "MY_VPC", "network_id": "cf1:network", "remote": true } ]}[[vpc_networks]]binding = "MY_VPC"network_id = "cf1:network"remote = trueAccess any HTTP service in your network at runtime using fetch():
export default { async fetch(request: Request, env: Env) { // Access a service by private IP const response = await env.MY_VPC.fetch("http://10.0.1.50/data");
// Access another service on a different port const dbResponse = await env.MY_VPC.fetch("http://10.0.5.42:5432");
return response; },};When a VPC Network cannot establish a connection to your target service, fetch() throws an exception.
Open raw TCP connections to any private destination using connect(). This is useful for non-HTTP protocols like Redis, Memcached, MQTT, or custom binary protocols:
export default { async fetch(request: Request, env: Env) { // Open a TCP connection to a private Redis instance const socket = await env.MY_VPC.connect("10.0.1.50:6379");
// Write a Redis PING command const writer = socket.writable.getWriter(); await writer.write(new TextEncoder().encode("PING\r\n")); await writer.close();
return new Response(socket.readable); },};When a VPC Network cannot establish a TCP connection, connect() throws an exception.
VPC Networks and VPC Services both connect Workers to private infrastructure, but they make different trade-offs.
- Use VPC Services when you have a known set of targets and want each binding scoped to a specific host and port.
- Use VPC Networks when you need broader access — an entire Cloudflare Tunnel or all of Cloudflare Mesh — and want the URL in your
fetch()call to control routing at runtime.
The following table summarizes the differences:
| Feature | VPC Networks | VPC Services |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | A single Cloudflare Tunnel, or Cloudflare Mesh and Cloudflare WAN routes | Specific host + port |
| Configuration | tunnel_id (single Cloudflare Tunnel) or cf1:network (account-wide) | service_id |
| Protocols | HTTP (fetch()) and TCP (connect()) | HTTP (fetch()) or TCP (via Hyperdrive) |
| Service registration | Not required | Required for each target |
| Use when | Dynamic discovery, network-wide access, reaching services across your account | Fixed, cataloged services |
- Set up Cloudflare Tunnel
- Set up Cloudflare Mesh
- Set up Cloudflare WAN
- Try the Connect Workers to Cloudflare Mesh example
- Learn about the Workers Binding API