Route traffic
When the WARP client is deployed on a device, Cloudflare processes all DNS requests and network traffic by default. However, under certain circumstances, you may need to exclude specific DNS requests or network traffic from WARP.
There are three settings you can configure:
- Use Local Domain Fallback to instruct the WARP client to proxy DNS requests for a specified domain to a resolver that is not Cloudflare Gateway. This is useful when you have private hostnames that would not otherwise resolve on the public Internet.
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Use the Split Tunnels Exclude mode to instruct the WARP client to ignore traffic to a specified set of IP addresses or domains. Any traffic that is destined to an IP address or domain defined in the Split Tunnels Exclude configuration will be ignored by the WARP client and handled by the local machine. Use this mode when you want the majority of your traffic encrypted and processed by Gateway, but need to exclude certain routes due to app compatibility, or if you need WARP to run alongside a VPN.
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Use the Split Tunnels Include mode mode to instruct the WARP client to only handle traffic to a specified set of IP addresses or domains. Any traffic that is not included by IP address or domains defined in the Split Tunnel Include configuration will be ignored by the WARP client and handled by the local machine. Use this mode when you only want specific traffic processed by Gateway, such as when using Tunnels for a specific resource.
How the WARP client handles DNS requests
When you use the WARP client together with cloudflared Tunnels or third-party VPNs, Cloudflare evaluates each request and routes it according to the following traffic flow.
flowchart TD
accTitle: WARP traffic is evaluated and routed through various parts of the Cloudflare network
A[WARP User requests resource] -- Domain does not match Local Domain Fallback --> C{WARP client resolves query according to Gateway DNS policies}
A -- Domain matches Local Domain Fallback --> D[WARP client proxies DNS traffic to specified fallback server]
D -- Resolver IP included in Tunnel per Split Tunnel configuration --> E[Query sent via WARP Tunnel to be resolved]
D -- Resolver IP not included in Tunnel per Split Tunnel configuration --> F{Query sent to resolver IP outside WARP Tunnel}
E -- Matches CF Gateway block policy --> G{Traffic blocked by CF}
E -- "Passes CF Gateway network policies (allowed or unblocked)" --> H[Evaluated by Cloudflare Tunnel routes]
H -- Tunnel routes do not include resolver IP --> I{CF Gateway proxies query to resolver IP via normal WARP egress route}
H -- Tunnel routes include resolver IP --> J[Cloudflare Tunnel advertises route that includes Resolver IP]
J --> L{Private resolver returns IP address to WARP client}