June 2018 Summaries

In this text, the author demonstrates how to build a mini HTTP request routing and handling framework using Typescript with Cloudflare Workers. The framework is designed to handle requests for multiple cryptocurrency API providers. The author provides an interface definition for the router and its associated routes and handlers, as well as sample implementations of these components. They also showcase how to deploy the framework to Cloudflare's edge network using npm run upload. The text emphasizes the benefits of writing clean, async code with modern Typescript features and highlights the potential for rapid deployment and scalability offered by edge-side computing.

The author discusses their experience using Cloudflare Workers to create a serverless API endpoint for testing website security status. They explain how they used simple logic and requirements to develop the endpoint, which determines whether a given domain will automatically redirect to https or not. The author highlights the ease of setting up an endpoint with Cloudflare Workers compared to traditional methods, as well as some key features such as following redirects and handling CORS headers. They also provide code examples for the worker and instructions on how to test it using cURL.

Starting from July 23rd, Google will prominently label any site loaded in Chrome without HTTPS as "Not Secure". This move is aimed at encouraging more websites to adopt HTTPS for secure browsing and data protection. Despite the progress made since last year, a significant number of popular sites still do not support HTTPS. The misconceptions that HTTPS is difficult or slow to deploy are debunked by pointing out advancements in encryption protocols and the availability of free SSL certificates from providers like Cloudflare and Let's Encrypt. Additionally, using HTTPS can improve SEO rankings and provide access to new web features. To avoid being labeled "Not Secure", website owners need to obtain an SSL certificate and configure their site to redirect all traffic to HTTPS.

The text provides a detailed guide on how to set up and deploy TypeScript code using Cloudflare Workers with Webstorm IDE and npm run upload. It covers setting up the environment, creating a minimal node app, writing tests, transpiling TypeScript to worker-compatible JavaScript, automating the process with Grunt, and finally uploading the worker script to Cloudflare for remote execution. The author also mentions how to configure Workers to route requests to the deployed worker.

This article provides an introduction to bundling Service Worker scripts using Webpack. It explains that while a simple Service Worker script can be written as a single file, larger scripts may require JavaScript's module system. However, Cloudflare only accepts a single JS file for Service Workers. The author demonstrates how to bundle your Service Worker with TypeScript and Webpack using an example weather-fetching worker. They also explain how to use off-the-shelf solutions on npm to handle routing logic in the worker script. Finally, they emphasize that Webpack is a powerful tool for bundling Cloudflare Service Workers.

The drafting of the new EU Copyright Directive has been heavily criticized by civil society organizations, industry associations, renowned academics and research institutions. Articles 11 (the so-called “snippet tax”) and Article 13 have been particularly contentious. Under Article 13, Internet platforms would be held legally responsible for any user uploads, potentially leading to the widespread adoption of intrusive content recognition technologies that monitor and filter at the point of upload. This proposal has piqued the interest of UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression David Kaye, who argues that such measures will subject users to restrictions without prior judicial review. The legislative process is ongoing, with a Parliament Plenary vote potentially taking place in July 2018.

The text discusses building a Slack bot using Cloudflare Workers for fetching stock prices. It explains how to create and configure the worker, handle incoming webhooks from Slack, parse user messages, make API requests, and respond to Slack in its expected format. The bot uses Alpha Vantage Open Stock API to fetch stock prices and leverages Cloudflare's cache to minimize redundant calls to the API. The text also provides instructions on how to configure Slack to communicate with the bot and test it before installation.

Argo Tunnel is an innovative solution by Cloudflare that enables users to deploy applications anywhere, even behind NAT or firewall. With support for load balancing, traffic can be distributed across multiple tunnels. The service allows users to expose their web server to the internet without opening routes in their firewall or setting up dedicated routes. Argo Tunnel is a lightweight GRE tunnel from Cloudflare to the user's server and does not require any changes to the firewall or complex routing policies. Load balancing capabilities can now balance traffic between multiple instances of an Argo Tunnel, providing failure tolerance and improved performance worldwide.

DroneDeploy, a cloud platform that captures and analyzes drone imagery and data, is using Cloudflare Workers to maintain flexibility in their network routing and authentication layer. By leveraging Workers, DroneDeploy can push its authentication to the edge, ensuring its multi-tenancy image storage model is secure at the edge. The platform uses standard JWT authentication and employs a URL authentication method commonly known as request signing which uses the Web Crypto API. This allows them to maintain architectural freedom around the many services they use while providing a better experience for drone users in the field.

The text discusses the process of securely gating new or deprecated features in a beta program using Cloudflare Workers. It explains how to fetch user permissions from an origin server and store them in cache for quick access, ensuring that only authorized users have access to certain features. The article also covers common ways of gating features such as restricting paths, A/B testing, and custom routing between origins.

On June 14, 2018 at 10:01 AM, Ryan Knight shared a series of curated tweets related to the Internet Summit. These tweets were compiled and organized by Yank. The event likely involved discussions on various aspects of the internet industry, including technology advancements, trends, and innovations.

There are several upcoming events in June for those interested in the cloudflare community and related topics. These include a panel discussion on user experience, developer experience, and integration in Boston on June 12th; the Cloudflare Internet Summit in London on June 14th focusing on the evolution of the internet over the next five years; another panel discussion on improving UX and DX in Brooklyn on June 19th; and a conference talk at Developer Week New York on June 20th. These events offer opportunities to connect with thought leaders, executives, researchers, operators, and other community members.

Cloudflare has launched a privacy-focused DNS resolver service, supporting emerging standards such as DNS over HTTPS and TLS. The company also introduced a Tor onion service for its resolver at dns4torpnlfs2ifuz2s2yf3fc7rdmsbhm6rw75euj35pac6ap25zgqad.onion, accessible via tor.cloudflare-dns.com. This experimental service aims to provide users with anonymity and privacy while resolving domain names. The hidden resolver is designed to be fast and secure, offering the same level of security for DNS-over-UDP and DNS-over-TCP as DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS provides. Users can set up the .onion-based resolver by following specific instructions provided on Cloudflare's developers page.

The Cloudflare Community Forum has introduced a new "Recipe Exchange" tag in its Workers section, inviting developers to share their unique Workers recipes that can be useful in various aspects of life and work. These recipes will be highlighted on the blog with author permission. Cloudflare Workers allow running JavaScript in hundreds of data centers worldwide, enabling users to modify HTTP requests and responses, make parallel requests, or generate responses from the edge. The platform aims to provide developers with a low-entry barrier for leveraging its infrastructure for creating optimized applications and enhancing existing projects' performance.

On May 31, 2018, Cloudflare experienced a 17-minute outage on its 1.1.1.1 resolver service due to an oversight in the Gatebot DDoS mitigation pipeline. The issue occurred when new code was deployed that integrated with Provision API but failed to account for special IP ranges used by Cloudflare's recursive DNS resolver. As a result, the systems interpreted the resolver traffic as an attack and automatically deployed DNS mitigations, rendering 1.1.1.1 inaccessible globally. The company is using this incident to improve its internal systems and apologizes for any inconvenience caused to customers.

Cloudflare has announced the official General Availability (GA) of Rocket Loader, its JavaScript optimization feature that prioritizes content delivery to visitors faster than ever before with improved mobile device support. In tests on www.cloudflare.com, there was a 45% reduction in First Contentful Paint times on pages for visitors. Since its initial beta launch in June 2011, Rocket Loader has been used by hundreds of thousands of customers to boost the speed of their content with just one click. The new version works in conjunction with mobile and desktop browsers to prioritize what matters most when loading a webpage: your content.