Cloudflare Workers enable you to create powerful APIs that run on a global edge network. These serverless functions handle HTTP requests and return responses using JavaScript or TypeScript. Key benefits include global deployment, zero cold starts, built-in security, and seamless integration with Cloudflare services.
To get started with Cloudflare Workers, you need to set up your development environment. First, install the Wrangler CLI tool globally using npm. Then authenticate with your Cloudflare account using wrangler login. Create a new Worker project with wrangler init, and navigate to your project directory. This sets up the basic structure for your API.
Writing a Cloudflare Worker API is straightforward. You export a default object with an async fetch method that handles all incoming requests. The fetch method receives a Request object, environment variables, and context. You parse the URL to determine the endpoint, then return appropriate Response objects with JSON data and proper headers. This example shows a simple hello API endpoint that returns a JSON message.
Cloudflare Workers can handle all standard HTTP methods including GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. You access the request method using request.method and use a switch statement to route to different handler functions. GET requests typically retrieve data, POST creates new resources, PUT updates existing ones, and DELETE removes resources. Always return appropriate status codes like 405 for unsupported methods.
To summarize what we've learned about creating APIs in Cloudflare Workers: They provide serverless hosting on the global edge network. Set up your environment with Wrangler CLI and authenticate with Cloudflare. Write your API by exporting a default object with an async fetch method. Handle different HTTP methods using request.method switching. Finally, deploy globally with wrangler deploy for instant worldwide availability.