Create cloudflare-cache-warmer.md via n8n

Tech/Projects/cloudflare-cache-warmer.md

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+---
+project: cloudflare-cache-warmer
+type: project-plan
+status: active
+path: Tech/Projects
+tags:
+  - pbs
+  - website
+  - n8n
+  - cloudflare
+created: 2026-04-20
+updated: 2026-04-20
+---
+# Cloudflare Cache Warmer — n8n Workflow
+
+## Problem
+
+Recipe pages fall out of Cloudflare's edge cache between human visits. When
+Googlebot crawls a cold page, it hits WordPress directly — full PHP/plugin
+execution, slow response. Google deprioritizes slow pages and marks them
+"Crawled - currently not indexed."
+
+## Solution
+
+Scheduled n8n workflow that fetches the sitemap daily and hits every recipe
+URL to keep Cloudflare's cache warm. Googlebot always gets a fast cached
+response.
+
+## Architecture
+
+1. **Schedule Trigger** — runs once daily (off-peak, e.g. 4:00 AM ET)
+2. **HTTP Request** — fetch `
+https://plantbasedsoutherner.com/sitemap_index.xml`
+3. **XML Parse** — extract child sitemap URLs from the index
+4. **Loop** — for each child sitemap:
+   - **HTTP Request** — fetch the child sitemap XML
+   - **XML Parse** — extract all `` URLs
+5. **Loop** — for each URL:
+   - **HTTP Request (GET)** — hit the URL (this warms the cache)
+   - **Wait** — small delay (1-2 seconds) between requests to avoid
+hammering the server on cold hits
+6. **Google Chat Notification** — post summary to `webadmin` space: total
+URLs warmed, any errors
+
+## Design Notes
+
+- Use the n8n Loop node (not Split In Batches) to serialize requests and
+avoid overloading Apache workers
+- The HTTP Request to warm cache only needs a GET — no need to process the
+response body
+- Consider a 1-2 second delay between requests so cold misses don't stack
+up concurrent PHP workers
+- Edge TTL is currently set to 8 days, so daily warming keeps everything
+well within window
+- As recipes grow, workflow scales automatically since it reads from the
+sitemap
+
+## Validation
+
+- After first run, spot-check 3-4 recipe URLs in browser DevTools → Network
+→ `cf-cache-status` should be `HIT`
+- Monitor Google Search Console "Crawled - currently not indexed" count
+over the following 2-4 weeks — should decrease
+
+## Open Questions
+
+- [ ] Confirm best time of day for the schedule (4 AM ET?)
+- [ ] Decide whether to warm ALL sitemap URLs or filter to just recipe/post
+URLs
+- [ ] Should errors (timeouts, 5xx) trigger a separate alert or just log in
+the summary?
+
+## Future Enhancements
+
+- Add a check: if `cf-cache-status` is already `HIT`, skip the URL (reduces
+unnecessary requests as traffic grows)
+- Track cache hit/miss ratio over time via a simple counter in pbs-hub
+
+
+...sent from Jenny & Travis