---
created: 2026-04-20
path: Sources/Dev
project: cloudflare-cache-warmer
status: active
tags:
- pbs
- website
- n8n
- cloudflare
type: project-plan
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