Fix MetaPilot not running on your root domain
MetaPilot works on www.your-domain.com but not on your-domain.com? If your site is hosted on WP Engine or another host that runs on its own Cloudflare, the root domain is probably pointed at the host with A records. That quietly skips every Worker in your Cloudflare account, MetaPilot's included. One DNS change, pointing the root domain the same way as www, fixes it.
Before you start
You'll need access to the Cloudflare account your domain is in, with permission to edit DNS. If that's your IT team or an agency, send them this page. The change takes about five minutes and your visitors won't notice it.
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1
Check whether your root domain is skipping MetaPilot
Open any page of your site with.mdadded to the end of its address, once on each version of your domain:https://www.your-domain.com/about.mdandhttps://your-domain.com/about.md. Where MetaPilot is running, you land back on the page or see a plain-text version of it. Where it isn't, you get your site's own "page not found". If www works and the root domain doesn't, this guide is for you. If neither works, MetaPilot isn't connected yet: start with Connect Cloudflare. -
2
Compare how each version points at your host
In Cloudflare, open your domain and go to DNS → Records. Find the row named www and the row named after your root domain (it may show as @). On WP Engine they usually look like this:www CNAME wp.wpenginepowered.com Proxied
your-domain.com A 141.193.213.10 Proxied
your-domain.com A 141.193.213.11 ProxiedA CNAME on www and A records on the root domain is the pairing that causes this. -
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Why the A records skip your Workers
Hosts like WP Engine run your site on their own Cloudflare. When your record is a proxied CNAME to the host, Cloudflare runs your own account first, MetaPilot and any other Workers included, and then hands the request to the host. Cloudflare calls this Orange-to-Orange, and it only works through a CNAME. In Cloudflare's words, it "does not apply when an A record is used". With A records, the request goes straight to the host's Cloudflare and your Workers never see it. -
4
Switch the root domain to a CNAME
Make the root domain match www, one record at a time so the site never goes without one. First delete the second A record: the site keeps running on the other. Then edit the remaining A record, change its Type to CNAME, set the Target to the same hostname your www record uses (on WP Engine,wp.wpenginepowered.comfor Advanced Network orwp.wpewaf.comfor Global Edge Security), leave Proxy status on, and save. If Cloudflare won't let you change the type, delete that record and add the CNAME straight away with Name set to@. Delete any AAAA records on the root domain as well. Cloudflare allows a CNAME on the root domain and flattens it for you, and visitors keep resolving to the same Cloudflare addresses, so nobody notices the change. -
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Check it worked
Repeat the test from the first step on the root domain. It should now behave like www, usually within a minute. Then re-run your site audit in MetaPilot, so your score reflects what MetaPilot now serves on the root domain. -
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If anything looks wrong, put it back
Delete the CNAME and add the A records back with the same addresses, proxied. That restores exactly what you had before.
Not on WP Engine? The same applies to any host that runs your site on its own Cloudflare. Your host's setup instructions name the hostname to point a CNAME at; use it for the root domain as well as www.
Other Workers start working too. Any Cloudflare Worker on your domain, such as an analytics or tracking Worker from your marketing agency, is skipped on the root domain in exactly the same way and starts running after this change.
Root domain fixed? Finish your setup
Check the rest of your Cloudflare connection, from routes to going live in MetaPilot.
Stuck? Ask an AI to walk you through it