patterns

name	patterns
description	Apply Cloudflare reference architecture patterns for CRUD SaaS, collaboration, async exports, AI assistants, RAG, media, webhook ingestion, and migration. Use to turn requirements into an implementation pattern and primitive map.
compatibility	Cloudflare Workers TypeScript projects using Wrangler; verify current Cloudflare APIs, limits, and pricing before production use.
metadata	{"source":"Architecting on Cloudflare plus official Cloudflare Developer Platform docs","generated":"2026-04-28"}

Patterns

Use this skill when a user describes an application and needs a Cloudflare implementation shape.

Pattern: CRUD SaaS

Worker: API, auth, SSR/static assets
D1: tenants, users, records, permissions
R2: file uploads
KV: cached public/config reads
Queue: email/webhook/export jobs
Observability: request IDs and tenant IDs

Add Durable Objects only when a specific entity needs serialized coordination.

Pattern: collaborative document or chat

Worker: auth and WebSocket upgrade route
Durable Object per room/document: live state, message ordering, presence
D1: metadata, membership, audit/history summaries
R2: snapshots, exports, attachments
Queue: indexing, notifications, compaction

Key by tenant:{tenantId}:doc:{docId} or similar.

Pattern: async export/report

Worker: validate request, create job record, enqueue/start workflow
Workflow: durable ordered steps, retries, progress
D1: job status and metadata
R2: generated report
Queue: fan-out chunks when needed

Return HTTP 202 with jobId; expose a status endpoint.

Pattern: RAG assistant

Worker: upload/query APIs and auth
R2: original documents and parsed chunks
D1: document metadata, ACL, ingestion status
Workflow/Queue: parse, chunk, embed, index
Vectorize or AI Search: retrieval index
Workers AI / AI Gateway: embeddings and answer generation

Ensure retrieval filters enforce tenant/user authorization.

Pattern: media or large file app

Worker: auth, upload/download routing
R2: original and transformed media
D1: metadata, ownership, processing state
Queue/Workflow: transformations, notifications
Container: only if native/heavy processing is required
Realtime/WebRTC: only for live media sessions

Pattern: webhook ingestion

Worker: verify signature, store minimal event, enqueue
Queue: process retries/idempotency
D1: event ledger and domain records
Durable Object: only if events must serialize by account/entity

Pattern selection checklist

• What is the user-visible latency budget?
• Which operations need strong consistency?
• Which data can be stale or cached?
• Which work should happen after response?
• What is the tenant isolation boundary?
• Which primitive could become a hot key?
• What will operators inspect during an incident?

Anti-patterns

• Pattern chosen because it is familiar from another cloud rather than because it fits Cloudflare.
• No explicit latency budget.
• State split across primitives without source-of-truth rules.
• Realtime, background jobs, and relational writes all hidden in one Worker route.