Troubleshooting Cloudflare: SiteSkite Backups & Site Connection Issue.

If your SiteSkite site shows issues such as backups not running, cron jobs failing, 401 Unauthorized errors, or site connection problems, Cloudflare security and caching rules are the most common cause.

SiteSkite is a REST API–based system and relies on uninterrupted machine-to-machine communication. Certain Cloudflare protections can mistakenly block or cache these requests.

This guide explains how to identify, confirm, and fix Cloudflare interference correctly using the new Cloudflare dashboard.

Why Cloudflare Can Break SiteSkite

Cloudflare may interfere due to:

• Bot Fight Mode

• WAF (Web Application Firewall)

• Managed / JS Challenges

• Rate Limiting

• API response caching

• Header stripping (Authorization headers)

These protections are designed for browsers, not authenticated API calls like SiteSkite backups and cron triggers.

Where “Firewall Events” Are Now (Important)

Cloudflare has moved all security logs into a single place.

✅ New Location:

Log Explorer

This replaces:

• Firewall Events

• Bot Fight logs

• WAF decisions

• Rate limiting logs

How to Check If Cloudflare Is Blocking SiteSkite

Step 1: Open Log Explorer

1. Log in to Cloudflare

2. Select your domain

3. From the left menu, click Log Explorer

Step 2: Filter SiteSkite API Requests

Paste this into the Log Explorer search bar:

http.request.uri.path contains "/wp-json/siteskite"

Press Enter.

Step 3: Show Only Blocked or Challenged Requests

Add this filter:

and (securityAction eq "block" or securityAction eq "managed_challenge" or securityAction eq "js_challenge")

✅ Final filter:

http.request.uri.path contains "/wp-json/siteskite"
and (securityAction eq "block" or securityAction eq "managed_challenge" or securityAction eq "js_challenge")

Set the time range to when the backup or cron failed.

What You’ll See If Cloudflare Is the Problem

Typical log entries:

Clicking an entry shows:

• Which rule blocked it

• Why it was blocked

• What behavior triggered Cloudflare

This is your confirmation.

Fix 1: Exclude SiteSkite API from Cloudflare Security

Create a Security Rule

Go to:
Security → Security Rules → Create Rule

IF condition:

http.request.uri.path contains "/wp-json/siteskite/"

Action:
Choose Skip and enable skipping:

• WAF

• Bot Fight Mode

• Rate Limiting

💡 This tells Cloudflare:

“This is a trusted API endpoint. Do not interfere.”

Save the rule.

Fix 2: Disable Cloudflare Caching for SiteSkite API

Cloudflare caching API responses can cause:

• Frozen backup progress

• Cached 401 errors

• Stuck status updates

Create a Cache Rule

Go to:
Caching → Cache Rules → Create Rule

IF condition:

uri.path contains "/wp-json/siteskite/"

Action:

• Cache status → Bypass

Save.

Why Other Sites May Work But SiteSkite Doesn’t

Your other projects may work because they:

• Don’t protect /wp-json

• Don’t require Authorization headers

• Don’t use authenticated cron APIs

• Don’t have Bot Fight Mode enabled

SiteSkite does all of the above for security, which is why Cloudflare must be explicitly configured.

Symptoms That Indicate Cloudflare Interference

• Backups stuck at a fixed percentage

• Random 401 Unauthorized errors

• Cron jobs failing intermittently

• Site shows “Unable to communicate”

• API works locally but fails externally

• First request works, subsequent ones fail

Best Practice Recommendation

Always whitelist SiteSkite API endpoints in Cloudflare:

/wp-json/siteskite/*

This ensures:

• Reliable backups

• Stable cron execution

• Accurate progress reporting

• Smooth site connection

• No random failures

Need Help?

If you copy one blocked log entry from Log Explorer, SiteSkite support can immediately identify:

• The exact Cloudflare rule

• The required fix

• Whether the issue is WAF, Bot Fight, or caching related

Summary

Cloudflare is powerful—but aggressive by default.
SiteSkite is secure—but requires API-friendly handling.

Once Cloudflare rules are configured correctly, SiteSkite backups and site connections become rock-solid and predictable.