Radar adds HTTP request counts to its traffic views
Cloudflare Radar has updated its traffic graphs to include a metric for HTTP request volume alongside the existing bytes-based measurements. Previously, the traffic section displayed only total traffic and HTTP traffic, both normalized byte counts derived from aggregated NetFlow data. The new request-based metric is computed from a sample of Cloudflare's HTTP request logs, aggregated across its customer base.
The "HTTP request traffic" label covers requests made in cleartext over HTTP as well as encrypted HTTPS connections. During July 2024, HTTPS accounted for roughly 95% of all requests to Cloudflare.
New graphs on Overview and Traffic pages
On the Radar Overview page, the "Traffic trends" graph now has a dropdown selector in the upper right letting users toggle between "Total & HTTP bytes" (the default) and "HTTP requests & bytes". Both views render as time series, and clicking a metric in the legend removes or restores its line; those selections carry over when a graph is downloaded or saved.
Next to the graph, a "Protocols" summary shows HTTP's share of bytes over the selected period plus the aggregate share for other non-HTTP Cloudflare services such as DNS and WARP. For most locations and ASNs, HTTP will make up the majority of bytes-based traffic.
On the Traffic page, the "Traffic volume" graph now includes the HTTP requests metric, letting users compare request volume changes against the previous period. A separate "HTTP traffic" graph has also been added below the bytes-based "Traffic trends" graph, showing normalized request volume with a default comparison to the prior period.
These graphs can be downloaded, copied to the clipboard, or embedded via the share icon. The underlying data is exposed through the "HTTP requests Time Series" API endpoint, which returns normalized request time series data for a given location or autonomous system (ASN).
Why request counts matter
An HTTP GET request is a message from a client to a web server asking for a specific resource. Response sizes vary enormously — from a single-pixel GIF of a few bytes to a multi-gigabyte software package — and each response carries headers with content type, cacheability, cookie and modification information. While GET dominates, the metric also covers HEAD, POST, PUT and other methods.
Introducing request-based traffic offers two benefits. First, it provides a second source of truth about HTTP activity, which helps Cloudflare distinguish genuine events like Internet disruptions from problems in its own data pipeline. Second, request counts are often a better proxy for human behavior than bytes. API traffic alone accounts for 60% of all traffic, and those responses tend to be small. A bytes-based view can bury meaningful user activity in the noise, or over-weight a single large download, while request patterns give a cleaner signal of user engagement — especially relevant when assessing whether connectivity has returned to expected levels after an outage.
The addition also aligns Radar's traffic section with the rest of the site. Graphs on the Adoption & Usage page have long been built from HTTP request log analysis, using request headers and connection characteristics such as HTTP version, user agent and IP version.
Bytes versus requests
The existing "HTTP traffic" view aggregates bytes from HTTP requests to Cloudflare's CDN services for the selected location or ASN. "Total traffic" adds bytes from other Cloudflare services — the 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver, authoritative DNS, WARP and Spectrum — though any HTTP traffic carried by those services is not counted in the HTTP traffic figures, since its share is opaque to Radar.
The byte count for a request includes the request itself, the response headers and the response body. Because response sizes can vary so widely, the request and byte lines on the same graph can diverge significantly. For example, an application that polls for updates might produce a steady request pattern while the bytes line spikes sharply when a large update becomes available for download.
The two metrics only align in shape, not scale. Both are normalized on a 0-to-1 (Max) scale, relative to the maximum value of each metric including the previous period, so only the temporal trends are comparable — not the relative magnitudes of the two lines.
The new request metric is available on Radar's Overview and Traffic pages, complementing the existing bytes-based views. The data comes from sampled HTTP request logs aggregated across Cloudflare's global customer network.
