DNS record comments and tags arrive on all Cloudflare plans

Cloudflare is rolling out support for custom comments on DNS records across all zone plans. Users on Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans also gain the ability to attach tags to individual DNS records.

The feature is available both through the Cloudflare dashboard and via the API. To add a comment, edit a DNS record, fill in the Comment field, and save. An icon will then appear next to the record name, and hovering over it shows the comment without opening the edit panel.

DNS records serve many purposes, including:

  • Directing email delivery with MX records.
  • Preventing spoofing and phishing with SPF, DMARC, and DKIM TXT policies.
  • Validating TLS certificate issuance via TXT or CNAME records.
  • Restricting certificate authorities with CAA records.
  • Confirming domain ownership for third-party services via TXT records.

With that diversity, it is easy to lose track of why a record exists, particularly for validation TXT records that use arbitrary names and opaque content. When multiple teams manage the same zone, someone can accidentally modify or delete a record and trigger an outage. Comments and tags give teams a way to document intent directly on the record.

Tags and zone file support

Tags are available to Pro, Business, and Enterprise users. A tag can be a simple key such as important or a key-value pair like team:DNS, with the key and value separated by a colon. Neither comments nor tags affect record resolution or propagation; they are visible only to users with access to the zone.

Comments and tags are also supported in zone files. When scripting zone creation and populating records by uploading a zone file, the import can include these attributes. Exports, used for backups or moving a zone to another Cloudflare account, will likewise carry comments and tags. Details are in the developer documentation on importing and exporting DNS record attributes.

New filtering options

For zones containing hundreds or thousands of records, Cloudflare has added a dedicated filter option in the dashboard. Filters can target comments, tags, name, type, content, or proxy status. Filters are combined with a logical AND, so you can, for instance, view only TXT records tagged as important. The general search bar remains available, but it cannot currently be combined with the new filters.

UI updates

Several dashboard changes accompany this release. The Advanced button has been replaced with two separate actions: Import and Export, and Dashboard Display Settings. The Import and Export option lets you export all DNS records, including comments and tags, into a zone file, or upload a zone file to import records.

Dashboard Display Settings controls which special record types appear in the UI and whether tags display inline beneath each record or as an icon when present. In addition, the DNS record table is now wider, making better use of horizontal space and improving visibility for longer subdomain names or record content.

The new capabilities are available immediately in the DNS tab of the Cloudflare dashboard for all zones.