🔍 What This Article Covers

If you recently moved your domain's nameservers to Cloudflare and now see an "invalid name server" error — or your site is completely down — this guide walks you through fixing the DNS issue first, then reconnecting OTTO. These are two separate problems that must be resolved in order.

⚠️ Understand the Two-Stage Problem

Switching nameservers to Cloudflare and connecting a Cloudflare API token are different actions. When customers complete the token connection but then change nameservers without finishing Cloudflare's activation steps, two issues can appear together:

• Stage 1 — Site outage: The "invalid name server" error means Cloudflare has not fully activated your domain. Your site may be unreachable until this is resolved.
• Stage 2 — OTTO detection failure: OTTO cannot detect your site on Cloudflare because the domain is not yet active on Cloudflare's network. Fixing Stage 1 automatically unblocks Stage 2.

Do not troubleshoot OTTO or the API token until your site is back online. Repeating OTTO or Worker steps will not resolve a nameserver activation problem.

🛠️ Stage 1 — Fix the Invalid Nameserver Error

Follow these steps to complete Cloudflare domain activation:

1. Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard at dash.cloudflare.com and select your domain.
2. Go to the DNS tab. Cloudflare will display the two nameservers assigned to your account (for example, ava.ns.cloudflare.com and bob.ns.cloudflare.com). These are unique to your account — do not copy nameservers from another domain or a tutorial screenshot.
3. Log in to your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains, etc.) and open your domain's nameserver settings.
4. Remove all existing nameservers and enter only the two nameservers shown in your Cloudflare dashboard. Save the changes.
5. Wait for propagation. DNS changes typically take 15 minutes to a few hours, but can take up to 48 hours in some cases. Cloudflare will send a confirmation email once your domain is active.
6. Verify activation in Cloudflare. Return to your Cloudflare dashboard. The domain status should change from Pending to Active. If it still shows Pending Nameserver Update, double-check that the nameservers at your registrar exactly match what Cloudflare assigned.

Common reasons for the "invalid name server" error:

• Nameservers were copied incorrectly or contain a typo.
• Old nameservers were not fully removed before adding Cloudflare's.
• The registrar requires 24–48 hours to process the change — the error may resolve on its own once propagation completes.
• A third nameserver entry was left in place alongside Cloudflare's two.

✅ Stage 2 — Reconnect OTTO After the Site Is Live

Once your Cloudflare dashboard shows the domain as Active and your site loads correctly in a browser, complete the following steps inside Search Atlas:

1. In the left sidebar, navigate to OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation).
2. Open OTTO settings for your site and locate the Cloudflare integration panel.
3. Confirm your Cloudflare API token is still connected. If the token shows an error, disconnect it and reconnect using a token with Zone:DNS:Edit, Zone:Zone:Read, Workers Scripts:Edit, Workers Routes:Edit, and Workers KV Storage:Edit permissions scoped to the correct domain.
4. Click Re-detect site or save the integration to trigger a fresh detection check. OTTO will scan your now-active Cloudflare domain and confirm the connection.

If OTTO still shows a detection error after your domain is confirmed active, clear your browser cache, reload the OTTO SEO page, and attempt re-detection once more before contacting support.

🔑 Cloudflare API Token — Quick Permission Check

A valid token must include these permissions, or OTTO cannot read or modify your Cloudflare zone:

• Zone — DNS — Edit
• Zone — Zone — Read
• Workers Scripts — Edit
• Workers Routes — Edit
• Workers KV Storage — Edit
• Token must be scoped to the specific zone (domain) you are connecting, not to all accounts.

To create or edit a token, go to Cloudflare dashboard → My Profile → API Tokens.

📋 Quick Checklist Before Contacting Support

• Domain status in Cloudflare dashboard shows Active (not Pending).
• Only two nameservers are set at your registrar — exactly as shown in Cloudflare.
• Site loads correctly in a browser without errors.
• Cloudflare API token has the correct permissions and is scoped to the right domain.
• OTTO re-detection has been attempted after the domain became active.

💬 Still Need Help?

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