🔍 What Is This Error?
When Search Atlas attempts to sync or publish content to your WordPress site, our servers send requests to your site's API. If Cloudflare's Web Application Firewall (WAF) is active on your domain, it may identify these requests as suspicious and block them — returning a cloudflare_blocked error in the platform.
This is one of the most common reasons WordPress sync fails. The good news is that it can be resolved quickly inside your Cloudflare dashboard without disabling your firewall entirely.
⚙️ How to Fix the Cloudflare Block
Follow these steps to whitelist Search Atlas traffic in Cloudflare so sync can complete successfully.
- Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard at cloudflare.com and select the domain connected to your WordPress site.
- Go to Security → WAF in the left-hand navigation menu.
- Click on Tools (or IP Access Rules depending on your Cloudflare plan).
- Create a new Allow rule for Search Atlas IP ranges. Contact our team via the chat widget (see below) to request the current list of IP addresses used by Search Atlas sync services.
- Alternatively, use a Custom WAF Rule to allow requests that include the Search Atlas user-agent string or target the /wp-json/ REST API endpoint from our servers.
- Save the rule and make sure it is set to Allow, not Challenge or Block.
- Return to Search Atlas and retry the WordPress sync from the platform.
🔎 Alternative: Use a Page Rule to Bypass WAF
If you prefer not to modify WAF rules directly, Cloudflare Page Rules offer a simpler bypass option for the WordPress REST API path.
- In your Cloudflare dashboard, go to Rules → Page Rules.
- Click Create Page Rule.
- In the URL field, enter your site's REST API path, for example: yourdomain.com/wp-json/*
- Set the action to Disable Security.
- Save and deploy the rule.
This tells Cloudflare to skip WAF checks for all REST API requests on that path, which is where Search Atlas communicates with your WordPress site.
🛠️ Check the Search Atlas WordPress Plugin
In addition to the Cloudflare fix, make sure the Search Atlas WordPress plugin is correctly installed and authenticated on your site. A blocked or timed-out connection can sometimes look similar to a firewall error.
- Log in to your WordPress admin panel and navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins.
- Confirm the Search Atlas plugin is active and up to date.
- If the plugin shows an authentication error, deactivate it, then reactivate it and complete the authorization flow again from within the Search Atlas platform.
- Once reauthorized, retry the sync.
✅ Confirm Sync Is Working
After applying the Cloudflare fix and verifying the plugin status, test the connection:
- Inside Search Atlas, go to the WordPress Sync section.
- Select your WordPress website from the site selector.
- Attempt to publish or sync a piece of content.
- If the sync completes without a cloudflare_blocked error, the issue is resolved.
If the error persists after following all steps above, the block may be coming from an additional security layer such as a server-level firewall, a separate security plugin (for example Wordfence or Sucuri), or a hosting provider firewall. Check those settings as well.
💡 Tips to Prevent This in the Future
- Whenever you update or change your Cloudflare security settings, re-test the WordPress sync to ensure access is still permitted.
- If you migrate your WordPress site to a new domain or host, reconnect the Search Atlas plugin and recheck firewall rules for the new environment.
- Keep the Search Atlas WordPress plugin updated to ensure compatibility with the latest sync improvements and authentication methods.
🙋 Still Need Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.