Cloudflare error pages: read cf-error-type before you debug

TL;DR

Check these before anything else, because they name the system at fault: - cf-error-type: the error category. - cf-error-origin: which Cloudflare system generated the error.

cf-error-type

Steps

1. When Cloudflare itself generates an error page (not your origin), the response includes two diagnostic headers. Check these before anything else, because they name the system at fault:
2. - cf-error-type: the error category.

• cf-error-origin: which Cloudflare system generated the error.

3. They are present only on Cloudflare-generated error pages. If they are absent, the error came from your origin and Cloudflare is just passing it through: debug the origin.
4. curl -v mount https at //example.com and look for cf-error-type in the response headers. Or use browser DevTools (Network tab, failing request, Headers) or a HAR export. Reproduce the error first: the headers only appear on the failing response.

When to use

You are seeing this: When Cloudflare itself generates an error page (not your origin), the response includes two diagnostic headers. Use this skill when you run into "Cloudflare error pages: read cf-error-type before you debug".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Verified against the live Cloudflare error diagnostic headers doc: cf-error-type / cf-error-origin present only on Cloudflare-generated pages, value table (1000/1016/1101/1102/52x), capture via curl -v / DevTools / HAR. Ref: https://developers.cloudflare.com/support/troubleshooting/http-status-codes/cloudflare-error-headers/