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HTTPS using Cloudflare Tunnel

Expose Open WebUI to the internet securely. No open ports, no certificates, no reverse proxy.

Cloudflare Tunnel (cloudflared) creates an outbound-only connection from your machine to Cloudflare's edge network. Traffic flows through Cloudflare's infrastructure with automatic TLS, DDoS protection, and access controls, all without exposing a single port on your server.

When to use Cloudflare Tunnel

This is the recommended approach when you want production-grade public access without managing TLS certificates or firewall rules. It works on any network, including behind NAT or restrictive firewalls.

Prerequisites​

RequirementDetails
Open WebUIRunning locally on port 8080 (default)
Cloudflare accountFree at cloudflare.com
Domain on CloudflareYour domain's DNS must be managed by Cloudflare

Option A: Dashboard setup (no CLI)​

The simplest path. Everything configured through the Cloudflare dashboard.

1. Create the tunnel​

  1. Go to Zero Trust → Networks → Tunnels
  2. Click Create a tunnel → select Cloudflared
  3. Name it (e.g., open-webui)
  4. Follow the install instructions to run the connector on your machine

2. Add a public hostname​

In the tunnel config, add a Public Hostname:

FieldValue
Subdomainchat (or whatever you prefer)
DomainSelect your Cloudflare domain
Service typeHTTP
URLlocalhost:8080

Save. Cloudflare creates the DNS record automatically.

3. Access Open WebUI​

Open https://chat.your-domain.com. HTTPS is handled entirely by Cloudflare.

Option B: CLI setup​

For automation, infrastructure-as-code, or headless servers.

1. Install cloudflared​

brew install cloudflared

2. Authenticate​

cloudflared tunnel login

This opens a browser to authorize cloudflared with your Cloudflare account.

3. Create the tunnel​

cloudflared tunnel create open-webui

Note the Tunnel ID in the output. You'll need it for the config.

4. Configure​

Create ~/.cloudflared/config.yml:

tunnel: YOUR_TUNNEL_ID
credentials-file: /home/YOUR_USER/.cloudflared/YOUR_TUNNEL_ID.json

ingress:
  - hostname: chat.your-domain.com
    service: http://localhost:8080
  - service: http_status:404

5. Create DNS record​

cloudflared tunnel route dns open-webui chat.your-domain.com

6. Start the tunnel​

cloudflared tunnel run open-webui

Open https://chat.your-domain.com.

Run as a system service​

To keep the tunnel running after reboot:

sudo cloudflared service install
sudo systemctl enable cloudflared
sudo systemctl start cloudflared

This uses the config at ~/.cloudflared/config.yml automatically.

Configure Open WebUI​

Set WEBUI_URL so OAuth callbacks and internal links resolve correctly:

docker run -d \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -e WEBUI_URL=https://chat.your-domain.com \
  -v open-webui:/app/backend/data \
  --name open-webui \
  ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main

Docker Compose with cloudflared​

Run both Open WebUI and the tunnel connector in a single stack:

services:
  open-webui:
    image: ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main
    container_name: open-webui
    volumes:
      - open-webui:/app/backend/data
    environment:
      - WEBUI_URL=https://chat.your-domain.com
    restart: unless-stopped

  cloudflared:
    image: cloudflare/cloudflared:latest
    container_name: cloudflared
    command: tunnel --no-autoupdate run --token YOUR_TUNNEL_TOKEN
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  open-webui:

Get your tunnel token from the Cloudflare dashboard → select your tunnel → Configure → copy the token from the install command.

tip

No ports needed on the open-webui service. cloudflared connects to it via Docker's internal network. To use this, change the service URL in your tunnel config to http://open-webui:8080.

Add access controls (optional)​

Cloudflare Zero Trust lets you gate access behind authentication without touching Open WebUI:

  1. Go to Zero Trust → Access → Applications
  2. Add an application → Self-hosted
  3. Set the domain to chat.your-domain.com
  4. Create an Access Policy (e.g., allow only @your-company.com emails)

Users see a Cloudflare login page before reaching Open WebUI.

Quick reference​

WhatCommand / Value
Create tunnelcloudflared tunnel create open-webui
Start tunnelcloudflared tunnel run open-webui
Add DNScloudflared tunnel route dns open-webui chat.your-domain.com
Install as servicesudo cloudflared service install
Dashboardone.dash.cloudflare.com/networks/tunnels
Set CORS originCORS_ALLOW_ORIGIN=https://chat.your-domain.com