Beyond the basics.
WHAT WORKERS ARE
Code that runs at Cloudflare's edge, between visitor and origin, allowing custom logic on every request.
WHAT PEOPLE USE THEM FOR
Custom redirects and rewriting Modifying headers Serving content without an origin A/B testing API handling
WHETHER YOU NEED THEM
Almost certainly not, for a standard business website.
They are a development tool, solving problems that ordinary configuration cannot.
OTHER ADVANCED FEATURES
Load balancing across multiple origins Argo, which routes traffic over optimised paths Stream, for video Images, for optimisation and resizing
WHAT IS WORTH KNOWING
That they exist, so you recognise them when someone proposes one.
THE HONEST ADVICE
Exhaust the ordinary configuration first: caching, rules, SSL mode, optimisation settings.
Most problems people reach for Workers to solve are configuration problems.
IF A DEVELOPER PROPOSES ONE
Ask what it does and what happens if it fails. Code in the request path is another thing that can break.
