dns/import

Import DNS records from a BIND-format zone file (RFC 1035) into a Cloudflare zone.

Non-destructive import: Existing records are not overwritten. Records in the zone file that match existing records are skipped and counted in recordsSkipped. No existing records are deleted.

When to Use

Provider migration: Export a BIND zone file from your current DNS provider (Route 53, GoDaddy, cPanel, etc.) and import it directly into Cloudflare during migration.
Backup restoration: Restore DNS records from a previously exported BIND zone file after accidental record deletions.
Legacy infrastructure import: Import DNS records from legacy infrastructure documentation that was maintained as BIND zone files.
External DNS tool integration: Import zone files generated by external DNS management tools, provisioning systems, or Terraform-managed DNS.

Configuration

Connection

Field	Type	Required	Description
`ApiToken`	string	required	Scoped Cloudflare API Token with `DNS.Edit` permission. Store in BizFirst Credentials Manager.

Operation Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`ZoneId`	string	required	32-character hexadecimal Zone ID to import records into.
`FileContent`	string	required	Full BIND zone file content as a string (RFC 1035 format). Read from S3, a file node, or a variable.

Sample Configuration

{
  "resource": "dns",
  "operation": "import",
  "connection": {
    "ApiToken": "{{ $credentials.cloudflare_dns_edit }}"
  },
  "ZoneId": "023e105f4ecef8ad9ca31a8372d0c353",
  "FileContent": "{{ $node.ReadS3File.output.body }}"
}

Sample BIND Zone File (FileContent)

$ORIGIN example.com.
$TTL 3600
@       IN  SOA   ns1.example.com. admin.example.com. (
                  2024010101 ; serial
                  3600       ; refresh
                  900        ; retry
                  604800     ; expire
                  300 )      ; minimum TTL
@       IN  NS    ns1.example.com.
@       IN  A     198.51.100.4
www     IN  CNAME example.com.
mail    IN  A     198.51.100.5
@       IN  MX    10 mail.example.com.
@       IN  TXT   "v=spf1 include:_spf.example.com ~all"

Validation Errors

Code	Condition	Resolution
`MISSING_API_TOKEN`	ApiToken is empty	Set the ApiToken credential with DNS.Edit permission
`MISSING_ZONE_ID`	ZoneId is empty	Provide the Zone ID
`UNKNOWN_ERROR`	Invalid zone file format or API error	Validate zone file syntax — Cloudflare requires valid RFC 1035 format

Output

Success Port

Field	Type	Description
`recordsAdded`	integer	Number of records successfully added to the zone
`recordsSkipped`	integer	Number of records skipped because they already exist
`totalRecordsParsed`	integer	Total records found in the zone file

Error Port

On failure, the error port receives an object with code and message.

Sample Output

{
  "recordsAdded": 5,
  "recordsSkipped": 1,
  "totalRecordsParsed": 6
}

Expression Reference

Expression	Returns
`{{ $node.DnsImport.output.recordsAdded }}`	Count of newly created records
`{{ $node.DnsImport.output.recordsSkipped }}`	Count of already-existing records skipped
`{{ $node.DnsImport.output.totalRecordsParsed }}`	Total records in the zone file

Node Policies & GuardRails

Policy	Detail
Validate zone file before import	Run the zone file through a BIND syntax validator before passing it to this node — malformed files return errors
Require DNS.Edit token	Import creates records and requires write permission
Store ApiToken in Credentials Manager	Never hardcode the token in configuration JSON
Import is non-destructive	Existing records are never overwritten — safe to import the same file multiple times; duplicates are skipped
Verify counts post-import	Compare `recordsAdded + recordsSkipped` against `totalRecordsParsed` — if they do not match, some records failed silently

Examples

Example 1: Automated Provider Migration

Trigger: migration workflow initiated by ops team. Steps: (1) Read zone file from S3 bucket uploaded by the team. (2) Call dns/import with the file content. (3) Compare totalRecordsParsed against the expected count. (4) Send a Slack summary with recordsAdded and recordsSkipped counts.

Example 2: Restore from Backup

Connect to a Webhook trigger for "DNS restore" requests. Read the latest zone file from the dns-backups S3 bucket. Call dns/import. Log the restoration event with timestamp and record counts to the incident management system.

Example 3: Nightly Zone File Sync

A scheduled workflow reads a canonical zone file stored in a Git repository via an HTTP Request node. Calls dns/import to synchronize any new records added to the source of truth. Skipped records confirm no-change for existing entries. Alerts on recordsAdded > 0 for awareness.