LAB GUIDE / SECTION 01

Setup

14:35About 30 minutes0 of 2 checks

While you do this, I'll talk about what "the edge" is. Listen with one ear.

1.1 Create your Cloudflare account#

Everything today runs on your own Cloudflare account. It's free, needs no credit card, and stays yours after the class.

Open https://dash.cloudflare.com/sign-up/workers-and-pages (this link takes you straight to Workers, so you skip the "add a website" screens).
Enter an email and a password, then select Create Account.
Tip
Use a personal email rather than your university one, so you keep access after you graduate.
Verify your email: open the message from Cloudflare and click the link. Don't skip this, because deploys fail on unverified accounts.
Back in the dashboard, open Workers & Pages in the left sidebar and look for Your subdomain. Every account gets a free workers.dev subdomain: it's the personal part of your URL (<worker>.<your-subdomain>.workers.dev). No domain to buy or set up.
- A subdomain is shown (often made from your account name, like ana-example.workers.dev): note it, you'll need it in 1.3. Want something shorter? Select Change and pick your nickname. Optional.
- You're asked to set one up instead: pick a short name, like your nickname, and confirm. Do it now, so you have it for 1.3.
If you're asked to choose a plan, choose Free. Workers Free includes 100,000 requests/day and Workers AI, which is far more than you need.

Check#

You can log in at https://dash.cloudflare.com and see Workers & Pages
Your email is verified (no yellow "verify your email" banner)

Signup problems?

Challenge or error during signup: many people are signing up from the same network right now, which can trigger extra checks. Wait a minute and try again. Still stuck? Raise your hand.
No verification email: check spam, or request a new one from the banner in the dashboard.
Already have a Cloudflare account? Great, use it. Make sure you're in an account you're happy to deploy personal projects to.

1.2 A GitHub account#

Account	Link	Notes
GitHub	https://github.com/signup	Skip if you have one. Your code will live here.

That's it. No other accounts and no API keys today.

1.3 Name your Droid#

Now that your accounts exist, tell the guide three things. It uses them to fill in every command, URL and name from here on, so you can copy them as they are:

Droid Name: pick it now. It becomes your Worker, your GitHub repo and the first part of your URL. Short, lowercase, hyphens allowed: ana-droid, r2-ana, chewie-fan. It's part of a public URL, so use a nickname, not your full name.
Cloudflare subdomain: copy it from Workers & Pages → Your subdomain (step 1.1.4), without .workers.dev.
GitHub username: the one you just signed in with.

Your project

Browser only

Pick your Droid Name first. Add the rest when you know it; every field is optional. These details stay in this browser and are never sent anywhere.

Droid Name

A nickname, not your full name. Used for your Student Worker and repo. Lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens; up to 40 characters.

Cloudflare subdomain

The workers.dev subdomain you choose at signup. Same naming rules as your Droid Name.

GitHub username

Add this later, or paste a GitHub repo URL to fill your username and Droid Name.

My URL is different

Worker URL override

Optional. Use your public https://…workers.dev URL. Paths and trailing slashes are removed. Leave blank to use your Droid Name and subdomain.

LIVE PREVIEW

Your droid will live at https://<your-droid-name>.<your-subdomain>.workers.dev

Your repo: github.com/<your-github-user>/<your-droid-name>

Note
These stay in your browser only. Nothing is sent to the Hub or anywhere else. Change them any time with Your project at the top of the page.

1.4 Tools#

Tool	Check	Install if missing
Node.js 22+	`node -v`	https://nodejs.org (pick the LTS version)
git	`git --version`	https://git-scm.com/downloads
GitHub CLI	`gh --version`	https://cli.github.com
A code editor	—	VS Code recommended

Note
Node still installing? Don't wait. Do sections 2 and 3 with the browser path and come back to the terminal for section 4.

1.5 Log in from the terminal#

gh auth login          # choose GitHub.com → HTTPS → "Login with a web browser"
npx wrangler login     # opens the browser → log in with your NEW Cloudflare account → Allow

gh auth login lets git push work without passwords. wrangler login connects the Wrangler CLI to your Cloudflare account from 1.1.

Check#

node -v && git --version && gh auth status && npx wrangler whoami

You should see a Node version (22 or higher), a git version, "Logged in to github.com", and the email of the Cloudflare account you just created.

Something failed?

wrangler whoami says "not authenticated": run npx wrangler login again. If the browser didn't open, copy the URL from the terminal.
wrangler whoami shows the wrong account (for example an older one): run npx wrangler logout, then npx wrangler login again.
Windows: node not found after installing? Close and reopen the terminal.
More in Troubleshooting.

Next: Deploy your Worker

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