1# Cloudflare Argo Smart Routing Skill Reference
2 
3## Overview
4 
5Cloudflare Argo Smart Routing is a performance optimization service that detects real-time network issues and routes web traffic across the most efficient network path. It continuously monitors network conditions and intelligently routes traffic through the fastest, most reliable routes in Cloudflare's network.
6 
7**Note on Smart Shield:** Argo Smart Routing is being integrated into Cloudflare's Smart Shield product for enhanced DDoS protection and performance. Existing Argo customers maintain full functionality with gradual migration to Smart Shield features.
8 
9## Quick Start
10 
11### Enable via cURL
12```bash
13curl -X PATCH "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/{zone_id}/argo/smart_routing" \
14  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
15  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
16  -d '{"value": "on"}'
17```
18 
19### Enable via TypeScript SDK
20```typescript
21import Cloudflare from 'cloudflare';
22 
23const client = new Cloudflare({ apiToken: process.env.CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN });
24 
25const result = await client.argo.smartRouting.edit({
26  zone_id: 'your-zone-id',
27  value: 'on',
28});
29 
30console.log(`Argo enabled: ${result.value}`);
31```
32 
33## Core Concepts
34 
35### What It Does
36- **Intelligent routing**: Detects congestion, outages, packet loss in real-time
37- **Global optimization**: Routes across 300+ Cloudflare data centers
38- **Automatic failover**: Switches paths when issues detected (typically <1s)
39- **Works with existing setup**: No origin changes required
40 
41### Billing Model
42- Usage-based: Charged per GB of traffic (excluding DDoS/WAF mitigated traffic)
43- Requires billing configuration before enabling
44- Available on Enterprise+ plans (check zone eligibility)
45 
46### When to Use
47- **High-traffic production sites** with global user base
48- **Latency-sensitive applications** (APIs, real-time services)
49- **Sites behind Cloudflare proxy** (orange-clouded DNS records)
50- **Combined with Tiered Cache** for maximum performance gains
51 
52### When NOT to Use
53- Development/staging environments (cost control)
54- Low-traffic sites (<1TB/month) where cost may exceed benefit
55- Sites with primarily single-region traffic
56 
57## Should I Enable Argo?
58 
59| Your Situation | Recommendation |
60|----------------|----------------|
61| Global production app, >1TB/month traffic | ✅ Enable - likely ROI positive |
62| Enterprise plan, latency-critical APIs | ✅ Enable - performance matters |
63| Regional site, <100GB/month traffic | ⚠️ Evaluate - cost may not justify |
64| Development/staging environment | ❌ Disable - use in production only |
65| Not yet configured billing | ❌ Configure billing first |
66 
67## Reading Order by Task
68 
69| Your Goal | Start With | Then Read |
70|-----------|------------|-----------|
71| Enable Argo for first time | Quick Start above → [configuration.md](configuration.md) | [gotchas.md](gotchas.md) |
72| Use TypeScript/Python SDK | [api.md](api.md) | [patterns.md](patterns.md) |
73| Terraform/IaC setup | [configuration.md](configuration.md) | - |
74| Enable for Spectrum TCP app | [patterns.md](patterns.md) → Spectrum section | [api.md](api.md) |
75| Troubleshoot enablement issue | [gotchas.md](gotchas.md) | [api.md](api.md) |
76| Manage billing/usage | [patterns.md](patterns.md) → Billing section | [gotchas.md](gotchas.md) |
77 
78## In This Reference
79 
80- **[api.md](api.md)** - API endpoints, SDK methods, error handling, Python/TypeScript examples
81- **[configuration.md](configuration.md)** - Terraform setup, environment config, billing configuration
82- **[patterns.md](patterns.md)** - Tiered Cache integration, Spectrum TCP apps, billing management, validation patterns
83- **[gotchas.md](gotchas.md)** - Common errors, permission issues, limits, best practices
84 
85## See Also
86 
87- [Cloudflare Argo Smart Routing Docs](https://developers.cloudflare.com/argo-smart-routing/)
88- [Cloudflare Smart Shield](https://developers.cloudflare.com/smart-shield/)
89- [Spectrum Documentation](https://developers.cloudflare.com/spectrum/)
90- [Tiered Cache](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cache/how-to/tiered-cache/)
91