---
description: Supported protocols on the Workers platform.
title: Protocols
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/og-docs.png
---

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# Protocols

Last updated Aug 25, 2026|Copy as Markdown|[View as Markdown](https://sm-rtk-allowlist-page.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/workers/reference/protocols/index.md)|[Agent setup](https://sm-rtk-allowlist-page.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/agent-setup/)

Cloudflare Workers support the following protocols and interfaces:

| Protocol               | Inbound                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | Outbound                                                                                                                                                      |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **HTTP / HTTPS**       | Handle incoming HTTP requests using the [fetch() handler](https://sm-rtk-allowlist-page.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/handlers/fetch/)                                                                                                                                                                                                                      | Make HTTP subrequests using the [fetch() API](https://sm-rtk-allowlist-page.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/fetch/)                   |
| **Direct TCP sockets** | Support for handling inbound TCP connections is [coming soon ↗](https://blog.cloudflare.com/workers-tcp-socket-api-connect-databases/)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Create outbound TCP connections using the [connect() API](https://sm-rtk-allowlist-page.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/tcp-sockets/) |
| **WebSockets**         | Accept incoming WebSocket connections using the [WebSocket API](https://sm-rtk-allowlist-page.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/websockets/)                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                               |
| **HTTP/3 (QUIC)**      | Accept inbound requests over [HTTP/3 ↗](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/performance/what-is-http3/) by enabling it on your [zone](https://sm-rtk-allowlist-page.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/concepts/accounts-and-zones/#zones) in **Speed** \> **Settings** \> **Protocol Optimization** area of the [Cloudflare dashboard ↗](https://dash.cloudflare.com/). |                                                                                                                                                               |
| **SMTP**               | Use [Email Workers](https://sm-rtk-allowlist-page.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/email-service/api/route-emails/email-handler/) to process and forward email, without having to manage TCP connections to SMTP email servers                                                                                                                                                      | [Email Workers](https://sm-rtk-allowlist-page.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/email-service/api/route-emails/email-handler/)                               |

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