---
title: Serve private images · Cloudflare Images docs
description: You can serve private images by using signed URL tokens. When an
  image requires a signed URL, the image cannot be accessed without a token
  unless it is being requested for a variant set to always allow public access.
lastUpdated: 2025-11-17T14:08:01.000Z
chatbotDeprioritize: false
source_url:
  html: https://developers.cloudflare.com/images/manage-images/serve-images/serve-private-images/
  md: https://developers.cloudflare.com/images/manage-images/serve-images/serve-private-images/index.md
---

You can serve private images by using signed URL tokens. When an image requires a signed URL, the image cannot be accessed without a token unless it is being requested for a variant set to always allow public access.

1. In the Cloudflare dashboard, go to the **Hosted Images** page.

   [Go to **Hosted images**](https://dash.cloudflare.com/?to=/:account/images/hosted)

2. Select **Keys**.

3. Copy your key and use it to generate an expiring tokenized URL.

Note

Private images do not currently support custom paths.

The example below uses a Worker that takes in a regular URL without a signed token and returns a tokenized URL that expires after one day. You can, however, set this expiration period to whatever you need, by changing the const `EXPIRATION` value.

* JavaScript

  ```js
  const KEY = "YOUR_KEY_FROM_IMAGES_DASHBOARD";
  const EXPIRATION = 60 * 60 * 24; // 1 day


  const bufferToHex = (buffer) =>
    [...new Uint8Array(buffer)]
      .map((x) => x.toString(16).padStart(2, "0"))
      .join("");


  async function generateSignedUrl(url) {
    // `url` is a full imagedelivery.net URL
    // e.g. https://imagedelivery.net/cheeW4oKsx5ljh8e8BoL2A/bc27a117-9509-446b-8c69-c81bfeac0a01/mobile


    const encoder = new TextEncoder();
    const secretKeyData = encoder.encode(KEY);
    const key = await crypto.subtle.importKey(
      "raw",
      secretKeyData,
      { name: "HMAC", hash: "SHA-256" },
      false,
      ["sign"],
    );


    // Attach the expiration value to the `url`
    const expiry = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) + EXPIRATION;
    url.searchParams.set("exp", expiry);
    // `url` now looks like
    // https://imagedelivery.net/cheeW4oKsx5ljh8e8BoL2A/bc27a117-9509-446b-8c69-c81bfeac0a01/mobile?exp=1631289275


    const stringToSign = url.pathname + "?" + url.searchParams.toString();
    // for example, /cheeW4oKsx5ljh8e8BoL2A/bc27a117-9509-446b-8c69-c81bfeac0a01/mobile?exp=1631289275


    // Generate the signature
    const mac = await crypto.subtle.sign(
      "HMAC",
      key,
      encoder.encode(stringToSign),
    );
    const sig = bufferToHex(new Uint8Array(mac).buffer);


    // And attach it to the `url`
    url.searchParams.set("sig", sig);


    return new Response(url);
  }


  export default {
    async fetch(request, env, ctx) {
      const url = new URL(event.request.url);
      const imageDeliveryURL = new URL(
        url.pathname
          .slice(1)
          .replace("https:/imagedelivery.net", "https://imagedelivery.net"),
      );
      return generateSignedUrl(imageDeliveryURL);
    },
  };
  ```

* TypeScript

  ```ts
  const KEY = "YOUR_KEY_FROM_IMAGES_DASHBOARD";
  const EXPIRATION = 60 * 60 * 24; // 1 day


  const bufferToHex = (buffer) =>
    [...new Uint8Array(buffer)]
      .map((x) => x.toString(16).padStart(2, "0"))
      .join("");


  async function generateSignedUrl(url) {
    // `url` is a full imagedelivery.net URL
    // e.g. https://imagedelivery.net/cheeW4oKsx5ljh8e8BoL2A/bc27a117-9509-446b-8c69-c81bfeac0a01/mobile


    const encoder = new TextEncoder();
    const secretKeyData = encoder.encode(KEY);
    const key = await crypto.subtle.importKey(
      "raw",
      secretKeyData,
      { name: "HMAC", hash: "SHA-256" },
      false,
      ["sign"],
    );


    // Attach the expiration value to the `url`
    const expiry = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) + EXPIRATION;
    url.searchParams.set("exp", expiry);
    // `url` now looks like
    // https://imagedelivery.net/cheeW4oKsx5ljh8e8BoL2A/bc27a117-9509-446b-8c69-c81bfeac0a01/mobile?exp=1631289275


    const stringToSign = url.pathname + "?" + url.searchParams.toString();
    // for example, /cheeW4oKsx5ljh8e8BoL2A/bc27a117-9509-446b-8c69-c81bfeac0a01/mobile?exp=1631289275


    // Generate the signature
    const mac = await crypto.subtle.sign(
      "HMAC",
      key,
      encoder.encode(stringToSign),
    );
    const sig = bufferToHex(new Uint8Array(mac).buffer);


    // And attach it to the `url`
    url.searchParams.set("sig", sig);


    return new Response(url);
  }


  export default {
    async fetch(request, env, ctx): Promise<Response> {
      const url = new URL(event.request.url);
      const imageDeliveryURL = new URL(
        url.pathname
          .slice(1)
          .replace("https:/imagedelivery.net", "https://imagedelivery.net"),
      );
      return generateSignedUrl(imageDeliveryURL);
    },
  } satisfies ExportedHandler<Env>;
  ```
