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WAF phases

Last updated Aug 3, 2026Copy as MarkdownView as MarkdownAgent setup

The Web Application Firewall provides the following phases where you can create rulesets and rules:

  • http_request_firewall_custom
  • http_ratelimit
  • http_request_firewall_managed

These phases exist both at the account level and at the zone level. Considering the available phases and the two different levels, rules will be evaluated in the following order:

Security feature Scope Phase Ruleset kind Location in the dashboard
Custom rulesets
Account http_request_firewall_custom custom (create)
root (deploy)
Go to WAF ↗ > Custom rulesets tab
Custom rules Zone http_request_firewall_custom zone Go to Security rules ↗
Rate limiting rulesets Account http_ratelimit root Go to WAF ↗ > Rate limiting rulesets tab
Rate limiting rules Zone http_ratelimit zone Go to Security rules ↗
Managed rulesets Account http_request_firewall_managed root Go to WAF ↗ > Managed rulesets tab
Managed rules Zone http_request_firewall_managed zone Go to Security rules ↗

To learn more about phases, refer to Phases in the Ruleset Engine documentation.

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