Actions

The action of a rule tells Cloudflare how to handle matches for the rule expression.

Supported actions

The table below lists the actions available in the Rules language.

Some actions like Block, called terminating actions, will stop the evaluation of the remaining rules. The Skip action will skip the evaluation of some rules when there is a match, but the exact behavior will depend on the rule configuration.

The available actions depend on the phase where you are configuring the rule. Refer to each product’s documentation for details on the phase(s) supported by that product.

Action	Description	Terminating action?
Interactive Challenge API value: challenge	Useful for ensuring that the visitor accessing the site is human, not automated. The client that made the request must pass an interactive challenge. If successful, Cloudflare accepts the matched request; otherwise, it is blocked.	Yes
JS Challenge API value: js_challenge	Useful for ensuring that bots and spam cannot access the requested resource; browsers, however, are free to satisfy the challenge automatically. The client that made the request must pass a Cloudflare JavaScript Challenge before proceeding. If successful, Cloudflare accepts the matched request; otherwise, it is blocked.	Yes
Managed Challenge (Recommended) API value: managed_challenge	Helps reduce the lifetimes of human time spent solving CAPTCHAs across the Internet. Depending on the characteristics of a request, Cloudflare will dynamically choose the appropriate type of challenge from the following actions based on specific criteria: Show a non-interactive challenge page (similar to the current JS Challenge). Show a custom interactive challenge (such as click a button).	Yes
Block API value: block	Matching requests are denied access to the site.	Yes
Skip API value: skip	Allows user to dynamically skip one or more security features or products for a request. Depending on the rule configuration, matching requests will skip the evaluation of one or more security features or products: Skip all remaining rules in the current ruleset Skip rulesets Skip rules of a ruleset Skip phases Skip specific security products that are not based on the Ruleset Engine The available skip options depend on the phase where you configure the rule. Refer to each product’s documentation for details.	No (but some rules may be skipped)
Log API value: log	Records matching requests in the Cloudflare Logs. Only available on Enterprise plans. Recommended for validating rules before committing to a more severe action.	No
Execute API value: execute	Executes the rules in the ruleset specified in the rule configuration. You can specify a managed ruleset or a custom ruleset to execute. In the Cloudflare dashboard, this action is not listed in action selection dropdowns.	No
Rewrite API value: rewrite	Adjusts the URI path, query string, and/or HTTP headers of requests and responses, according to the rule configuration. Only available in: Transform Rules, in phases http_request_transform, http_request_late_transform, and http_response_headers_transform. In the Cloudflare dashboard, this action is not listed in action selection dropdowns. To use this action, create a Transform Rule. WAF custom rules checking for exposed credentials, in the http_request_firewall_custom phase at the account level. In the Cloudflare dashboard, this action is called Exposed-Credential-Check Header.	No
Redirect API value: redirect	Navigates the user from a source URL to a target URL, according to the rule configuration, by replying with an HTTP redirect. Only available for Single Redirects and Bulk Redirects. In the Cloudflare dashboard, this action is not listed in action selection dropdowns. To use this action, create a redirect rule or a bulk redirect rule.	Yes
Route API value: route	Adjusts the Host header, Server Name Indication (SNI), resolved hostname, and/or resolved destination port of incoming requests. Only available for Origin Rules, in the http_request_origin phase. In the Cloudflare dashboard, this action is not listed in action selection dropdowns. To use this action, create an origin rule.	No
Set Configuration API value: set_config	Changes the configuration settings of one or more Cloudflare products. Only available for Configuration Rules, in the http_config_settings phase. In the Cloudflare dashboard, this action is not listed in action selection dropdowns. To use this action, create a Configuration Rule.	No
Compress Response API value: compress_response	Defines compression settings for delivering responses to website visitors. Only available for Compression Rules, in the http_response_compression phase. In the Cloudflare dashboard, this action is not listed in action selection dropdowns. To use this action, create a compression rule.	No
Set Cache Settings API value: set_cache_settings	Cache Rules allows you to customize cache settings on Cloudflare. Only available for Cache Rules, in the http_request_cache_settings phase. In the Cloudflare dashboard, this action is not listed in action selection dropdowns. To use this action, create a cache rule.	No

Note

Cloudflare Firewall Rules, now deprecated, supports a different set of actions, including the Allow and Bypass actions. Refer to Firewall rules actions for more information.