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Common API calls

The following examples address common scenarios of using the Cloudflare API to manage and configure WAF content scanning.

If you are using Terraform, refer to Terraform configuration examples.

General operations

Section titled “General operations”

The following API examples cover basic operations such as enabling and disabling WAF content scanning.

Enable WAF content scanning

Section titled “Enable WAF content scanning”

To enable content scanning, use a POST request similar to the following:

Required API token permissions

 At least one of the following token permissions is required:
  • Zone WAF Write
  • Account WAF Write
Enable Content Scanning
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE_ID/content-upload-scan/enable" \
  --request POST \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN"

Disable WAF content scanning

Section titled “Disable WAF content scanning”

To disable content scanning, use a POST request similar to the following:

Required API token permissions

 At least one of the following token permissions is required:
  • Zone WAF Write
  • Account WAF Write
Disable Content Scanning
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE_ID/content-upload-scan/disable" \
  --request POST \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN"

Get WAF content scanning status

Section titled “Get WAF content scanning status”

To obtain the current status of the content scanning feature, use a GET request similar to the following:

Required API token permissions

 At least one of the following token permissions is required:
  • Zone WAF Write
  • Zone WAF Read
  • Account WAF Write
  • Account WAF Read
Get Content Scanning Status
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE_ID/content-upload-scan/settings" \
  --request GET \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN"

Custom expression operations

Section titled “Custom expression operations”

The following API examples cover operations on custom scan expressions for content scanning.

Get existing custom scan expressions

Section titled “Get existing custom scan expressions”

To get a list of existing custom scan expressions, use a GET request similar to the following:

Required API token permissions

 At least one of the following token permissions is required:
  • Zone WAF Write
  • Zone WAF Read
  • Account WAF Write
  • Account WAF Read
List Existing Custom Scan Expressions
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE_ID/content-upload-scan/payloads" \
  --request GET \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN"
{
  "result": [
    {
      "id": "<EXPRESSION_ID>",
      "payload": "lookup_json_string(http.request.body.raw, \"file\")"
    }
  ],
  "success": true,
  "errors": [],
  "messages": []
}

Add a custom scan expression

Section titled “Add a custom scan expression”

Use a POST request similar to the following:

Required API token permissions

 At least one of the following token permissions is required:
  • Zone WAF Write
  • Account WAF Write
Add Custom Scan Expressions
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE_ID/content-upload-scan/payloads" \
  --request POST \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
  --json '[
    {
        "payload": "lookup_json_string(http.request.body.raw, \"file\")"
    }
  ]'

Delete a custom scan expression

Section titled “Delete a custom scan expression”

Use a DELETE request similar to the following:

Required API token permissions

 At least one of the following token permissions is required:
  • Zone WAF Write
  • Account WAF Write
Delete a Custom Scan Expression
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE_ID/content-upload-scan/payloads/$EXPRESSION_ID" \
  --request DELETE \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN"