---
description: Deploy rulesets to a phase entry point using the API.
title: Deploy rulesets
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/og-docs.png
---

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# Deploy rulesets

Last updated Aug 24, 2026|Copy as Markdown|[View as Markdown](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/basic-operations/deploy-rulesets/index.md)|[Agent setup](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/agent-setup/)

Use the [Rulesets API](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/rulesets-api/) to deploy a ruleset. To deploy a ruleset, add a rule with `"action": "execute"` to a [phase entry point ruleset](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/about/rulesets/#entry-point-ruleset), specifying the ruleset ID to execute as an action parameter. Use a separate rule for each ruleset you want to deploy.

A rule that executes a ruleset consists of:

* The ID of the ruleset you want to execute, included in `action_parameters.id`.
* An expression.
* The `execute` action.

The rules in the ruleset execute when a request satisfies the expression.

Note

To apply a rule to every request in a phase at the zone level, set the rule expression to `true`.

## Example

The following example deploys the [Cloudflare Managed Ruleset](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/waf/managed-rules/reference/cloudflare-managed-ruleset/) (with ID ...376e9aee) to the `http_request_firewall_managed` phase of a given zone (`$ZONE_ID`) by adding a rule that executes the managed ruleset.

Required API token permissions

At least one of the following [token permissions](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/) is required:
* `Response Compression Write`
* `Config Settings Write`
* `Dynamic URL Redirects Write`
* `Cache Settings Write`
* `Custom Errors Write`
* `Origin Write`
* `Managed headers Write`
* `Zone Transform Rules Write`
* `Mass URL Redirects Write`
* `Magic Firewall Write`
* `L4 DDoS Managed Ruleset Write`
* `HTTP DDoS Managed Ruleset Write`
* `Sanitize Write`
* `Transform Rules Write`
* `Select Configuration Write`
* `Bot Management Write`
* `Zone WAF Write`
* `Account WAF Write`
* `Account Rulesets Write`
* `Logs Write`
* `Logs Write`

```bash
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE_ID/rulesets/phases/http_request_firewall_managed/entrypoint" \
	--request PUT \
	--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
	--json '{
		"rules": [
				{
						"action": "execute",
						"action_parameters": {
								"id": "efb7b8c949ac4650a09736fc376e9aee"
						},
						"expression": "true",
						"description": "Execute Cloudflare Managed Ruleset on my zone ruleset"
				}
		]
	}'
```

```json
{
	"result": {
		"id": "<ZONE_PHASE_RULESET_ID>",
		"name": "Zone-level Ruleset 1",
		"description": "",
		"kind": "zone",
		"version": "latest",
		"rules": [
			{
				"id": "<RULE_ID>",
				"version": "1",
				"action": "execute",
				"action_parameters": {
					"id": "efb7b8c949ac4650a09736fc376e9aee",
					"version": "3"
				},
				"expression": "true",
				"description": "Execute Cloudflare Managed Ruleset on my zone ruleset",
				"last_updated": "2021-03-18T18:08:14.003361Z",
				"ref": "<RULE_REF>",
				"enabled": true
			}
		],
		"last_updated": "2021-03-18T18:08:14.003361Z",
		"phase": "http_request_firewall_managed"
	},
	"success": true,
	"errors": [],
	"messages": []
}
```

Caution

This API request replaces any existing rules in the `http_request_firewall_managed` phase entry point ruleset with a single rule.

## Related resources

For more examples of deploying rulesets, refer to the following pages:

* [Deploy a managed ruleset](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/managed-rulesets/deploy-managed-ruleset/)
* [Managed ruleset override examples](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/managed-rulesets/override-examples/).
* [Deploy a custom ruleset](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/custom-rulesets/deploy-custom-ruleset/)

Refer to [Work with managed rulesets](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/managed-rulesets/) and [Work with custom rulesets](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/custom-rulesets/) for more information.

For more information on the available API endpoints for editing and deploying rulesets, refer to [Update or deploy a ruleset](https://9a51ac8b.previews.developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/rulesets-api/update/).

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