1---2name: azure-web-application-firewall3description: Expert knowledge for Azure Web Application Firewall development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. Use when configuring Front Door/App Gateway WAF rules, rate limits, bot/CAPTCHA, Sentinel logging, or IaC deployments, and other Azure Web Application Firewall related development tasks. Not for Azure Application Gateway (use azure-application-gateway), Azure Front Door (use azure-front-door), Azure Firewall (use azure-firewall), Azure DDos Protection (use azure-ddos-protection).4---5# Azure Web Application Firewall Skill
6
7This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Web Application Firewall. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.
8
9## How to Use This Skill
10
11> **IMPORTANT for Agent**: Use the **Category Index** below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., `L35-L120`), use `read_file` with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., `[security.md](security.md)`), use `read_file` on the linked reference file
12
13> **IMPORTANT for Agent**: If `metadata.generated_at` is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If `mcp_microsoftdocs` tools are not available, suggest the user install it: [Installation Guide](https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/mcp/blob/main/README.md)
14
15This skill requires **network access** to fetch documentation content:
16- **Preferred**: Use `mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch` with query string `from=learn-agent-skill`. Returns Markdown.
17- **Fallback**: Use `fetch_webpage` with query string `from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown`. Returns Markdown.
18
19## Category Index
20
21| Category | Lines | Description |
22|----------|-------|-------------|
23| Troubleshooting | L37-L43 | Diagnosing and fixing common Azure WAF issues on Front Door and Application Gateway, including false positives, blocked requests, rule tuning, and investigating WAF logs. |
24| Best Practices | L44-L52 | Best practices for configuring, tuning, and hardening Azure WAF on Front Door and Application Gateway, including rule tuning, exclusions, geomatch rules, and deployment security. |
25| Decision Making | L53-L59 | Guidance on planning and executing migration from legacy WAF configs to full WAF policies, and choosing/upgrading the appropriate Azure WAF managed rulesets. |
26| Architecture & Design Patterns | L60-L64 | Architectural guidance for designing DDoS-resistant web apps using Azure WAF with Front Door, including traffic flow, protection layers, and best-practice deployment patterns. |
27| Limits & Quotas | L65-L69 | Configuring WAF request body and file upload size limits on Application Gateway, including max size settings, constraints, and how to safely adjust them. |
28| Security | L70-L76 | Details on WAF security rules (Front Door DRS), bot protection on Application Gateway, and enforcing WAF configurations and governance using Azure Policy. |
29| Configuration | L77-L123 | Configuring Azure WAF (Front Door & App Gateway): policies, custom/managed rules, rate limiting, geo/IP filters, bot/CAPTCHA, exclusions, logging/scrubbing, and custom block responses. |
30| Integrations & Coding Patterns | L124-L134 | Using WAF with other Azure services: integrating logs with Sentinel/Log Analytics, automating incident response, investigating events, and protecting APIM/Azure OpenAI via Front Door WAF. |
31| Deployment | L135-L140 | How to deploy and provision Azure Application Gateway WAF v2 using Bicep, ARM templates, or Terraform, including required resources, parameters, and configuration structure. |
32
33### Troubleshooting
34| Topic | URL |
35|-------|-----|
36| Resolve common Azure Front Door WAF questions | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-faq |
37| Resolve common Azure Application Gateway WAF issues | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-waf-faq |
38| Troubleshoot Azure Application Gateway WAF blocking issues | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/web-application-firewall-troubleshoot |
39
40### Best Practices
41| Topic | URL |
42|-------|-----|
43| Implement best practices for Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-best-practices |
44| Tune Azure Front Door WAF rules and exclusions | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-tuning |
45| Apply best practices for Application Gateway WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/best-practices |
46| Apply geomatch WAF rules to strengthen web app security | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/geomatch-custom-rules-examples |
47| Secure and harden Azure Web Application Firewall deployments | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/secure-web-application-firewall |
48
49### Decision Making
50| Topic | URL |
51|-------|-----|
52| Migrate Azure Application Gateway WAF configs to full policies | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/migrate-policy |
53| Plan upgrade from WAF configuration to WAF policy | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/upgrade-ag-waf-policy |
54| Choose and upgrade Azure WAF managed rulesets | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ruleset-support-policy |
55
56### Architecture & Design Patterns
57| Topic | URL |
58|-------|-----|
59| Design application DDoS protection with Azure WAF and Front Door | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/shared/application-ddos-protection |
60
61### Limits & Quotas
62| Topic | URL |
63|-------|-----|
64| Configure WAF request and file upload size limits on Application Gateway | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-waf-request-size-limits |
65
66### Security
67| Topic | URL |
68|-------|-----|
69| Understand Azure WAF Front Door DRS rule groups | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-drs |
70| Understand bot protection capabilities on Application Gateway WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/bot-protection-overview |
71| Enforce WAF governance using Azure Policy | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/shared/waf-azure-policy |
72
73### Configuration
74| Topic | URL |
75|-------|-----|
76| Configure CAPTCHA challenges in Azure Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/captcha-challenge |
77| Configure custom block responses for Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-configure-custom-response-code |
78| Configure IP restriction rules in Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-configure-ip-restriction |
79| Create and attach a WAF policy in Azure Front Door | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-create-portal |
80| Define custom WAF rules for Azure Front Door | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-custom-rules |
81| Configure Azure Front Door WAF custom and managed rules | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-custom-rules-powershell |
82| Configure exclusion lists for Front Door WAF policies | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-exclusion |
83| Set up WAF exclusion rules on Azure Front Door | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-exclusion-configure |
84| Configure geo-filtering rules in Azure Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-geo-filtering |
85| Configure monitoring and logging for Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-monitor |
86| Enable and configure bot protection in Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-policy-configure-bot-protection |
87| Configure Azure Front Door WAF policy-level settings | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-policy-settings |
88| Configure rate limiting policies in Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-rate-limit |
89| Create and tune WAF rate-limit rules on Front Door | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-rate-limit-configure |
90| Create a geo-filtering WAF policy with PowerShell | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-tutorial-geo-filtering |
91| Configure log scrubbing on Azure Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-sensitive-data-protection-configure-frontdoor |
92| Enable sensitive data protection for Front Door WAF logs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-sensitive-data-protection-frontdoor |
93| Reference for Application Gateway WAF CRS and DRS rules | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-crs-rulegroups-rules |
94| Customize Application Gateway WAF rules using Azure CLI | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-customize-waf-rules-cli |
95| Customize Application Gateway WAF rules in Azure portal | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-customize-waf-rules-portal |
96| Customize Application Gateway WAF rules with PowerShell | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-customize-waf-rules-powershell |
97| Configure WAF exclusion lists on Application Gateway | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-waf-configuration |
98| Configure and analyze Application Gateway WAF metrics | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-waf-metrics |
99| Associate WAF policies with existing Application Gateways | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/associate-waf-policy-existing-gateway |
100| Configure bot protection rules for Azure Application Gateway WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/bot-protection |
101| Configure custom block response codes and pages for Application Gateway WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/configure-custom-response-code |
102| Create WAF v2 custom rules with Azure PowerShell | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/configure-waf-custom-rules |
103| Design and apply WAF v2 custom rules on Application Gateway | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/create-custom-waf-rules |
104| Create and attach WAF policies to Azure Application Gateway | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/create-waf-policy-ag |
105| Overview of WAF v2 custom rules on Application Gateway | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/custom-waf-rules-overview |
106| Configure HTTP DDoS ruleset for Application Gateway WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/ddos-ruleset |
107| Configure geomatch custom rules for Application Gateway WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/geomatch-custom-rules |
108| Use Application Gateway WAF Insights dashboards | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/insights |
109| Configure per-site WAF policies with PowerShell | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/per-site-policies |
110| Understand and scope WAF policies on Application Gateway | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/policy-overview |
111| Create rate-limiting custom rules for Application Gateway WAF v2 | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/rate-limiting-configure |
112| Configure rate limiting for Azure Application Gateway WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/rate-limiting-overview |
113| Upgrade CRS/DRS ruleset versions on Application Gateway WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/upgrade-ruleset-version |
114| Configure sensitive data protection in WAF logs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/waf-sensitive-data-protection |
115| Set up WAF log scrubbing on Application Gateway | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/waf-sensitive-data-protection-configure |
116| Enable and manage logging for Azure WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/web-application-firewall-logs |
117| Manage WAF policies centrally with Azure Firewall Manager | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/shared/manage-policies |
118| Use JavaScript challenge for bot mitigation in WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/waf-javascript-challenge |
119
120### Integrations & Coding Patterns
121| Topic | URL |
122|-------|-----|
123| Automate WAF incident response with Microsoft Sentinel | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/automated-detection-response-with-sentinel |
124| Protect APIM-hosted APIs with Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/protect-api-hosted-apim-by-waf |
125| Secure Azure OpenAI endpoints using Front Door WAF | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/protect-azure-open-ai |
126| Analyze Application Gateway WAF logs with Log Analytics | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/log-analytics |
127| Investigate Azure WAF events with Security Copilot | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/waf-copilot |
128| Detect new web threats using WAF and Sentinel | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/waf-new-threat-detection |
129| Integrate Azure WAF logs with Microsoft Sentinel | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/waf-sentinel |
130
131### Deployment
132| Topic | URL |
133|-------|-----|
134| Deploy Azure Application Gateway WAF v2 using Bicep | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/quick-create-bicep |
135| Deploy Azure Application Gateway WAF v2 via ARM template | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/quick-create-template |
136| Provision Application Gateway WAF v2 with Terraform | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/quickstart-web-application-firewall-terraform |
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