API Management policy expressions
APPLIES TO: All API Management tiers
This article discusses policy expressions syntax in C# 7. Each expression has access to:
Syntax
- Single statement expressions:
- Enclosed in
@(expression)
, whereexpression
is a well-formed C# expression statement.
- Enclosed in
- Multi-statement expressions:
- Enclosed in
@{expression}
. - All code paths within multi-statement expressions must end with a
return
statement.
- Enclosed in
Examples
@(true)
@((1+1).ToString())
@("Hi There".Length)
@(Regex.Match(context.Response.Headers.GetValueOrDefault("Cache-Control",""), @"max-age=(?<maxAge>\d+)").Groups["maxAge"]?.Value)
@(context.Variables.ContainsKey("maxAge") ? int.Parse((string)context.Variables["maxAge"]) : 3600)
@{
string[] value;
if (context.Request.Headers.TryGetValue("Authorization", out value))
{
if(value != null && value.Length > 0)
{
return Encoding.UTF8.GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(value[0]));
}
}
return null;
}
Usage
Unless the policy reference specifies otherwise, expressions can be used as attribute values or text values in any API Management policy.
Important
When the policy is defined, policy expressions only have limited verification. Expressions are executed by the gateway at run-time. Any exceptions generated by policy expressions result in a runtime error.
.NET Framework types allowed in policy expressions
The following table lists the .NET Framework types and members allowed in policy expressions.
Type | Supported members |
---|---|
Newtonsoft.Json.Formatting |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert |
SerializeObject , DeserializeObject |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.Extensions |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JArray |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JConstructor |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JContainer |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JProperty |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JRaw |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JToken |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JTokenType |
All |
Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JValue |
All |
System.Array |
All |
System.BitConverter |
All |
System.Boolean |
All |
System.Byte |
All |
System.Char |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary<TKey, TValue> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.HashSet<T> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.ICollection<T> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.IDictionary<TKey, TValue> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<T> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator<T> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.IList<T> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.IReadOnlyCollection<T> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.IReadOnlyDictionary<TKey, TValue> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.ISet<T> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.List<T> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.Queue<T> |
All |
System.Collections.Generic.Stack<T> |
All |
System.Convert |
All |
System.DateTime |
(Constructor), Add , AddDays , AddHours , AddMilliseconds , AddMinutes , AddMonths , AddSeconds , AddTicks , AddYears , Date , Day , DayOfWeek , DayOfYear , DaysInMonth , Hour , IsDaylightSavingTime , IsLeapYear , MaxValue , Millisecond , Minute , MinValue , Month , Now , Parse , Second , Subtract , Ticks , TimeOfDay , Today , ToString , UtcNow , Year |
System.DateTimeKind |
Utc |
System.DateTimeOffset |
All |
System.Decimal |
All |
System.Double |
All |
System.Enum |
Parse , TryParse , ToString |
System.Exception |
All |
System.Guid |
All |
System.Int16 |
All |
System.Int32 |
All |
System.Int64 |
All |
System.IO.StringReader |
All |
System.IO.StringWriter |
All |
System.Linq.Enumerable |
All |
System.Math |
All |
System.MidpointRounding |
All |
System.Net.IPAddress |
AddressFamily , Equals , GetAddressBytes , IsLoopback , Parse , TryParse , ToString |
System.Net.WebUtility |
All |
System.Nullable |
All |
System.Random |
All |
System.SByte |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.AsymmetricAlgorithm |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.CipherMode |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.HashAlgorithm |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.HashAlgorithmName |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.HMAC |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.HMACMD5 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.HMACSHA1 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.HMACSHA256 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.HMACSHA384 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.HMACSHA512 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.KeyedHashAlgorithm |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.MD5 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.Oid |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.PaddingMode |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.RNGCryptoServiceProvider |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.RSA |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.RSAEncryptionPadding |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.RSASignaturePadding |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.SHA1 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.SHA1Managed |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.SHA256 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.SHA256Managed |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.SHA384 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.SHA384Managed |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.SHA512 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.SHA512Managed |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.SymmetricAlgorithm |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.PublicKey |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.RSACertificateExtensions |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X500DistinguishedName |
Name |
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate2 |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509ContentType |
All |
System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509NameType |
All |
System.Single |
All |
System.String |
All |
System.StringComparer |
All |
System.StringComparison |
All |
System.StringSplitOptions |
All |
System.Text.Encoding |
All |
System.Text.RegularExpressions.Capture |
Index , Length , Value |
System.Text.RegularExpressions.CaptureCollection |
Count , Item |
System.Text.RegularExpressions.Group |
Captures , Success |
System.Text.RegularExpressions.GroupCollection |
Count , Item |
System.Text.RegularExpressions.Match |
Empty , Groups , Result |
System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex |
(Constructor), IsMatch , Match , Matches , Replace , Unescape , Split |
System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions |
All |
System.Text.StringBuilder |
All |
System.TimeSpan |
All |
System.TimeZone |
All |
System.TimeZoneInfo.AdjustmentRule |
All |
System.TimeZoneInfo.TransitionTime |
All |
System.TimeZoneInfo |
All |
System.Tuple |
All |
System.UInt16 |
All |
System.UInt32 |
All |
System.UInt64 |
All |
System.Uri |
All |
System.UriPartial |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.Extensions |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XAttribute |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XCData |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XComment |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XContainer |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XDeclaration |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XDocument |
All, except Load |
System.Xml.Linq.XDocumentType |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XElement |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XName |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XNamespace |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XNode |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XNodeDocumentOrderComparer |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XNodeEqualityComparer |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XObject |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XProcessingInstruction |
All |
System.Xml.Linq.XText |
All |
System.Xml.XmlNodeType |
All |
Context variable
The context
variable is implicitly available in every policy expression. Its members:
- Provide information relevant to the API request and response, and related properties.
- Are all read-only.
Context Variable | Allowed methods, properties, and parameter values |
---|---|
context |
Api : IApi Deployment Elapsed: TimeSpan - time interval between the value of Timestamp and current timeGraphQL LastError Operation Request RequestId : Guid - unique request identifierResponse Subscription Timestamp : DateTime - point in time when request was receivedTracing : bool - indicates if tracing is on or off User Variables : IReadOnlyDictionary<string, object> void Trace(message: string) Workspace |
context.Api |
Id : string IsCurrentRevision : bool Name : string Path : string Revision : string ServiceUrl : IUrl Version : string |
context.Deployment |
Gateway GatewayId : string (returns 'managed' for managed gateways)Region : string ServiceId : string ServiceName : string Certificates : IReadOnlyDictionary<string, X509Certificate2> |
context.Deployment.Gateway |
Id : string (returns 'managed' for managed gateways)InstanceId : string (returns 'managed' for managed gateways)IsManaged : bool |
context.GraphQL |
GraphQLArguments : IGraphQLDataObject Parent : IGraphQLDataObject Examples |
context.LastError |
Source : string Reason : string Message : string Scope : string Section : string Path : string PolicyId : string For more information about context.LastError , see Error handling. |
context.Operation |
Id : string Method : string Name : string UrlTemplate : string |
context.Product |
ApprovalRequired : bool Groups : IEnumerable< IGroup > Id : string Name : string State : enum ProductState {NotPublished, Published} SubscriptionsLimit : int? SubscriptionRequired : bool |
context.Request |
Body : IMessageBody or null if request doesn't have a body.Certificate : System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate2 Headers : IReadOnlyDictionary<string, string[]> IpAddress : string MatchedParameters : IReadOnlyDictionary<string, string> Method : string OriginalUrl : IUrl Url : IUrl PrivateEndpointConnection : IPrivateEndpointConnection or null if request doesn't come from a private endpoint connection. |
string context.Request.Headers.GetValueOrDefault(headerName: string, defaultValue: string) |
headerName : string defaultValue : string Returns comma-separated request header values or defaultValue if the header isn't found. |
context.Response |
Body : IMessageBody Headers : IReadOnlyDictionary<string, string[]> StatusCode : int StatusReason : string |
string context.Response.Headers.GetValueOrDefault(headerName: string, defaultValue: string) |
headerName : string defaultValue : string Returns comma-separated response header values or defaultValue if the header isn't found. |
context.Subscription |
CreatedDate : DateTime EndDate : DateTime? Id : string Key : string Name : string PrimaryKey : string SecondaryKey : string StartDate : DateTime? |
context.User |
Email : string FirstName : string Groups : IEnumerable< IGroup > Id : string Identities : IEnumerable< IUserIdentity > LastName : string Note : string RegistrationDate : DateTime |
context.Workspace |
Id : string Name : string |
IApi |
Id : string Name : string Path : string Protocols : IEnumerable<string> ServiceUrl : IUrl SubscriptionKeyParameterNames : ISubscriptionKeyParameterNames |
IGraphQLDataObject |
TBD |
IGroup |
Id : string Name : string |
IMessageBody |
As<T>(bool preserveContent = false): Where T: string, byte[], JObject, JToken, JArray, XNode, XElement, XDocument - The context.Request.Body.As<T> and context.Response.Body.As<T> methods read a request or response message body in specified type T . - Or - AsFormUrlEncodedContent(bool preserveContent = false) - The context.Request.Body.AsFormUrlEncodedContent() and context.Response.Body.AsFormUrlEncodedContent() methods read URL-encoded form data in a request or response message body and return an IDictionary<string, IList<string> object. The decoded object supports IDictionary operations and the following expressions: ToQueryString() , JsonConvert.SerializeObject() , ToFormUrlEncodedContent(). By default, the As<T> and AsFormUrlEncodedContent() methods:
To avoid that and have the method operate on a copy of the body stream, set the preserveContent parameter to true , as shown in examples for the set-body policy. |
IPrivateEndpointConnection |
Name : string GroupId : string MemberName : string For more information, see the REST API. |
IUrl |
Host : string Path : string Port : int Query : IReadOnlyDictionary<string, string[]> QueryString : string Scheme : string |
ISubscriptionKeyParameterNames |
Header : string Query : string |
string IUrl.Query.GetValueOrDefault(queryParameterName: string, defaultValue: string) |
queryParameterName : string defaultValue : string Returns comma-separated query parameter values or defaultValue if the parameter isn't found. |
IUserIdentity |
Id : string Provider : string |
T context.Variables.GetValueOrDefault<T>(variableName: string, defaultValue: T) |
variableName : string defaultValue : T Returns variable value cast to type T or defaultValue if the variable isn't found.This method throws an exception if the specified type doesn't match the actual type of the returned variable. |
BasicAuthCredentials AsBasic(input: this string) |
input : string If the input parameter contains a valid HTTP Basic Authentication authorization request header value, the method returns an object of type BasicAuthCredentials ; otherwise the method returns null. |
bool TryParseBasic(input: this string, result: out BasicAuthCredentials) |
input : string result : out BasicAuthCredentials If the input parameter contains a valid HTTP Basic Authentication authorization value in the request header, the method returns true and the result parameter contains a value of type BasicAuthCredentials ; otherwise the method returns false . |
BasicAuthCredentials |
Password : string UserId : string |
Jwt AsJwt(input: this string) |
input : string If the input parameter contains a valid JWT token value, the method returns an object of type Jwt ; otherwise the method returns null . |
bool TryParseJwt(input: this string, result: out Jwt) |
input : string result : out Jwt If the input parameter contains a valid JWT token value, the method returns true and the result parameter contains a value of type Jwt ; otherwise the method returns false . |
Jwt |
Algorithm : string Audiences : IEnumerable<string> Claims : IReadOnlyDictionary<string, string[]> ExpirationTime : DateTime? Id : string Issuer : string IssuedAt : DateTime? NotBefore : DateTime? Subject : string Type : string |
string Jwt.Claims.GetValueOrDefault(claimName: string, defaultValue: string) |
claimName : string defaultValue : string Returns comma-separated claim values or defaultValue if the header isn't found. |
byte[] Encrypt(input: this byte[], alg: string, key:byte[], iv:byte[]) |
input - plaintext to be encryptedalg - name of a symmetric encryption algorithmkey - encryption keyiv - initialization vectorReturns encrypted plaintext. |
byte[] Encrypt(input: this byte[], alg: System.Security.Cryptography.SymmetricAlgorithm) |
input - plaintext to be encryptedalg - encryption algorithmReturns encrypted plaintext. |
byte[] Encrypt(input: this byte[], alg: System.Security.Cryptography.SymmetricAlgorithm, key:byte[], iv:byte[]) |
input - plaintext to be encryptedalg - encryption algorithmkey - encryption keyiv - initialization vectorReturns encrypted plaintext. |
byte[] Decrypt(input: this byte[], alg: string, key:byte[], iv:byte[]) |
input - cypher text to be decryptedalg - name of a symmetric encryption algorithmkey - encryption keyiv - initialization vectorReturns plaintext. |
byte[] Decrypt(input: this byte[], alg: System.Security.Cryptography.SymmetricAlgorithm) |
input - cypher text to be decryptedalg - encryption algorithmReturns plaintext. |
byte[] Decrypt(input: this byte[], alg: System.Security.Cryptography.SymmetricAlgorithm, key:byte[], iv:byte[]) |
input - cypher text to be decryptedalg - encryption algorithmkey - encryption keyiv - initialization vectorReturns plaintext. |
bool VerifyNoRevocation(input: this System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate2) |
Performs an X.509 chain validation without checking certificate revocation status.input - certificate objectReturns true if the validation succeeds; false if the validation fails. |
Related content
For more information working with policies, see:
- Policies in API Management
- Tutorial: Transform and protect APIs
- Policy reference for a full list of policy statements and their settings
- Policy snippets repo
- Author policies using Microsoft Copilot in Azure
For more information:
- See how to supply context information to your backend service. Use the Set query string parameter and Set HTTP header policies to supply this information.
- See how to use the Validate JWT policy to pre-authorize access to operations based on token claims.
- See how to use an API Inspector trace to detect how policies are evaluated and the results of those evaluations.
- See how to use expressions with the Get from cache and Store to cache policies to configure API Management response caching. Set a duration that matches the response caching of the backend service as specified by the backed service's
Cache-Control
directive. - See how to perform content filtering. Remove data elements from the response received from the backend using the Control flow and Set body policies.
- To download the policy statements, see the api-management-samples/policies GitHub repo.