Azure Web Application Firewall Skill

This 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.

How to Use This Skill

IMPORTANT for Agent: This file may be large. Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections, then use read_file with specific line ranges (e.g., L136-L144) to read the sections needed for the user's question

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

This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:

• Preferred: Use mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch with query string from=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown.
• Fallback: Use fetch_webpage with query string from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.

Category Index

Category	Lines	Description
Troubleshooting	L37-L43	Diagnosing and fixing common Azure WAF issues on Front Door and Application Gateway, including rule/blocking problems, false positives, and configuration-related access failures.
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.
Decision Making	L53-L59	Guidance on planning and migrating from legacy WAF configurations to full WAF policies, and managing/upgrading managed rulesets over their lifecycle in Azure WAF.
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.
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.
Security	L70-L75	Bot protection features and configuration for Application Gateway WAF, plus using Azure Policy to enforce WAF settings, governance, and compliance across resources.
Configuration	L76-L122	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.
Integrations & Coding Patterns	L123-L133	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.
Deployment	L134-L139	How to deploy and provision Azure Application Gateway WAF v2 using Bicep, ARM templates, or Terraform, including required resources, parameters, and configuration structure.

Troubleshooting

Topic	URL
Resolve common Azure Front Door WAF questions	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-faq
Resolve common Azure Application Gateway WAF issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-waf-faq
Troubleshoot Azure Application Gateway WAF blocking issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/web-application-firewall-troubleshoot

Best Practices

Topic	URL
Implement best practices for Front Door WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-best-practices
Tune Azure Front Door WAF rules and exclusions	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-tuning
Apply best practices for Application Gateway WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/best-practices
Apply geomatch WAF rules to strengthen web app security	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/geomatch-custom-rules-examples
Secure and harden Azure Web Application Firewall deployments	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/secure-web-application-firewall

Decision Making

Topic	URL
Migrate Azure Application Gateway WAF configs to full policies	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/migrate-policy
Plan upgrade from WAF configuration to WAF policy	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/upgrade-ag-waf-policy
Plan managed ruleset lifecycle and upgrades for Azure WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ruleset-support-policy

Architecture & Design Patterns

Topic	URL
Design application DDoS protection with Azure WAF and Front Door	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/shared/application-ddos-protection

Limits & Quotas

Topic	URL
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

Security

Topic	URL
Understand bot protection capabilities on Application Gateway WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/bot-protection-overview
Enforce WAF governance using Azure Policy	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/shared/waf-azure-policy

Configuration

Topic	URL
Configure CAPTCHA challenges in Azure Front Door WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/captcha-challenge
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
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
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
Define custom WAF rules for Azure Front Door	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-custom-rules
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
Configure exclusion lists for Front Door WAF policies	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-exclusion
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
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
Configure monitoring and logging for Front Door WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-monitor
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
Configure Azure Front Door WAF policy-level settings	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-policy-settings
Configure rate limiting policies in Front Door WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-rate-limit
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Customize Application Gateway WAF rules with PowerShell	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-customize-waf-rules-powershell
Configure WAF exclusion lists on Application Gateway	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-waf-configuration
Configure and analyze Application Gateway WAF metrics	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-waf-metrics
Associate WAF policies with existing Application Gateways	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/associate-waf-policy-existing-gateway
Configure bot protection rules for Azure Application Gateway WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/bot-protection
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
Create WAF v2 custom rules with Azure PowerShell	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/configure-waf-custom-rules
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
Create and attach WAF policies to Azure Application Gateway	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/create-waf-policy-ag
Overview of WAF v2 custom rules on Application Gateway	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/custom-waf-rules-overview
Configure HTTP DDoS ruleset for Application Gateway WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/ddos-ruleset
Configure geomatch custom rules for Application Gateway WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/geomatch-custom-rules
Use Application Gateway WAF Insights dashboards	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/insights
Configure per-site WAF policies with PowerShell	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/per-site-policies
Understand and scope WAF policies on Application Gateway	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/policy-overview
Create rate-limiting custom rules for Application Gateway WAF v2	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/rate-limiting-configure
Configure rate limiting for Azure Application Gateway WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/rate-limiting-overview
Upgrade CRS/DRS ruleset versions on Application Gateway WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/upgrade-ruleset-version
Configure sensitive data protection in WAF logs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/waf-sensitive-data-protection
Set up WAF log scrubbing on Application Gateway	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/waf-sensitive-data-protection-configure
Enable and manage logging for Azure WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/web-application-firewall-logs
Manage WAF policies centrally with Azure Firewall Manager	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/shared/manage-policies
Use JavaScript challenge for bot mitigation in WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/waf-javascript-challenge

Integrations & Coding Patterns

Topic	URL
Automate WAF incident response with Microsoft Sentinel	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/automated-detection-response-with-sentinel
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
Secure Azure OpenAI endpoints using Front Door WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/protect-azure-open-ai
Analyze Application Gateway WAF logs with Log Analytics	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/log-analytics
Investigate Azure WAF events with Security Copilot	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/waf-copilot
Detect new web threats using WAF and Sentinel	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/waf-new-threat-detection
Integrate Azure WAF logs with Microsoft Sentinel	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/waf-sentinel

Deployment

Topic	URL
Deploy Azure Application Gateway WAF v2 using Bicep	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/quick-create-bicep
Deploy Azure Application Gateway WAF v2 via ARM template	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/quick-create-template
Provision Application Gateway WAF v2 with Terraform	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/quickstart-web-application-firewall-terraform