coder/docs/ai-coder/boundary/rules-engine.md

Rules Engine Documentation

Overview

The rulesengine package provides a flexible rule-based filtering system for HTTP/HTTPS requests. Rules use a simple key-value syntax with support for wildcards and multiple values.

Basic Syntax

Rules follow the format: key=value [key=value ...] with three supported keys:

• method: HTTP method(s) - Any HTTP method (e.g., GET, POST, PUT, DELETE), * (all methods), or comma-separated list
• domain: Domain/hostname pattern - github.com, *.example.com, * (all domains)
• path: URL path pattern - /api/users, /api/*/users, * (all paths), or comma-separated list

Key behavior:

• If a key is omitted, it matches all values
• Multiple key-value pairs in one rule are separated by whitespace
• Multiple rules in the allowlist are OR'd together (OR logic)
• Default deny: if no rule matches, the request is denied

Examples:

allowlist:
  - domain=github.com                                  # All methods, all paths for github.com
  - method=GET,POST domain=api.example.com             # GET/POST to api.example.com
  - domain=api.example.com path=/users,/posts          # Multiple paths
  - method=GET domain=github.com path=/api/*           # All three keys

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Wildcard Symbol for Domains

The * wildcard matches domain labels (parts separated by dots).

Pattern	Matches	Does NOT Match
*	All domains	-
github.com	github.com, api.github.com, v1.api.github.com (subdomains)	github.io (diff domain)
*.github.com	api.github.com, v1.api.github.com (1+ subdomain levels)	github.com (base domain)
api.*.com	api.github.com, api.google.com	api.v1.github.com (* in the middle matches exactly one domain label)
*.*.com	api.example.com, api.v1.github.com	-
api.*	❌ ERROR - Cannot end with *	-

Important:

• Patterns without * at the start automatically match subdomains
• *.example.com matches one or more subdomain levels
• Domain patterns cannot end with asterisk

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Wildcard Symbol for Paths

The * wildcard matches path segments (parts separated by slashes).

Pattern	Matches	Does NOT Match
*	All paths	-
/api/users	/api/users	/api/users/123 (subpaths don't match)
/api/*	/api/users, /api/posts	/api
/api/*/users	/api/v1/users, /api/v2/users	/api/users, /api/v1/v2/users
/*/users	/api/users, /v1/users	/api/v1/users
/api/v1/*	/api/v1/users, /api/v1/users/123/details (1+ segments)	/api/v1

Important:

• * matches exactly one segment (except at the end)
• * at the end matches one or more segments (special behavior)
• * must match an entire segment (cannot be part of a segment like /api/user*)

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Special Meaning of Wildcard at Beginning and End

Position	Domain	Path
Beginning	1+ subdomain levels	Exactly 1 segment
Middle	Exactly 1 label	Exactly 1 segment
End	❌ Not allowed	1+ segments (special)
Standalone	All domains	All paths

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Multipath

Specify multiple paths in a single rule by separating them with commas:

allowlist:
  - domain=api.example.com path=/users,/posts,/comments
  - domain=api.example.com path=/api,/api/*

NOTE: The pattern /api/* does not include the base path /api. To match both, use path=/api,/api/*.