Azure Web Application Firewall Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Web Application Firewall. Covers best practices, decision making, 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: 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

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
Best Practices	L35-L42	Best practices for configuring and tuning WAF on Azure Front Door and Application Gateway, including rule tuning, reducing false positives, and using geomatch rules for stronger security.
Decision Making	L43-L48	Guidance on planning and migrating from legacy WAF configs to full WAF policies, and managing the lifecycle, upgrades, and versions of Azure WAF managed rule sets.
Limits & Quotas	L49-L53	Configuring Azure WAF limits for request body size, file upload size, and related settings to prevent large payloads from being blocked or causing performance issues.
Security	L54-L69	Configuring WAF security: IP restrictions, rule sets (CRS/DRS, default), exclusions/exceptions, log scrubbing and sensitive data masking, governance and hardening (incl. Azure OpenAI via Front Door).
Configuration	L70-L99	Configuring Azure WAF (Front Door & App Gateway): custom/managed rules, geo/ASN/bot/JA4 filters, rate limiting, exclusions, logging/metrics, custom responses, policy settings, and central management.
Integrations & Coding Patterns	L100-L109	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	L110-L115	How to deploy and manage Application Gateway WAF v2 using Bicep, ARM templates, Terraform, and upgrade existing WAF configurations to WAF policies.

Best Practices

Topic	URL
Implement WAF best practices in Azure Front Door	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-best-practices
Tune Azure Front Door WAF rules and reduce false positives	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-tuning
Apply best practices for WAF on Application Gateway	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

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 Azure WAF managed ruleset lifecycle and upgrades	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ruleset-support-policy

Limits & Quotas

Topic	URL
Configure WAF request and upload size limits	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-waf-request-size-limits

Security

Topic	URL
Secure Azure OpenAI APIs with Azure Front Door WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/protect-azure-open-ai
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
Use Azure Front Door WAF Default Rule Set	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-drs
Configure WAF exclusion lists for Azure Front Door	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-exclusion
Configure Front Door WAF log scrubbing rules	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-sensitive-data-protection-configure-frontdoor
Sensitive data protection with Front Door WAF log scrubbing	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-sensitive-data-protection-frontdoor
Configure Azure WAF CRS and DRS rule groups	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-crs-rulegroups-rules
Configure WAF exception lists for Application Gateway	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/application-gateway-exceptions
Use WAF log scrubbing for sensitive data protection	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/waf-sensitive-data-protection
Configure WAF log scrubbing to mask sensitive data	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/waf-sensitive-data-protection-configure
Harden Azure WAF with security configurations	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/secure-web-application-firewall
Enforce WAF governance using Azure Policy	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/shared/waf-azure-policy

Configuration

Topic	URL
Use ASN match conditions in Azure Front Door WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/asn-match-condition
Configure CAPTCHA challenges in Azure Front Door WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/captcha-challenge
Configure client fingerprint (JA4) matching in WAF	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/client-fingerprint-match-condition
Configure WAF exception lists for Azure Front Door	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/front-door-exceptions
Configure custom WAF responses in Front Door	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-configure-custom-response-code
Configure custom WAF rules for Azure Front Door	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-custom-rules
Configure custom and managed WAF rules for Front Door	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/afds/waf-front-door-custom-rules-powershell
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 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
Configure rate-limit rules in Azure Front Door WAF	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 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 WAF response for Application Gateway	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
Use Application Gateway WAF Insights dashboards	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/insights
Create rate-limiting custom rules for Application Gateway WAF v2	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/rate-limiting-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
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
Upgrade Azure Application Gateway WAF configuration to policy	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/upgrade-ag-waf-policy

azure-web-application-firewall