URL does not match

Matches when the request URL does not match any configured wildcard pattern or regular expression.

This condition inspects the incoming request URL to determine if it does not match the specified criteria. It supports a segmented wildcard interface for common URL structures or a list of regular expressions for complex matching logic.

Configuration

  • Case sensitive: Determines if the comparison ignores character casing. When disabled, the system performs a case-insensitive match against all URL components.
  • Use regular expressions: Whether to enable regular expression matching. When enabled, the input mode switches from segmented wildcard fields to a list of regex patterns.
    • Disabled: Provides separate fields for Scheme, Domain, Path, and Query.
    • Enabled: Provides a list of regex patterns evaluated against the full, normalized, and unescaped unicode URL string.
  • Defined patterns: The list of URL objects. The condition returns true only if the request fails to match every single entry in this list.

Wildcard patterns

When Use regular expressions is disabled, you define a URL structure using these components:

  • Scheme: The protocol, such as http or https. If omitted or set to *, both protocols match.
  • Domain: The requested hostname, such as www.example.com. This field supports wildcards like *.example.com. If omitted, all domains configured for the application match.
  • Path: The resource location, such as /blog/*. If omitted, all paths match.
  • Query: The query string parameters, such as id=*&type=json. If omitted, all query values match.

Measurement

The condition evaluates to true if every single entry in the list evaluates to false.

Wildcard processing

Wildcard matching uses the asterisk (*) as a placeholder for any sequence of characters. The system automatically optimizes the underlying regular expression generation for these segments to minimize CPU overhead.

  • Multi-field matching: All specified fields (Scheme, Domain, Path, and Query) must match simultaneously for that specific object to be considered a match.
  • Omissions: Any field left blank is treated as an implicit wildcard and is considered an automatic match.

Regular expression processing

When enabled, the system evaluates the full URL string against the defined patterns.

  • Dialect: The system uses the RE2 regular expression dialect.
  • Capture groups: Capture groups are assigned to variables $1 through $9, which can be substituted in subsequent actions.
  • Assertions: The system does not add line-begin (^) or line-end ($) assertions automatically; these must be provided explicitly for exact matching.

Performance

  • Sequential validation: To return true, the system must evaluate the entire list of patterns to ensure no matches exist. Large lists add an incremental processing cost to every request that passes through the filter.
  • Short-circuit optimization: The system stops processing and returns false as soon as it identifies a match. To optimize performance for traffic that should be excluded, place the patterns most likely to match at the top of the list.

Last modified March 5, 2026