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Log the payload of matched rules

The WAF allows you to log the request information that triggered a specific rule of a managed ruleset. This information is known as the payload. Payload logging is especially useful when diagnosing the behavior of WAF rules. Since the values that triggered a rule may contain sensitive data, they are encrypted with a customer-provided public key so that only you can examine them later.

Each managed ruleset has its own payload logging configuration. To enable the feature, configure a public key to encrypt the logged payload by doing one of the following:

  • Generate a key pair directly in the dashboard (Cloudflare will only save the generated public key)
  • Enter your own public key

Once enabled, the WAF saves the payload of any rule matches for the managed ruleset configured with payload logging, encrypting the payload with your public key.

To view the content of the payload in clear text, do one of the following:

​​ User role requirements

Only users with the Super Administrator role can enable payload logging or edit the payload logging configuration.