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Create a root key with the permissions listed on this page under Root Keys in the dashboard sidebar. CLI commands can instead use a session from unkey login with the required permissions. See Permission reference for every permission.
Update one gateway policy of an in place. The policy keeps its ID and position, and the other policies are untouched. Pass the fields to change as a JSON object in --policy. Fields you leave out keep their values.
  • "match": null or an empty array removes all match expressions, so the policy applies to every request.
  • Passing one of keyauth, ratelimit, firewall, openapi, or logging replaces the rule, and can change its type. Pass at most one.
Policy IDs change every time unkey gateway policies set replaces the list, so get them from unkey gateway policies list first.

Usage

Flags

string
required
App ID or slug.
string
required
Environment ID or slug.
string
required
Policy fields to update as a JSON object. Accepted keys are name, enabled, match, keyauth, ratelimit, firewall, openapi, and logging.
string
required
ID of the policy to update, from unkey gateway policies list.
string
required
ID or slug. Both forms resolve to the same project.

Shared flags

Every resource command accepts these; CLI output and shared flags describes them in full.
string
A JSON document sent as the request body instead of building it from the flags above. It is mutually exclusive with the request-building flags, and unknown fields are rejected locally. See Send a raw body.
string
Root key used for the request. Falls back to UNKEY_ROOT_KEY, then stored credentials, including a CLI session. See CLI authentication for the full precedence order.
string
default:"https://api.unkey.com"
Base URL of the API. Falls back to UNKEY_API_BASE_URL. You don’t normally need to set it.
string
default:"~/.unkey/config.toml"
Path of the TOML config file. Falls back to UNKEY_CONFIG. An explicit --config takes precedence over a stored CLI session. Browser login stores a session, not a root key in this file. See CLI authentication.
enum
default:"human"
Use human (default) for name-first summary tables and single-response trees, or json for the unchanged full response envelope, including all fields and pagination. Trees wrap long values without truncation. Terminal tables use relative timestamps and may shorten display names and descriptions, but never identifiers, slugs, or credentials. Redirected human output keeps complete values and uses RFC3339 UTC timestamps. Falls back to UNKEY_OUTPUT; other values are rejected. --json also selects JSON output. Add --debug to print the request ID to stderr. See Output formats.
boolean
Print the successful response’s request ID to stderr, separate from stdout.
boolean
Print the full response as JSON. Takes precedence over a valid --output or UNKEY_OUTPUT value.

Required permissions

Your root key needs write permission on the policy: unkey:v1:<workspace_id>:projects/<project_id>/apps/<app_id>/environments/<environment_id>/gateway/policies/<policy_id>#write Use * in place of a resource ID to grant access to all resources at that level. If you can read the policy but cannot write it, the API returns 403 and names the required permission. If you cannot read the policy, the API returns 404. See Root key permissions for the full catalog.

Examples

Disable a policy:
Apply a policy to every request:
Switch a rule to a firewall deny:
Send the request body as JSON:

API endpoint

The command calls POST /v2/gateway.updatePolicy and prints its response. The request fields carry the same names as the flags in camelCase, which is the shape --body expects.

Gateway policies

How policies are ordered, matched, and evaluated at the edge.
Last modified on November 11, 2026