---
description: Learn how to create Bulk Redirects using the Cloudflare API.
title: Create Bulk Redirects via API
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/og-docs.png
---

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# Create Bulk Redirects via API

Last updated May 5, 2026|Copy as Markdown|[View as Markdown](https://developers.cloudflare.com/rules/url-forwarding/bulk-redirects/create-api/index.md)|[Agent setup](https://developers.cloudflare.com/agent-setup/)

To create Bulk Redirects via API, you must:

1. Create a Bulk Redirect List via API.
2. Add items (URL redirects) to the list created in step 1.
3. Create a Bulk Redirect Rule via API, which enables the list created in step 1.

Note

Bulk Redirects require that the incoming traffic for the hostname referenced in visitors' requests is [proxied by Cloudflare](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/proxy-status/).

## 1\. Create a Bulk Redirect List via API

Use the [Create a list](https://developers.cloudflare.com/api/resources/rules/subresources/lists/methods/create/) operation to create a new Bulk Redirect List. The list `kind` must be `redirect`.

Required API token permissions

At least one of the following [token permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/) is required:
* `Account Filter Lists Edit`

```bash
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/rules/lists" \
	--request POST \
	--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
	--json '{
		"name": "my_redirect_list",
		"description": "My redirect list.",
		"kind": "redirect"
	}'
```

```json
{
	"result": {
		"id": "f848b6ccb07647749411f504d6f88794",
		"name": "my_redirect_list",
		"description": "My redirect list.",
		"kind": "redirect",
		"num_items": 0,
		"num_referencing_filters": 0,
		"created_on": "2021-10-28T09:11:42Z",
		"modified_on": "2021-10-28T09:11:42Z"
	},
	"success": true,
	"errors": [],
	"messages": []
}
```

Take note of the list ID — you will need it in the next step.

For more information on list operations, refer to the [Lists API](https://developers.cloudflare.com/waf/tools/lists/lists-api/) documentation.

## 2\. Add items to the list

Use the [Create list items](https://developers.cloudflare.com/api/resources/rules/subresources/lists/subresources/items/methods/create/) operation to add URL redirect items to the list. Enter the list ID from the previous step in the endpoint URL:

Required API token permissions

At least one of the following [token permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/) is required:
* `Account Filter Lists Edit`

```bash
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/rules/lists/f848b6ccb07647749411f504d6f88794/items" \
	--request POST \
	--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
	--json '[
		{
				"redirect": {
						"source_url": "example.com/blog/",
						"target_url": "https://example.com/blog/latest"
				}
		},
		{
				"redirect": {
						"source_url": "example.net/",
						"target_url": "https://example.net/under-construction.html",
						"status_code": 307
				}
		}
	]'
```

```json
{
	"result": {
		"operation_id": "92558f8b296d4dbe9d0419e0e53f6622"
	},
	"success": true,
	"errors": [],
	"messages": []
}
```

This is an asynchronous operation. The response will contain an `operation_id` which you will use to check if the operation completed successfully using the [Get bulk operation status](https://developers.cloudflare.com/api/resources/rules/subresources/lists/subresources/bulk%5Foperations/methods/get/) operation:

Required API token permissions

At least one of the following [token permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/) is required:
* `Account Filter Lists Edit`
* `Account Filter Lists Read`

```bash
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/rules/lists/bulk_operations/92558f8b296d4dbe9d0419e0e53f6622" \
	--request GET \
	--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN"
```

Once the operation has completed successfully, the response will be similar to the following:

```json
{
	"result": {
		"id": "92558f8b296d4dbe9d0419e0e53f6622",
		"status": "completed",
		"completed": "2021-10-28T09:15:42Z"
	},
	"success": true,
	"errors": [],
	"messages": []
}
```

## 3\. Create a Bulk Redirect Rule via API

Since Bulk Redirect Lists are essentially containers of URL redirects, you have to enable the URL redirects in the list by creating a Bulk Redirect Rule.

Add Bulk Redirect Rules to the [entry point ruleset](https://developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/about/rulesets/#entry-point-ruleset) of the `http_request_redirect` phase at the account level. Refer to the [Rulesets API](https://developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/rulesets-api/) documentation for more information on [creating a ruleset](https://developers.cloudflare.com/ruleset-engine/rulesets-api/create/) and supplying a list of rules for the ruleset.

A Bulk Redirect Rule must have:

* `action` set to `redirect`
* An `action_parameters` object with additional configuration settings — refer to [Bulk Redirects API JSON objects](https://developers.cloudflare.com/rules/url-forwarding/bulk-redirects/reference/json-objects/#bulk-redirect-rule) for details.

The following request of the [Create an account ruleset](https://developers.cloudflare.com/api/resources/rulesets/methods/create/) operation creates a phase entry point ruleset for the `http_request_redirect` phase at the account level, and defines a single redirect rule. Use this operation if you have not created a phase entry point ruleset for the `http_request_redirect` phase yet.

Required API token permissions

At least one of the following [token permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/) is required:
* `Mass URL Redirects Write`
* `Magic Firewall Write`
* `L4 DDoS Managed Ruleset Write`
* `Transform Rules Write`
* `Select Configuration Write`
* `Account WAF Write`
* `Account Rulesets Write`
* `Logs Write`

```bash
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/rulesets" \
	--request POST \
	--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
	--json '{
		"name": "My redirect ruleset",
		"kind": "root",
		"phase": "http_request_redirect",
		"rules": [
				{
						"ref": "enable_my_redirect_list",
						"expression": "http.request.full_uri in $my_redirect_list",
						"description": "Bulk Redirect rule.",
						"action": "redirect",
						"action_parameters": {
								"from_list": {
										"name": "my_redirect_list",
										"key": "http.request.full_uri"
								}
						}
				}
		]
	}'
```

```json
{
	"result": {
		"id": "528f4f03bf0da53a29907199625867be",
		"name": "My redirect ruleset",
		"kind": "root",
		"version": "1",
		"rules": [
			{
				"ref": "enable_my_redirect_list",
				"id": "8da312df846b4258a05bcd454ea943be",
				"version": "1",
				"expression": "http.request.full_uri in $my_redirect_list",
				"description": "Bulk Redirect rule.",
				"action": "redirect",
				"action_parameters": {
					"from_list": {
						"name": "my_redirect_list",
						"key": "http.request.full_uri"
					}
				},
				"last_updated": "2021-10-28T09:20:42Z"
			}
		],
		"last_updated": "2021-10-28T09:20:42Z",
		"phase": "http_request_redirect"
	},
	"success": true,
	"errors": [],
	"messages": []
}
```

Use the `ref` field to get stable rule IDs across updates when using Terraform. Adding this field prevents Terraform from recreating the rule on changes. For more information, refer to [Troubleshooting](https://developers.cloudflare.com/terraform/troubleshooting/rule-id-changes/#how-to-keep-the-same-rule-id-between-modifications) in the Terraform documentation.

If there is already a phase entry point ruleset for the `http_request_redirect` phase, use the [Update an account ruleset](https://developers.cloudflare.com/api/resources/rulesets/methods/update/) operation instead, like in the following example:

Required API token permissions

At least one of the following [token permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/) is required:
* `Mass URL Redirects Write`
* `Magic Firewall Write`
* `L4 DDoS Managed Ruleset Write`
* `Transform Rules Write`
* `Select Configuration Write`
* `Account WAF Write`
* `Account Rulesets Write`
* `Logs Write`

```bash
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/rulesets/$RULESET_ID" \
	--request PUT \
	--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
	--json '{
		"name": "My redirect ruleset",
		"kind": "root",
		"phase": "http_request_redirect",
		"rules": [
				{
						"ref": "eval_redirects_list_1",
						"expression": "http.request.full_uri in $my_redirect_list_1",
						"description": "Bulk Redirect rule 1",
						"action": "redirect",
						"action_parameters": {
								"from_list": {
										"name": "my_redirect_list_1",
										"key": "http.request.full_uri"
								}
						}
				},
				{
						"ref": "eval_redirects_list_2",
						"expression": "http.request.full_uri in $my_redirect_list_2",
						"description": "Bulk Redirect rule 2",
						"action": "redirect",
						"action_parameters": {
								"from_list": {
										"name": "my_redirect_list_2",
										"key": "http.request.full_uri"
								}
						}
				}
		]
	}'
```

```json
{
	"result": {
		"id": "67013aa153df4e5fbda92f92bc979331",
		"name": "default",
		"description": "",
		"kind": "root",
		"version": "2",
		"rules": [
			{
				"ref": "eval_redirects_list_1",
				"id": "8be62ab2ef9a4a41af30c24ff8e73e41",
				"version": "1",
				"action": "redirect",
				"action_parameters": {
					"from_list": {
						"name": "my_redirect_list_1",
						"key": "http.request.full_uri"
					}
				},
				"expression": "http.request.full_uri in $my_redirect_list_1",
				"description": "Bulk Redirect rule 1",
				"last_updated": "2021-12-03T15:38:51.658387Z",
				"ref": "8be62ab2ef9a4a41af30c24ff8e73e41",
				"enabled": true
			},
			{
				"ref": "eval_redirects_list_2",
				"id": "97e38797fb2b4b22a4919800f1318a5c",
				"version": "1",
				"action": "redirect",
				"action_parameters": {
					"from_list": {
						"name": "my_redirect_list_2",
						"key": "http.request.full_uri"
					}
				},
				"expression": "http.request.full_uri in $my_redirect_list_2",
				"description": "Bulk Redirect rule 2",
				"last_updated": "2021-12-03T15:38:51.658387Z",
				"ref": "97e38797fb2b4b22a4919800f1318a5c",
				"enabled": true
			}
		],
		"last_updated": "2021-12-03T15:38:51.658387Z",
		"phase": "http_request_redirect"
	},
	"success": true,
	"errors": [],
	"messages": []
}
```

---

## Required API token permissions

The API token used in API requests to manage Bulk Redirects objects (lists, list items, and rules) must have at least the following [permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/):

* _Account_ \> _Bulk URL Redirects_ \> _Edit_
* _Account_ \> _Account Filter Lists_ \> _Edit_

* Mass URL Redirects Write
* Account Rule Lists Write

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