apply-policy-to-api-instance

Apply Policy to an API Instance

Overview

Applies a policy to an API Manager instance by walking through organization and environment selection, picking the target API, browsing the available policy template catalog, configuring the policy using its JSON schema, and finally enforcing it on the API. The workflow ensures you select only templates compatible with your API instance and that the configuration matches the template's schema before applying.

What you'll build: A fully configured policy enforced on your chosen API instance

Prerequisites

Before starting this workflow, ensure you have:

1. Authentication ready

   • Valid Bearer token for Anypoint Platform
   • API Manager permissions: View APIs Configuration and Manage Policies scopes

2. Organization access

   • The target API instance is already deployed in API Manager

Step 1: Get Current Organization

Retrieve the caller's profile to discover the root organization automatically. No parameters needed — the Bearer token identifies the user and returns their organization details, including any child Business Groups (sub-organizations).

What you'll need:

• A valid Bearer token (authentication header)

Action: Call the /me endpoint to get the current user's organization.

api: urn:api:access-management
operationId: listMe
inputs: {}
outputs:
  - name: organizationId
    path: $.user.organization.id
    description: Root organization Business Group GUID
  - name: organizationName
    path: $.user.organization.name
    description: Organization display name

What happens next: You have the root organization ID derived from your credentials. If your account has sub-organizations (child Business Groups), use getOrganizations with this ID to list them and pick the right scope before continuing.

Step 2: List Environments

List all environments in the organization so you can select the one where your target API instance lives (e.g., Production, Sandbox).

What you'll need:

• Organization ID from Step 1

Action: List available environments and select the target.

api: urn:api:access-management
operationId: listEnvironments
inputs:
  organizationId:
    from:
      step: Get Current Organization
      input: organizationId
    description: Organization ID from Step 1
outputs:
  - name: environmentId
    path: $.data[*].id
    labels: $.data[*].name
    description: Selected environment ID

What happens next: Choose the environment that hosts the API instance you want to protect. The environment ID is required by API Manager in all remaining steps.

Step 3: List API Instances

Retrieve all API instances in the selected environment. Each entry represents a managed API registered in API Manager — this is the target you will apply the policy to.

What you'll need:

• Organization ID from Step 1
• Environment ID from Step 2

Action: List API instances and let the user pick one.

api: urn:api:api-manager
operationId: listOrganizationsEnvironmentsApis
inputs:
  organizationId:
    from:
      step: Get Current Organization
      input: organizationId
    description: Organization ID from Step 1
  environmentId:
    from:
      step: List Environments
      output: environmentId
    description: Environment ID from Step 2
outputs:
  - name: environmentApiId
    path: $.assets[*].apis[*].id
    labels: $.assets[*].apis[*].instanceLabel
    description: The API instance ID to apply the policy to

What happens next: Present the API instances to the user. Each asset may contain multiple instances (e.g., different versions or labels). The user selects the specific environmentApiId to target.

Tips:

• Use the query parameter to filter by name if the list is large
• The filters=active parameter limits results to active instances only

Step 4: Get Policy Templates with Configuration

Retrieve Exchange policy templates applicable to the selected API instance, including their configuration schemas. This single call replaces the need to list templates and then fetch each template's details separately — it returns everything needed to select a template and build its configuration.

What you'll need:

• Organization ID from Step 1
• Environment ID from Step 2
• The API instance ID from Step 3 (used as compatibility filter)

Action: Fetch policy templates from Exchange with configuration schemas included.

api: urn:api:api-portal-xapi
operationId: getExchangePolicyTemplates
inputs:
  organizationId:
    from:
      step: Get Current Organization
      input: organizationId
    description: Organization ID from Step 1
  environmentId:
    from:
      step: List Environments
      output: environmentId
    description: Environment ID from Step 2
  apiInstanceId:
    from:
      step: List API Instances
      output: environmentApiId
    description: Filters templates to those compatible with this API instance
  includeConfiguration:
    value: true
    description: Include configuration schema for each template
  latest:
    value: true
    description: Return only the latest version of each template
outputs:
  - name: policyGroupId
    path: $[*].groupId
    description: Exchange groupId of the selected policy template
  - name: policyAssetId
    path: $[*].assetId
    labels: $[*].name
    description: Exchange assetId of the selected policy template
  - name: policyAssetVersion
    path: $[*].assetVersion
    description: Version of the selected policy template
  - name: configurationSchema
    path: $[*].configuration
    description: Configuration schema defining the policy's configurable parameters

What happens next: Present the list of compatible policy templates to the user. Common templates include Rate Limiting, Client ID Enforcement, OAuth2 token enforcement, IP allowlist, header injection, and CORS. Once the user selects a template, parse its configurationSchema to understand what parameters are needed. Present each field with its type, description, default value, and constraints. Build the configurationData object from the user's answers.

Important: The configuration schema varies per policy. For example:

• Rate Limiting needs rateLimits (requests per time period)
• Client ID Enforcement needs credentialsOrigin and optional expressions
• IP Allowlist needs a list of allowed IP ranges
• Header Injection needs inbound/outbound header key-value pairs

Step 5: Apply the Policy

Apply the configured policy to the API instance. This creates a new policy enforcement on the API — incoming requests will be evaluated against this policy immediately (or after the next deployment, depending on gateway type).

What you'll need:

• Organization ID, Environment ID, and API instance ID from previous steps
• Policy Exchange coordinates (groupId, assetId, version) from Step 4
• Configuration data built from the schema in Step 4

Action: Create the policy on the API instance.

api: urn:api:api-manager
operationId: createOrganizationsEnvironmentsApisPolicies
inputs:
  organizationId:
    from:
      step: Get Current Organization
      input: organizationId
    description: Organization ID from Step 1

  environmentId:
    from:
      step: List Environments
      output: environmentId
    description: Environment ID from Step 2

  environmentApiId:
    from:
      step: List API Instances
      output: environmentApiId
    description: API instance ID from Step 3

  groupId:
    from:
      step: Get Policy Templates with Configuration
      output: policyGroupId
    description: Exchange groupId of the policy asset

  assetId:
    from:
      step: Get Policy Templates with Configuration
      output: policyAssetId
    description: Exchange assetId of the policy asset

  assetVersion:
    from:
      step: Get Policy Templates with Configuration
      output: policyAssetVersion
    description: Version of the policy asset

  configurationData:
    userProvided: true
    description: Policy configuration object built from the template's configuration schema (Step 4)
    example:
      rateLimits:
        - maximumRequests: 100
          timePeriodInMilliseconds: 60000

  pointcutData:
    userProvided: true
    required: false
    description: Optional array of method/URI regex filters to restrict which endpoints the policy applies to
    example:
      - methodRegex: "GET|POST"
        uriTemplateRegex: "/api/v1/.*"

outputs:
  - name: policyId
    path: $.id
    description: The ID of the newly applied policy

What happens next: The policy is now enforced on the API instance. Incoming requests will be evaluated against this policy. You can verify by listing the API's applied policies or testing a request.

Common issues:

• 400 Bad Request: configurationData doesn't match the template's schema — re-check required fields and types
• 403 Forbidden: Missing Manage Policies permission in this environment
• 409 Conflict: This policy template is already applied to the API — update the existing policy instead

Completion Checklist

After completing all steps, verify the policy is properly applied:

• Organization and environment selected
• Target API instance identified
• Policy template chosen from compatible catalog
• Configuration built from the template's JSON schema
• Policy applied successfully (201 response with policy ID)
• Verify policy appears in the API's policy list

What You've Built

✅ Policy Enforcement — The selected policy template is now active on your API instance, configured with the parameters you provided. Incoming traffic is evaluated against this policy.

Next Steps

1. Verify the policy — List applied policies with listOrganizationsEnvironmentsApisPolicies to confirm it's active and correctly configured.

2. Test the enforcement — Send requests to the API and verify the policy behaves as expected (e.g., unauthorized requests are rejected, rate limits are enforced).

3. Adjust configuration — Use patchOrganizationsEnvironmentsApisPolicy to update configuration without removing the policy.

4. Apply additional policies — Repeat this workflow to layer multiple policies (e.g., add rate limiting on top of OAuth2). Use updateOrganizationsEnvironmentsApisPoliciesBulk to control execution order.

5. Consider automated policies — If you want this policy applied to all APIs in the organization automatically, explore createOrganizationsAutomatedpolicies.

Troubleshooting

Policy Not Enforcing After Apply

Symptoms: Requests pass through without policy evaluation

Possible causes:

• Gateway hasn't picked up the new configuration yet
• Policy is applied but disabled
• Pointcut data excludes the endpoints you're testing

Solutions:

• Wait a few seconds for gateway sync, or redeploy the API
• Verify the policy is not disabled via getOrganizationsEnvironmentsApisPolicies
• Check pointcutData — omit it to apply to all endpoints

Configuration Schema Mismatch

Symptoms: 400 error when applying the policy

Possible causes:

• Required fields missing in configurationData
• Wrong data types (e.g., string instead of integer)
• Unknown fields not in the schema

Solutions:

• Re-read the template's configuration from Step 4
• Match field types exactly (numbers, booleans, arrays)
• Only include fields defined in the schema

Policy Template Not Found

Symptoms: Empty results in Step 4

Possible causes:

• The API instance's gateway type doesn't support that template
• Custom policy template hasn't been published to this organization
• Version filter is too restrictive

Solutions:

• Remove the apiInstanceId filter to see all templates, then check compatibility manually
• For custom policies, verify the template is published via listOrganizationsCustompolicytemplates
• Try without the version parameter

Related Jobs

• deploy-api-with-rate-limiting — Full workflow including API creation and tiered rate limiting with OAuth2
• list-organization-api-instances — Discover existing API instances across environments
• manage-consumer-contracts — Manage client application access after policies are applied