---
title: Delete a rule in a ruleset
description: Delete a specific rule from a ruleset using the API.
image: https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/core-services-preview.png
---

> Documentation Index  
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/ruleset-engine/llms.txt  
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. 

[Skip to content](#%5Ftop) 

# Delete a rule in a ruleset

Deletes a single rule in a ruleset at the account or zone level.

Use one of the following API endpoints:

* [Delete an account ruleset rule](https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/api/resources/rulesets/subresources/rules/methods/delete/)  
`DELETE /accounts/{account_id}/rulesets/{ruleset_id}/rules/{rule_id}`
* [Delete a zone ruleset rule](https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/api/resources/rulesets/subresources/rules/methods/delete/)  
`DELETE /zones/{zone_id}/rulesets/{ruleset_id}/rules/{rule_id}`

If the delete operation succeeds, the API method call returns a `200 OK` HTTP status code with the complete ruleset in the response body.

## Example

The following example deletes rule `$RULE_ID_1` belonging to ruleset `$RULESET_ID`.

The response will include the complete ruleset after deleting the rule.

Required API token permissions

At least one of the following [token permissions](https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/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`

**Delete an account ruleset rule**

```bash
curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/rulesets/$RULESET_ID/rules/$RULE_ID_1" \
  --request DELETE \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN"
```

```json
{
  "result": {
    "id": "<RULESET_ID>",
    "name": "Custom Ruleset 1",
    "description": "My first custom ruleset",
    "kind": "custom",
    "version": "12",
    "rules": [
      {
        "id": "<RULE_ID_2>",
        "version": "2",
        "action": "js_challenge",
        "expression": "(ip.src.country in {\"GB\" \"FR\"} and cf.bot_management.score < 20 and not cf.bot_management.verified_bot)",
        "description": "challenge GB and FR based on bot score",
        "last_updated": "2021-07-22T12:54:58.144683Z",
        "ref": "<RULE_REF_2>",
        "enabled": true
      }
    ],
    "last_updated": "2021-07-22T12:54:58.144683Z",
    "phase": "http_request_firewall_custom"
  },
  "success": true,
  "errors": [],
  "messages": []
}
```

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","@id":"https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/ruleset-engine/rulesets-api/delete-rule/#page","headline":"Delete a rule in a ruleset · Cloudflare Ruleset Engine docs","description":"Delete a specific rule from a ruleset using the API.","url":"https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/ruleset-engine/rulesets-api/delete-rule/","inLanguage":"en","image":"https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/core-services-preview.png","dateModified":"2026-04-16","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Cloudflare","url":"https://www.cloudflare.com/"},"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/#website","name":"Cloudflare Docs","url":"https://edgetunnel-b2h.pages.dev/"}}
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/directory/","name":"Directory"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/ruleset-engine/","name":"Ruleset Engine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"/ruleset-engine/rulesets-api/","name":"Rulesets API"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@id":"/ruleset-engine/rulesets-api/delete-rule/","name":"Delete a rule in a ruleset"}}]}
```