Request Validator plugin

Validate requests before they reach their Upstream service. Supports validating the schema of the body and the parameters of the request using either Kong’s own schema validator (body only) or a JSON Schema Draft 4-compliant validator.

Configuration Reference

This plugin is compatible with DB-less mode.

In DB-less mode, you configure Kong Gateway declaratively. Therefore, the Admin API is mostly read-only. The only tasks it can perform are all related to handling the declarative config, including:

Setting a target's health status in the load balancer
Validating configurations against schemas
Uploading the declarative configuration using the /config endpoint

Enable the plugin on a service

Admin API

Kubernetes

Declarative (YAML)

Konnect Cloud

Kong Manager

For example, configure this plugin on a service by making the following request:

curl -X POST http://{HOST}:8001/services/{SERVICE}/plugins \
    --data "name=request-validator"  \
    --data 'config.body_schema=[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]' \
    --data "config.allowed_content_types=[“application/json”]" \
    --data "config.version=kong" \
    --data "config.verbose_response=false"

SERVICE is the id or name of the service that this plugin configuration will target.

First, create a KongPlugin resource:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: <request-validator-example>
config: 
  body_schema: '[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]'
  allowed_content_types: [“application/json”]
  version: kong
  verbose_response: false
plugin: request-validator

Next, apply the KongPlugin resource to a Service by annotating the Service as follows:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: {SERVICE}
  labels:
    app: {SERVICE}
  annotations:
    konghq.com/plugins: <request-validator-example>
spec:
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 80
    protocol: TCP
    name: {SERVICE}
  selector:
    app: {SERVICE}

{SERVICE} is the id or name of the service that this plugin configuration will target.

Note: The KongPlugin resource only needs to be defined once and can be applied to any service, consumer, or route in the namespace. If you want the plugin to be available cluster-wide, create the resource as a KongClusterPlugin instead of KongPlugin.

For example, configure this plugin on a service by adding this section to your declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: request-validator
  service: {SERVICE}
  config: 
    body_schema: '[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]'
    allowed_content_types: [“application/json”]
    version: kong
    verbose_response: false

SERVICE is the id or name of the service that this plugin configuration will target.

Configure this plugin on a service:

In Konnect Cloud, select the service on the ServiceHub page.
Scroll down to Versions and select the version.
Scroll down to Plugins and click New Plugin.
Find and select the Request Validator plugin.
Enter the following parameters, updating the default or sample values as needed:
- Config.Allowed Content Types: [“application/json”]
- Config.Version: kong
- Config.Verbose Response: false
Click Create.

Configure this plugin on a service:

In Kong Manager, select the workspace.
From the Dashboard, scroll down to Services and click View for the service row.
Scroll down to plugins and click Add Plugin.
Find and select the Request Validator plugin.

Note: If the plugin is greyed out, then it is not available for your product tier. See Kong Gateway tiers.
If the option is available, select Scoped.
Add the service name and ID to the Service field if it is not already prefilled.
Enter the following parameters, updating the default or sample values as needed:
- Config.Allowed Content Types: [“application/json”]
- Config.Version: kong
- Config.Verbose Response: false
Click Create.

Enable the plugin on a route

Admin API

Kubernetes

Declarative (YAML)

Konnect Cloud

Kong Manager

For example, configure this plugin on a route with:

$ curl -X POST http://{HOST}:8001/routes/{ROUTE}/plugins \
    --data "name=request-validator"  \
    --data 'config.body_schema=[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]' \
    --data "config.allowed_content_types=[“application/json”]" \
    --data "config.version=kong" \
    --data "config.verbose_response=false"

ROUTE is the id or name of the route that this plugin configuration will target.

First, create a KongPlugin resource:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: <request-validator-example>
config: 
  body_schema: '[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]'
  allowed_content_types: [“application/json”]
  version: kong
  verbose_response: false
plugin: request-validator

Then, apply it to an ingress (Route or Routes) by annotating the ingress as follows:

apiVersion: networking/v1beta1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: {ROUTE}
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
    konghq.com/plugins: <request-validator-example>
spec:
  rules:
  - host: examplehostname.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /bar
        backend:
          serviceName: echo
          servicePort: 80

ROUTE is the id or name of the route that this plugin configuration will target.

For example, configure this plugin on a route by adding this section to your declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: request-validator
  route: <route>
  config: 
    body_schema: '[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]'
    allowed_content_types: [“application/json”]
    version: kong
    verbose_response: false

ROUTE is the id or name of the route that this plugin configuration will target.

Configure this plugin on a route:

In Konnect Cloud, select the service from the ServiceHub page.
Scroll down to Versions and select the version.
Select the route.
Scroll down to Plugins and click Add Plugin.
Find and select the Request Validator plugin.
Enter the following parameters, updating the default or sample values as needed:
- Config.Allowed Content Types: [“application/json”]
- Config.Version: kong
- Config.Verbose Response: false
Click Create.

Configure this plugin on a route:

In Kong Manager, select the workspace.
From the Dashboard, select Routes in the left navigation.
Click View for the route row.
Scroll down to plugins and click Add Plugin.
Find and select the Request Validator plugin.

Note: If the plugin is greyed out, then it is not available for your product tier. See Kong Gateway tiers.
If the option is available, select Scoped.
Add the Route ID if it is not already prefilled.
Enter the following parameters, updating the default or sample values as needed:
- Config.Allowed Content Types: [“application/json”]
- Config.Version: kong
- Config.Verbose Response: false
Click Create.

Enabling the plugin on a consumer

Admin API

Kubernetes

Declarative (YAML)

Kong Manager

For example, configure this plugin on a consumer with:

$ curl -X POST http://{HOST}:8001/consumers/{CONSUMER}/plugins \
    --data "name=request-validator"  \
    --data 'config.body_schema=[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]' \
    --data "config.allowed_content_types=[“application/json”]" \
    --data "config.version=kong" \
    --data "config.verbose_response=false"

CONSUMER is the id or username of the consumer that this plugin configuration will target.

You can combine consumer.id, service.id, or route.id in the same request, to further narrow the scope of the plugin.

First, create a KongPlugin resource:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: <request-validator-example>
config: 
  body_schema: '[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]'
  allowed_content_types: [“application/json”]
  version: kong
  verbose_response: false
plugin: request-validator

Then, apply it to a consumer by annotating the KongConsumer resource as follows:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongConsumer
metadata:
  name: {CONSUMER}
  annotations:
    konghq.com/plugins: <request-validator-example>
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong

CONSUMER is the id or username of the consumer that this plugin configuration will target.

Note: The KongPlugin resource only needs to be defined once and can be applied to any Service, Consumer, or Route in the namespace. If you want the plugin to be available cluster-wide, create the resource as a KongClusterPlugin instead of KongPlugin.

For example, configure this plugin on a consumer by adding this section to your declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: request-validator
  consumer: {CONSUMER}
  config: 
    body_schema: '[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]'
    allowed_content_types: [“application/json”]
    version: kong
    verbose_response: false

CONSUMER is the id or username of the consumer that this plugin configuration will target.

Configure this plugin on a consumer:

In Kong Manager, select the workspace.
From the Dashboard, scroll down to Consumers and click View for the consumer row.
Select the Plugins tab.
Click Add Plugin.
Find and select the Request Validator plugin.

Note: If the plugin is greyed out, then it is not available for your product tier. See Kong Gateway tiers.
If the option is available, select Global.
Enter the following parameters, updating the default or sample values as needed:
- Config.Allowed Content Types: [“application/json”]
- Config.Version: kong
- Config.Verbose Response: false
Click Create.

Enable the plugin globally

A plugin which is not associated to any service, route, or consumer is considered global, and will be run on every request. Read the Plugin Reference and the Plugin Precedence sections for more information.

Admin API

Kubernetes

Declarative (YAML)

Kong Manager

For example, configure this plugin globally with:

$ curl -X POST http://{HOST}:8001/plugins/ \
    --data "name=request-validator"  \
    --data 'config.body_schema=[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]' \
    --data "config.allowed_content_types=[“application/json”]" \
    --data "config.version=kong" \
    --data "config.verbose_response=false"

Create a KongClusterPlugin resource and label it as global:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongClusterPlugin
metadata:
  name: <global-request-validator>
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
  labels:
    global: \"true\"
config: 
  body_schema: '[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]'
  allowed_content_types: [“application/json”]
  version: kong
  verbose_response: false
plugin: request-validator

For example, configure this plugin using the plugins: entry in the declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: request-validator
  config: 
    body_schema: '[{"name":{"type": "string", "required": true}}]'
    allowed_content_types: [“application/json”]
    version: kong
    verbose_response: false

Configure this plugin globally:

In Kong Manager, select the workspace.
From the Dashboard, select Plugins in the left navigation.
Click New Plugin.
Find and select the Request Validator plugin.

Note: If the plugin is greyed out, then it is not available for your product tier. See Kong Gateway tiers.
If the option is available, set the plugin scope to Global.
Enter the following parameters, updating the default/sample values as needed:
- Config.Allowed Content Types: [“application/json”]
- Config.Version: kong
- Config.Verbose Response: false
Click Create.

Parameters

Here's a list of all the parameters which can be used in this plugin's configuration:

Form Parameter	Description
`name` required Type: string	The name of the plugin, in this case `request-validator`.
`service.id` Type: string	The ID of the Service the plugin targets.
`route.id` Type: string	The ID of the Route the plugin targets.
`consumer.id` Type: string	The ID of the Consumer the plugin targets.
`enabled` required Type: boolean Default value: `true`	Whether this plugin will be applied.
`config.body_schema` semi-optional Type: string	The request body schema specification. One of `body_schema` or `parameter_schema` must be specified.
`config.allowed_content_types` required Type: Set of string elements Default value: `[“application/json”]`	List of allowed content types. Note: Body validation is only done for `application/json` and skipped for any other allowed content types.
`config.version` required Type: string Default value: `kong`	Which validator to use. Supported values are `kong` (default) for using Kong’s own schema validator, or `draft4` for using a JSON Schema Draft 4-compliant validator.
`config.parameter_schema` semi-optional Type: Array of record elements	Array of parameter validator specifications. For details and examples, see Parameter Schema Definition. One of `body_schema` or `parameter_schema` must be specified.
`config.verbose_response` required Type: boolean Default value: `false`	If enabled, the plugin returns more verbose and detailed validation errors (for example, the name of the required field that is missing).

Examples

Overview

By applying the plugin to a Service, all requests to that Service will be validated before being proxied.

With a database

Without a database

Use a request like this:

curl -i -X POST http://kong:8001/services/{service}/plugins \
  --data "name=request-validator" \
  --data "config.version=kong" \
  --data 'config.body_schema=[{\"name\":{\"type\": \"string\", \"required\": true}}]'

Add the following entry to the plugins: section in the declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: request-validator
  service: {service}
  config:
    version: kong
    body_schema:
      name:
        type: string
        required: true

In this example, the request body data would have to be valid JSON and conform to the schema specified in body_schema - i.e., it would be required to contain a name field only, which needs to be a string.

In case the validation fails, a 400 Bad Request will be returned as the response.

Schema Definition

For using the JSON Schema Draft 4-compliant validator, see the JSON Schema website for details on the format and examples. The rest of this paragraph will explain the Kong schema.

The config.body_schema field expects a JSON array with the definition of each field expected to be in the request body; for example:

Each field definition contains the following attributes:

Attribute	Required	Description
`type`	yes	The expected type for the field
`required`	no	Whether the field is required

Additionally, specific types may have their own required fields:

Map:

Attribute	Required	Description
`keys`	yes	The schema for the map keys
`values`	yes	The schema for the map values

Example string-boolean map:

{
  "type": "map",
  "keys": {
    "type": "string"
  },
  "values": {
    "type": "boolean"
  }
}

Array:

Attribute	Required	Description
`elements`	yes	The array’s elements schema

Example integer array schema:

{
  "type": "array",
  "elements": {
    "type": "integer"
  }
}

Record:

Attribute	Required	Description
`fields`	yes	The record schema

Example record schema:

{
  "type": "record",
  "fields": [
    {
      "street": {
        "type": "string",
      }
    },
    {
      "zipcode": {
        "type": "string",
      }
    }
  ]
}

The type field assumes one the following values:

string
number
integer
boolean
map
array
record

Each field specification may also contain validators, which perform specific validations:

Validator	Applies to	Description
`between`	Integers	Whether the value is between two integers. Specified as an array; for example, `{1, 10}`
`len_eq`	Arrays, Maps, Strings	Whether an array’s length is a given value
`len_min`	Arrays, Maps, Strings	Whether an array’s length is at least a given value
`len_max`	Arrays, Maps, strings	Whether an array’s length is at most a given value
`match`	Strings	True if the value matches a given Lua pattern **
`not_match`	String	True if the value doesn’t match a given Lua pattern **
`match_all`	Arrays	True if all strings in the array match the specified Lua pattern **
`match_none`	Arrays	True if none of the strings in the array match the specified Lua pattern **
`match_any`	Arrays	True if any one of the strings in the array matches the specified Lua pattern **
`starts_with`	Strings	True if the string value starts with the specified substring
`one_of`	Strings, Numbers, Integers	True if the string field value matches one of the specified values
`timestamp`	Integers	True if the field value is a valid timestamp
`uuid`	Strings	True if the string is a valid UUID

Note: To learn more, see Lua patterns.

Semantic validation for `format` attribute

Structural validation alone may be insufficient to validate that an instance meets all the requirements of an application. The format keyword is defined to allow interoperable semantic validation for a fixed subset of values that are accurately described by authoritative resources, be they RFCs or other external specifications. The following attributes are available:

Attribute	Description
`date`	defined by RFC 3339, sections 5.6 and further validated by 5.7
`date-time`	defined by RFC 3339, sections 5.6
`time`	defined by RFC 3339, sections 5.6 and further validated by 5.7

Note: The value of the format attribute must be a string.

Example date schema:

{
  "type": "string",
  "format": "date"
}

Kong Schema Example

[
  {
    "name": {
      "type": "string",
      "required": true
    }
  },
  {
    "age": {
      "type": "integer",
      "required": true
    }
  },
  {
    "address": {
      "type": "record",
      "required": true,
      "fields": [
        {
          "street": {
            "type": "string",
            "required": true
          }
        },
        {
          "zipcode": {
            "type": "string",
            "required": true
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "born": {
      "type": "string",
      "format": "date-time",
      "required": true
    }
  }
]

Such a schema would validate the following request body:

{
  "name": "Gruce The Great",
  "age": 4,
  "address": {
    "street": "251 Post St.",
    "zipcode": "94108"
  },
  "born": "2009-07-20T08:30:37.012Z"
}

Parameter Schema Definition

You can setup definitions for each parameter based on the OpenAPI Specification and the plugin will validate each parameter against it. For more information, see the OpenAPI specification or the OpenAPI examples.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
name	`string`	REQUIRED. The name of the parameter. Parameter names are case sensitive, and corresponds to the parameter name used by the `in` property. If `in` is `"path"`, the `name` field MUST correspond to the named capture group from the configured `route`.
in	`string`	REQUIRED. The location of the parameter. Possible values are `query`, `header`, or `path`.
required	`boolean`	REQUIRED Determines whether this parameter is mandatory.
style	`string`	REQUIRED when schema and explode are set Describes how the parameter value will be serialized depending on the type of the parameter value.
schema	`string`	REQUIRED when style and explode are set The schema defining the type used for the parameter. It is validated using `draft4` for JSONschema draft 4 compliant validator.
explode	`boolean`	REQUIRED when schema and style are set When this is true, parameter values of type `array` or `object` generate separate parameters for each value of the array or key-value pair of the map. For other types of parameters this property has no effect.

Examples

In this example, use the plugin to validate a request’s path parameter.

Add a Service to Kong:

curl -i -X POST http://kong:8001/services \
  --data name=httpbin \
  --data url=http://httpbin.org

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
..

{
  "host":"httpbin.org",
  "created_at":1563479714,
  "connect_timeout":60000,
  "id":"0a7f3795-bc92-43b5-aada-258113b7c4ed",
  "protocol":"http",
  "name":"httpbin",
  "read_timeout":60000,
  "port":80,
  "path":null,
  "updated_at":1563479714,
  "retries":5,
  "write_timeout":60000
}

Add a Route with named capture group:

curl -i -X POST http://kong:8001/services/httpbin/routes \
  --data paths="/status/(?<status_code>\d%+)" \
  --data strip_path=false

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
..

{
  "created_at": 1563481399,
  "methods": null,
  "id": "cd78749a-33a3-4bbd-9560-588eaf4116d3",
  "service": {
    "id": "0a7f3795-bc92-43b5-aada-258113b7c4ed"
  },
  "name": null,
  "hosts": null,
  "updated_at": 1563481399,
  "preserve_host": false,
  "regex_priority": 0,
  "paths": [
    "\\/status\\/(?<status_code>\\d+)"
  ],
  "sources": null,
  "destinations": null,
  "snis": null,
  "protocols": [
    "http",
    "https"
  ],
  "strip_path": false
}

Enable request-validator plugin to validate body and parameter:

 curl -i -X POST http://kong:8001/services/httpbin/plugins \
   --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
   --data @parameter_schema.json

 HTTP/1.1 201 Created
 ..

 {
   "created_at": 1563483059,
   "config": {
     "body_schema": "{\"name\":{\"type\": \"string\", \"required\": false}}",
     "parameter_schema": [
       {
         "style": "simple",
         "required": true,
         "in": "path",
         "schema": "{\"type\": \"number\"}",
         "explode": false,
         "name": "status_code"
       }
     ],
     "version": "draft4"
   },
   "id": "ad91a2d4-6217-4d34-9133-4a2508ddda9f",
   "service": {
     "id": "0a7f3795-bc92-43b5-aada-258113b7c4ed"
   },
   "enabled": true,
   "run_on": "first",
   "consumer": null,
   "route": null,
   "name": "request-validator"
 }

Content of file parameter_schema.json:

 {
   "name": "request-validator",
   "config": {
     "body_schema": "{\"name\":{\"type\": \"string\", \"required\": false}}",
     "version": "draft4",
     "parameter_schema": [
       {
         "name": "status_code",
         "in": "path",
         "required": true,
         "schema": "{\"type\": \"number\"}",
         "style": "simple",
         "explode": false
       }
     ]
   }
 }

In these step examples, validation makes sure that status_code is a number.

A proxy request with a non-numerical status code is blocked:

 curl -i -X GET http://kong:8000/status/abc
 HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
 ...

 {"message":"request param doesn't conform to schema"}

A proxy request with a numeric status code is allowed:

 curl -i -X GET http://kong:8000/status/200
 HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 X-Kong-Upstream-Latency: 163
 X-Kong-Proxy-Latency: 37
 ...

Further References

The Kong schema validation format is based on the plugin schemas. For more information, see the Kong plugin docs on storing custom entities.

About this Plugin
Plugin Version	1.3-x
Made by	Kong Inc.
Categories	Traffic Control
DB-less compatible?	Yes
Konnect Cloud compatible?	Yes
Version Compatibility
Kong Gateway 2.8.x 2.7.x 2.6.x 2.5.x 2.4.x 2.3.x 2.2.x 2.1.x 1.5.x 1.3-x 0.36-x

Configuration Reference

Enable the plugin on a service

Enable the plugin on a route

Enabling the plugin on a consumer

Enable the plugin globally

Parameters

Examples

Overview

Schema Definition

Semantic validation for format attribute

Kong Schema Example

Parameter Schema Definition

Fixed Fields

Examples

Further References

Semantic validation for `format` attribute