Skip to main content
The AI Gateway provides multiple ways to modify requests before they reach providers:
  • Built-in fields - Add headers, query parameters, or body fields directly in the AI Gateway config
  • Find & Replace - Use regex patterns to transform request content

​
Built-in request modification

The AI Gateway config includes headers, query_params, and body fields for simple modifications without needing a separate action.

​
Adding headers

Add custom headers to all requests sent to providers:
policy.yaml
on_http_request:
  - actions:
      - type: ai-gateway
        config:
          headers:
            X-Request-ID: "${req.id}"
            X-Client-IP: "${conn.client_ip}"
          providers:
            - id: openai
              api_keys:
                - value: "${secrets.get('openai-api-key')}"
Headers support CEL expressions for dynamic values.

​
Adding query parameters

Append query parameters to provider requests (useful for providers that require API versioning):
policy.yaml
on_http_request:
  - actions:
      - type: ai-gateway
        config:
          query_params:
            api_version: "2024-02-01"
          providers:
            - id: azure-openai
              base_url: "https://your-resource.openai.azure.com"
              api_keys:
                - value: "${secrets.get('azure-api-key')}"

​
Adding body fields

Merge additional fields into the JSON request body. This is useful for enforcing default parameters:
policy.yaml
on_http_request:
  - actions:
      - type: ai-gateway
        config:
          body:
            temperature: 0.7
            top_p: 0.9
            max_tokens: 1000
          providers:
            - id: openai
              api_keys:
                - value: "${secrets.get('openai-api-key')}"
With this config, every request will include these parameters, overriding any values the client sends.

​
Combining built-in fields

You can use all three together:
policy.yaml
on_http_request:
  - actions:
      - type: ai-gateway
        config:
          headers:
            X-Request-ID: "${req.id}"
          query_params:
            api_version: "2024-02-01"
          body:
            temperature: 0.7
            max_tokens: 2000
          providers:
            - id: openai
              api_keys:
                - value: "${secrets.get('openai-api-key')}"

​
Advanced: find and replace

For more complex transformations like PII redaction or content rewriting, use the request-body-find-replace action. It runs before the AI Gateway and uses regex patterns to modify the request body.
policy.yaml
on_http_request:
  - actions:
      - type: request-body-find-replace
        config:
          replacements:
            - from: "pattern-to-match"
              to: "replacement-value"
      - type: ai-gateway
        config:
          providers:
            - id: openai
              api_keys:
                - value: "${secrets.get('openai-api-key')}"

​
Redacting PII from prompts

Prevent sensitive information from being sent to AI providers:
policy.yaml
on_http_request:
  - actions:
      - type: request-body-find-replace
        config:
          replacements:
            # Redact email addresses
            - from: "[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}"
              to: "[EMAIL REDACTED]"
            # Redact SSN patterns
            - from: "\\b\\d{3}-\\d{2}-\\d{4}\\b"
              to: "[SSN REDACTED]"
      - type: ai-gateway
        config:
          providers:
            - id: openai
              api_keys:
                - value: "${secrets.get('openai-api-key')}"
Before (original request): 
{
  "model": "gpt-4o",
  "messages": [{
    "role": "user",
    "content": "Summarize this: John's email is [email protected] and SSN is 123-45-6789"
  }]
}
After (what the provider receives): 
{
  "model": "gpt-4o",
  "messages": [{
    "role": "user",
    "content": "Summarize this: John's email is [EMAIL REDACTED] and SSN is [SSN REDACTED]"
  }]
}

​
Injecting system instructions

Append instructions to existing system messages:
policy.yaml
on_http_request:
  - actions:
      - type: request-body-find-replace
        config:
          replacements:
            - from: '"role":\s*"system",\s*"content":\s*"([^"]*)"'
              to: '"role": "system", "content": "$1 Always follow company compliance guidelines. Never share internal data."'
      - type: ai-gateway
        config:
          providers:
            - id: openai
              api_keys:
                - value: "${secrets.get('openai-api-key')}"
This uses capture group $1 to preserve the original system message content.

​
Common PII patterns

PatternMatches
[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}Email addresses
\b\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}\bUS Social Security Numbers
\b\d{3}[-.\s]?\d{3}[-.\s]?\d{4}\bUS Phone numbers
\b\d{4}[- ]?\d{4}[- ]?\d{4}[- ]?\d{4}\bCredit card numbers
"api_key":\s*"[^"]*"JSON API key fields
"password":\s*"[^"]*"JSON password fields

​
Using capture groups

Preserve parts of the matched text: 
replacements:
  # Keep the field name, redact the value
  - from: '"(ssn|social_security|password)":\s*"[^"]*"'
    to: '"$1": "[REDACTED]"'

​
Dynamic patterns with CEL

Both from and to fields support CEL expressions: 
replacements:
  - from: "${vars.custom_pattern}"
    to: "Redacted by request ${req.id}"

​
Next steps