Understanding Path Configuration

Paths can be used to define CDN behavior based on the URI path of an incoming request.

When a path match occurs, the rules configured for the path are applied. Rules can be used to influence origin selection, cache configuration, and access control.

For example, you could:

• Define custom caching rules for your video protocol manifests (e.g. your .m3u8 files).

• Create a custom ACL for your site's API.

• Map a particular section of the site to an alternate origin that integrates content with ads.

Most of the features that can be configured at the host level can be configured for paths.

Rule Inheritance

A path either inherits or overrides the configurations of the parent host.

• When a path match occurs, any distinct rules configured for the host are inherited by the path.
  For example, if a Cache Time to Live rule is defined at the host level, and a Compression rule is defined at the path level, then both rules are applied to the path.

• If the same rule is defined at both the host and path level, the rule configuration at the path level overrides the configuration inherited from the host.
  For example, if a Cache Time to Live rule is defined at both the host and the path level, then the Cache Time to Live rule configured for the path overrides the host Cache Time to Live rule.
  

• The inheritance logic for Processing Stage Rules (On Client Request, On Client Response, On Origin Request) considers them as a single entity. Therefore, if any Processing Stage rule is configured at the path level, it overrides all processing stage rules configured at the host level.
  For example, if the host configuration includes an On Client Request and an On Client Response rule, and the path configuration includes an On Origin Request rule, then only the On Origin Request rule is applied to the path.
  
  

Understand why Path Order Matters