XML Schema Validation Policy

General Information

Policy Type

policy-xml-schema-validation

Description

XML Schema Validation policy validates XML request/response bodies against XML Schema (XSD) definitions. It ensures that XML data conforms to the specified schema structure, types, and constraints before processing or forwarding. It can validate against custom schemas or against the WSDL specification.

Endpoints

List Policies

GET /apiops/projects/{projectName}/apiProxies/{apiProxyName}/policies/

Add Policy

POST /apiops/projects/{projectName}/apiProxies/{apiProxyName}/policies/{policyName}/

Update Policy

PUT /apiops/projects/{projectName}/apiProxies/{apiProxyName}/policies/{policyName}/

Delete Policy

DELETE /apiops/projects/{projectName}/apiProxies/{apiProxyName}/policies/{policyName}/

---

List Policies

Endpoint

GET /apiops/projects/{projectName}/apiProxies/{apiProxyName}/policies/

Request

Headers

Header	Value
Authorization	Bearer {token}

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
projectName	string	Yes	Project name
apiProxyName	string	Yes	API Proxy name

Response

Success Response (200 OK)

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "resultList": [
    {
      "apiProxy": {
        "name": "MyAPI",
        "requestPolicyList": [
          {
            "type": "policy-xml-schema-validation",
            "name": "xml-validation-policy",
            "description": "Validate XML request body",
            "active": true,
            "pathForBody": "/",
            "validateAgainstSpec": false,
            "schemaDefinitionList": [
              {
                "schemaNo": 0,
                "schemaBody": "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<xs:schema xmlns:xs=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema\">\n  <xs:element name=\"user\">\n    <xs:complexType>\n      <xs:sequence>\n        <xs:element name=\"id\" type=\"xs:integer\"/>\n        <xs:element name=\"name\" type=\"xs:string\"/>\n        <xs:element name=\"email\" type=\"xs:string\"/>\n      </xs:sequence>\n    </xs:complexType>\n  </xs:element>\n</xs:schema>",
                "systemId": null,
                "targetNamespace": null,
                "rootSchema": true
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "responsePolicyList": [],
        "errorPolicyList": []
      }
    }
  ],
  "resultCount": 1
}

cURL Example

curl -X GET \
  "https://demo.apinizer.com/apiops/projects/MyProject/apiProxies/MyAPI/policies/" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

---

Add Policy

Endpoint

POST /apiops/projects/{projectName}/apiProxies/{apiProxyName}/policies/{policyName}/

Request

Headers

Header	Value
Authorization	Bearer {token}
Content-Type	application/json

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
projectName	string	Yes	Project name
apiProxyName	string	Yes	API Proxy name
policyName	string	Yes	Policy name

Request Body

Full JSON Body Example - Custom Schema Validation

{
  "operationMetadata": {
    "targetScope": "ALL",
    "targetPipeline": "REQUEST",
    "deploy": true,
    "deployTargetEnvironmentNameList": ["production"],
    "order": 1
  },
  "policy": {
    "type": "policy-xml-schema-validation",
    "description": "Validate XML request body against custom schema",
    "active": true,
    "pathForBody": "/",
    "validateAgainstSpec": false,
    "schemaDefinitionList": [
      {
        "schemaNo": 0,
        "schemaBody": "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<xs:schema xmlns:xs=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema\" targetNamespace=\"http://example.com/user\" elementFormDefault=\"qualified\">\n  <xs:element name=\"user\">\n    <xs:complexType>\n      <xs:sequence>\n        <xs:element name=\"id\" type=\"xs:integer\"/>\n        <xs:element name=\"name\" type=\"xs:string\" minOccurs=\"1\" maxOccurs=\"1\"/>\n        <xs:element name=\"email\" type=\"xs:string\" minOccurs=\"0\" maxOccurs=\"1\"/>\n        <xs:element name=\"age\" type=\"xs:integer\" minOccurs=\"0\" maxOccurs=\"1\"/>\n      </xs:sequence>\n    </xs:complexType>\n  </xs:element>\n</xs:schema>",
        "systemId": "user-schema.xsd",
        "targetNamespace": "http://example.com/user",
        "rootSchema": true
      }
    ]
  }
}

Full JSON Body Example - Validate Against WSDL Specification

{
  "operationMetadata": {
    "targetScope": "ALL",
    "targetPipeline": "REQUEST",
    "deploy": true,
    "deployTargetEnvironmentNameList": ["production"],
    "order": 1
  },
  "policy": {
    "type": "policy-xml-schema-validation",
    "description": "Validate XML against WSDL specification",
    "active": true,
    "pathForBody": "/",
    "validateAgainstSpec": true,
    "schemaDefinitionList": []
  }
}

Request Body Fields

operationMetadata

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
targetScope	string	Yes	-	Policy scope: ALL or ENDPOINT
targetEndpoint	string	No*	-	Endpoint path (required if targetScope=ENDPOINT)
targetEndpointHTTPMethod	string	No*	-	HTTP method (required if targetScope=ENDPOINT)
targetPipeline	string	Yes	-	Pipeline: REQUEST, RESPONSE, or ERROR
deploy	boolean	No	true	Whether to deploy after adding policy
deployTargetEnvironmentNameList	array	No	[]	List of environment names to deploy to
order	integer	No	null	Policy execution order (starts from 1)

Enum: targetScope

• ALL - Policy applies to all endpoints
• ENDPOINT - Policy applies only to specified endpoint

Enum: targetPipeline

• REQUEST - Executes in request pipeline (validates request body)
• RESPONSE - Executes in response pipeline (validates response body)
• ERROR - Executes in error pipeline

Enum: targetEndpointHTTPMethod

• GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, OPTIONS, HEAD

policy

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
type	string	Yes	-	Policy type: policy-xml-schema-validation
description	string	No	-	Policy description
active	boolean	No	true	Whether policy is active
pathForBody	string	No	-	XPath expression to locate XML body to validate
validateAgainstSpec	boolean	No	false	Validate against WSDL specification instead of custom schemas
schemaDefinitionList	array	No*	[]	List of XML schema definitions (required if validateAgainstSpec=false)

XPath Examples

• / - Root of XML document
• /root - Root element named "root"
• /root/data - Data element under root
• /soap:Envelope/soap:Body/* - SOAP body content

Note

• If validateAgainstSpec: false, schemaDefinitionList must contain at least one schema definition.
• If validateAgainstSpec: true, validation uses the WSDL specification from the API Proxy (schemaDefinitionList is ignored).

schemaDefinitionList

Each schema definition is an object with the following fields:

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
schemaNo	integer	No	0	Schema number (for ordering multiple schemas)
schemaBody	string	Yes	-	XML Schema (XSD) definition (XML string)
systemId	string	No	null	System ID for schema reference
targetNamespace	string	No	null	Target namespace extracted from schema
rootSchema	boolean	No	false	Whether this is the root schema

XML Schema Format

The schemaBody must be a valid XML Schema (XSD). Example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" targetNamespace="http://example.com/user">
  <xs:element name="user">
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name="id" type="xs:integer"/>
        <xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>
</xs:schema>

Schema Numbering

• schemaNo is used for ordering when multiple schemas are defined
• Schemas are validated in order
• rootSchema: true indicates the primary schema

Response

Success Response (200 OK)

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "deploymentResult": {
    "success": true,
    "deploymentResults": [
      {
        "environmentName": "production",
        "success": true,
        "message": "Deployment successful"
      }
    ]
  }
}

cURL Example

curl -X POST \
  "https://demo.apinizer.com/apiops/projects/MyProject/apiProxies/MyAPI/policies/xml-validation-policy/" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "operationMetadata": {
      "targetScope": "ALL",
      "targetPipeline": "REQUEST",
      "deploy": true,
      "deployTargetEnvironmentNameList": ["production"],
      "order": 1
    },
    "policy": {
      "type": "policy-xml-schema-validation",
      "description": "Validate XML request body",
      "active": true,
      "pathForBody": "/",
      "validateAgainstSpec": false,
      "schemaDefinitionList": [
        {
          "schemaNo": 0,
          "schemaBody": "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?><xs:schema xmlns:xs=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema\"><xs:element name=\"user\"><xs:complexType><xs:sequence><xs:element name=\"id\" type=\"xs:integer\"/><xs:element name=\"name\" type=\"xs:string\"/></xs:sequence></xs:complexType></xs:element></xs:schema>",
          "rootSchema": true
        }
      ]
    }
  }'

---

Update Policy

Endpoint

PUT /apiops/projects/{projectName}/apiProxies/{apiProxyName}/policies/{policyName}/

Request

Headers

Header	Value
Authorization	Bearer {token}
Content-Type	application/json

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
projectName	string	Yes	Project name
apiProxyName	string	Yes	API Proxy name
policyName	string	Yes	Policy name

Request Body

Full JSON Body Example

{
  "operationMetadata": {
    "targetScope": "ALL",
    "targetPipeline": "REQUEST",
    "deploy": true,
    "deployTargetEnvironmentNameList": ["tester"],
    "order": 1
  },
  "policy": {
    "type": "policy-xml-schema-validation",
    "description": "Validate XML request body against custom schema",
    "active": true,
    "pathForBody": "/",
    "validateAgainstSpec": false,
    "schemaDefinitionList": [
      {
        "schemaNo": 0,
        "schemaBody": "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<xs:schema xmlns:xs=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema\" targetNamespace=\"http://example.com/user\" elementFormDefault=\"qualified\">\n  <xs:element name=\"user\">\n    <xs:complexType>\n      <xs:sequence>\n        <xs:element name=\"id\" type=\"xs:integer\"/>\n        <xs:element name=\"name\" type=\"xs:string\" minOccurs=\"1\" maxOccurs=\"1\"/>\n        <xs:element name=\"email\" type=\"xs:string\" minOccurs=\"0\" maxOccurs=\"1\"/>\n        <xs:element name=\"age\" type=\"xs:integer\" minOccurs=\"0\" maxOccurs=\"1\"/>\n      </xs:sequence>\n    </xs:complexType>\n  </xs:element>\n</xs:schema>",
        "systemId": "user-schema.xsd",
        "targetNamespace": "http://example.com/user",
        "rootSchema": true
      }
    ]
  }
}

Note: Request body structure is the same as Add Policy. All fields should be provided for update.

Response

Success Response (200 OK)

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "deploymentResult": {
    "success": true,
    "deploymentResults": [
      {
        "environmentName": "production",
        "success": true,
        "message": "Deployment successful"
      }
    ]
  }
}

---

Delete Policy

Endpoint

DELETE /apiops/projects/{projectName}/apiProxies/{apiProxyName}/policies/{policyName}/

Request

Headers

Header	Value
Authorization	Bearer {token}
Content-Type	application/json

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
projectName	string	Yes	Project name
apiProxyName	string	Yes	API Proxy name
policyName	string	Yes	Policy name

Request Body

Full JSON Body Example

{
  "operationMetadata": {
    "targetScope": "ALL",
    "targetPipeline": "REQUEST",
    "deploy": false
  }
}

Response

Success Response (200 OK)

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "deploymentResult": {
    "success": true,
    "deploymentResults": []
  }
}

---

Notes and Warnings

• XPath: pathForBody must be a valid XPath expression pointing to the XML to validate

• Schema Definition:

  • If validateAgainstSpec: false, schemaDefinitionList must contain at least one schema definition
  • If validateAgainstSpec: true, validation uses WSDL specification (schemaDefinitionList ignored)

• XML Schema: schemaBody must be a valid XML Schema (XSD) definition

• Schema Number: schemaNo is used for ordering when multiple schemas are defined

• Root Schema: Set rootSchema: true for the primary schema

• Target Namespace: Extracted automatically from schema or can be specified manually

• System ID: Used for schema references (import/include)

• Validation Failure: When validation fails, the request/response is rejected with an error

• Performance: Schema validation adds processing overhead. Use for critical validation only.

• Pipeline:

  • REQUEST pipeline validates request body before processing
  • RESPONSE pipeline validates response body before sending to client

• WSDL Specification: When validateAgainstSpec: true, uses schemas from the API Proxy's WSDL

• Error Messages: Configure error messages in the policy to customize validation error responses

• Deployment: Policy changes require deployment to take effect. Set deploy: true or deploy manually.

Related Documentation

• List Policies - List all policies
• Add Policy - General policy addition guide
• Update Policy - General policy update guide
• Delete Policy - General policy deletion guide
• JSON Schema Validation Policy - Validate JSON messages