Manage resources with custom constraints

This feature is subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section of theService Specific Terms. Pre-GA features are available "as is" and might have limited support. For more information, see thelaunch stage descriptions.

This page shows you how to use Organization Policy Service custom constraints to restrictspecific operations on the following Google Cloud resources:

  • cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/Project
  • cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/Folder

To learn more about Organization Policy, seeCustom organization policies.

About organization policies and constraints

The Google Cloud Organization Policy Service gives you centralized, programmaticcontrol over your organization's resources. As theorganization policy administrator, you can define an organizationpolicy, which is a set of restrictions calledconstraints that apply toGoogle Cloud resources and descendants of those resources in theGoogle Cloud resource hierarchy. You can enforce organizationpolicies at the organization, folder, or project level.

Organization Policy provides built-inmanaged constraintsfor various Google Cloud services. However, if you want more granular,customizable control over the specific fields that are restricted in yourorganization policies, you can also createcustom constraints and use thosecustom constraints in an organization policy.

Policy inheritance

By default, organization policies are inherited by the descendants of theresources on which you enforce the policy. For example, if you enforce a policyon a folder, Google Cloud enforces the policy on all projects in thefolder. To learn more about this behavior and how to change it, refer toHierarchy evaluation rules.

Benefits

For security, compliance, and governance, you can use custom organizationpolicies in the following ways:

  • Govern the project naming patterns: You can create a custom constraint onthe project ID. For example, in a staging resource folder, allowcreate and update operations on a project only if the project ID startswithstaging-.
  • Restrict mutation of secure projects and folders: You can create a customconstraint to deny project and folder updates if the parent is a securefolder or organization.

Limitations

  • The create or update operations on App Script, Firebase, or Contact CenterSolution resources might fail if a custom constraint has been set on foldersor projects. In such cases, check the conditions in the custom constraintsthat are causing failure. Ensure that these restrictions are updated andthen retry the failed operation.
  • Like all organization policy constraints, policy changes don't applyretroactively to existing instances.
  • Project and folder creation on the Google Cloud console might not providethe specific reason for thePERMISSION_DENIED error message.To confirm details about the specific constraints causing the failure,you can check the audit logs.

Before you begin

  • Ensure that you know yourorganization ID.
  • Install and initialize the Google Cloud CLI.

    1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

    2. If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

    3. Toinitialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

      gcloudinit

    • Required roles

    To get the permissions that you need to manage custom organization policies, ask your administrator to grant you theOrganization Policy Administrator (roles/orgpolicy.policyAdmin) IAM role on the organization resource. For more information about granting roles, seeManage access to projects, folders, and organizations.

    You might also be able to get the required permissions throughcustom roles or otherpredefined roles.

    Set up a custom constraint

    A custom constraint is defined in a YAML file by the resources, methods,conditions, and actions that are supported by the service on which you areenforcing the organization policy. Conditions for your custom constraints aredefined usingCommon Expression Language (CEL). For more information about how to buildconditions in custom constraints using CEL, see the CEL section ofCreating and managing custom constraints.

    Console

    To create a custom constraint, do the following:

    1. In the Google Cloud console, go to theOrganization policies page.

      Go to Organization policies

    2. From the project picker, select the project that you want to set the organization policy for.
    3. ClickCustom constraint.
    4. In theDisplay name box, enter a human-readable name for the constraint. This name is used in error messages and can be used for identification and debugging. Don't use PII or sensitive data in display names because this name could be exposed in error messages. This field can contain up to 200 characters.
    5. In theConstraint ID box, enter the name that you want for your new custom constraint. A custom constraint can only contain letters (including upper and lowercase) or numbers, for examplecustom.disableGkeAutoUpgrade. This field can contain up to 70 characters, not counting the prefix (custom.), for example,organizations/123456789/customConstraints/custom. Don't include PII or sensitive data in your constraint ID, because it could be exposed in error messages.
    6. In theDescription box, enter a human-readable description of the constraint. This description is used as an error message when the policy is violated. Include details about why the policy violation occurred and how to resolve the policy violation. Don't include PII or sensitive data in your description, because it could be exposed in error messages. This field can contain up to 2000 characters.
    7. In theResource type box, select the name of the Google Cloud REST resource containing the object and field that you want to restrict—for example,container.googleapis.com/NodePool. Most resource types support up to 20 custom constraints. If you attempt to create more custom constraints, the operation fails.
    8. UnderEnforcement method, select whether to enforce the constraint on a RESTCREATE method or on bothCREATE andUPDATE methods. If you enforce the constraint with theUPDATE method on a resource that violates the constraint, changes to that resource are blocked by the organization policy unless the change resolves the violation.

      9. Not all Google Cloud services support both methods. To see supported methods for each service, find the service in Supported services.

    9. To define a condition, clickEdit condition.
      1. In theAdd condition panel, create a CEL condition that refers to a supported service resource, for example,resource.management.autoUpgrade == false. This field can contain up to 1000 characters. For details about CEL usage, see Common Expression Language. For more information about the service resources you can use in your custom constraints, see Custom constraint supported services.
      2. ClickSave.
    10. UnderAction, select whether to allow or deny the evaluated method if the condition is met.

      11. The deny action means that the operation to create or update the resource is blocked if the condition evaluates to true.

      The allow action means that the operation to create or update the resource is permitted only if the condition evaluates to true. Every other case except ones explicitly listed in the condition is blocked.

    11. ClickCreate constraint.

      12. When you have entered a value into each field, the equivalent YAML configuration for this custom constraint appears on the right.

    gcloud

    1. To create a custom constraint, create a YAML file using the following format:
      2. name:organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/CONSTRAINT_NAMEresourceTypes:RESOURCE_NAMEmethodTypes:-CREATE
      - UPDATE      condition:"CONDITION"actionType:ACTIONdisplayName:DISPLAY_NAMEdescription:DESCRIPTION

      Replace the following:

      • ORGANIZATION_ID: your organization ID, such as123456789.
      • CONSTRAINT_NAME: the name that you want for your new custom constraint. A custom constraint can only contain letters (including upper and lowercase) or numbers, for example,custom.allowProjectForXDepartmentNameOnly. This field can contain up to 70 characters.
      • RESOURCE_NAME: the fully qualified name of the Google Cloud resource containing the object and field that you want to restrict. For example,cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/Project.
      • CONDITION: a CEL condition that is written against a representation of a supported service resource. This field can contain up to 1000 characters. For example,"resource.projectId.startsWith(\"XDepartment\")".

        • For more information about the resources available to write conditions against, seeSupported resources.

      • ACTION: the action to take if thecondition is met. Possible values areALLOW andDENY.

        • The allow action means that if the condition evaluates to true, the operation to create or update the resource is permitted. This also means that every other case except the one explicitly listed in the condition is blocked.

        The deny action means that if the condition evaluates to true, the operation to create or update the resource is blocked.

      • DISPLAY_NAME: a human-friendly name for the constraint. This field can contain up to 200 characters.
      • DESCRIPTION: a human-friendly description of the constraint to display as an error message when the policy is violated. This field can contain up to 2000 characters.
    2. After you have created the YAML file for a new custom constraint, you must set it up to make it available for organization policies in your organization. To set up a custom constraint, use thegcloud org-policies set-custom-constraint command:
      3. gcloudorg-policiesset-custom-constraintCONSTRAINT_PATH

      ReplaceCONSTRAINT_PATH with the full path to your custom constraint file. For example,/home/user/customconstraint.yaml.

      After this operation is complete, your custom constraints are available as organization policies in your list of Google Cloud organization policies.

    3. To verify that the custom constraint exists, use thegcloud org-policies list-custom-constraints command:
      4. gcloudorg-policieslist-custom-constraints--organization=ORGANIZATION_ID

      ReplaceORGANIZATION_ID with the ID of your organization resource.

      For more information, see Viewing organization policies.

    Enforce a custom organization policy

    You can enforce a constraint by creating an organization policy that references it, and thenapplying that organization policy to a Google Cloud resource.

    Console

    1. In the Google Cloud console, go to theOrganization policies page.

      Go to Organization policies

    2. From the project picker, select the project that you want to set the organization policy for.
    3. From the list on theOrganization policies page, select your constraint to view thePolicy details page for that constraint.
    4. To configure the organization policy for this resource, clickManage policy.
    5. On theEdit policy page, selectOverride parent's policy.
    6. ClickAdd a rule.
    7. In theEnforcement section, select whether this organization policy is enforced or not.
    8. Optional: To make the organization policy conditional on a tag, clickAdd condition. Note that if you add a conditional rule to an organization policy, you must add at least one unconditional rule or the policy cannot be saved. For more information, see Setting an organization policy with tags.
    9. ClickTest changes to simulate the effect of the organization policy. For more information, see Test organization policy changes with Policy Simulator.
    10. To enforce the organization policy in dry-run mode, clickSet dry run policy. For more information, see Create an organization policy in dry-run mode.
    11. After you verify that the organization policy in dry-run mode works as intended, set the live policy by clickingSet policy.

    gcloud

    1. To create an organization policy with boolean rules, create a policy YAML file that references the constraint:
      2. name:projects/PROJECT_ID/policies/CONSTRAINT_NAMEspec:rules:-enforce:truedryRunSpec:rules:-enforce:true

      Replace the following:

      • PROJECT_ID: the project that you want to enforce your constraint on.
      • CONSTRAINT_NAME: the name you defined for your custom constraint. For example,custom.allowProjectForXDepartmentNameOnly.
    2. To enforce the organization policy indry-run mode, run the following command with thedryRunSpec flag:
      3. gcloudorg-policiesset-policyPOLICY_PATH--update-mask=dryRunSpec

      ReplacePOLICY_PATH with the full path to your organization policy YAML file. The policy requires up to 15 minutes to take effect.

    3. After you verify that the organization policy in dry-run mode works as intended, set the live policy with theorg-policies set-policy command and thespec flag:
      4. gcloudorg-policiesset-policyPOLICY_PATH--update-mask=spec

      ReplacePOLICY_PATH with the full path to your organization policy YAML file. The policy requires up to 15 minutes to take effect.

    Test the custom organization policy

    The following example creates a custom constraint and policy that requireall project IDs to start withdev_ in your organization.

    Before you begin, identify your organization ID.

    Create the constraint

    1. To define a constraint that denies all project create and updates ifthe project ID does not start withdev_, create theconstraint-allow-dev-projects.yaml with the following contents:

      name:organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/custom.allowProjectForDevIdOnlyresourceTypes:-cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/ProjectmethodTypes:-CREATE-UPDATEcondition:"resource.projectId.startsWith(\"dev_\")"actionType:ALLOWdisplayName:Allow dev_ projectsdescription:All projects in the org should start with dev_.

      ReplaceORGANIZATION_ID with your organization ID.

    2. Apply the constraint:

      gcloudorg-policiesset-custom-constraint~/constraint-allow-dev-projects.yaml

    3. Verify that the constraint exists:

      gcloudorg-policieslist-custom-constraints--organization=ORGANIZATION_ID

      The output is similar to the following:

      CUSTOM_CONSTRAINT                ACTION_TYPE  METHOD_TYPES   RESOURCE_TYPES                                      DISPLAY_NAMEcustom.allowProjectForDevIdOnly  ALLOW        CREATE,UPDATE  cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/Project   Allow dev_ projects...

    Create the policy

    1. Create thepolicy-enable-dev-projects.yaml file with the following policy:

      Name:organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/policies/custom.allowProjectForDevIdOnlyspec:rules:-enforce:true

      ReplaceORGANIZATION_ID with your organization ID.

    2. Apply the policy:

      gcloudorg-policiesset-policy~/policy-enable-dev-projects.yaml

    3. Verify that the policy exists:

      gcloudorg-policieslist--organization=ORGANIZATION_ID

      The output is similar to the following:

      CONSTRAINT                        LIST_POLICY    BOOLEAN_POLICY    ETAGcustom.allowProjectForDevIdOnly   -              SET               COCsm5QGENiXi2E=

    After you apply the policy, Google Cloud takes about two minutes tostart enforcing the policy.

    Test the policy

    Create a project with project IDsampleDemoProject in the organization:

    gcloudprojectscreatesampleDemoProject\--organization=ORGANIZATION_ID

    The output is the following:

    PERMISSION_DENIED: The caller does not have permission

    Example custom organization policies for common use cases

    This table provides syntax examples for some common custom constraints.

    DescriptionConstraint syntax
    Deny creation of new projects in folder 1234 (secure_admin_folder).
    name:organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/custom.disableNewProjectInSecureAdminFolderresourceTypes:-cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/ProjectmethodTypes:-CREATEcondition:"resource.parent=="organizations/1234""actionType:DENYdisplayName:Disable new project creation in the secure admin folderdescription:Do not allow creation of new projects in the secure folders.
    Disable creation of a folder within another folder to control the depth of the resource hierarchy tree.
    name:organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/customConstraints/custom.disableFolderCreationresourceTypes:-cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/FoldermethodTypes:-CREATEcondition:"resource.parent.startsWith("folders")"actionType:DENYdisplayName:Disable creation of a folder inside another folderdescription:Do not allow creation of a folder within another folder whenthe resource hierarchy is set to a maximum value of 1.

    Resource Manager supported resources

    The following table lists the Resource Manager resources that you can referencein custom constraints.

    ResourceField
    cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/Folderresource.displayName
    resource.parent
    cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/Projectresource.parent
    resource.projectId

    What's next

    Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under theCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under theApache 2.0 License. For details, see theGoogle Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

    Last updated 2026-02-19 UTC.