Configuration

Configuration defines your filter list sources, and the transformations that are applied to the sources.

Here is an example of this configuration:

{
    "name": "List name",
    "description": "List description",
    "homepage": "https://example.org/",
    "license": "GPLv3",
    "version": "1.0.0.0",
    "sources": [
        {
            "name": "Local rules",
            "source": "rules.txt",
            "type": "adblock",
            "transformations": ["RemoveComments", "Compress"],
            "exclusions": ["excluded rule 1"],
            "exclusions_sources": ["exclusions.txt"],
            "inclusions": ["*"],
            "inclusions_sources": ["inclusions.txt"]
        },
        {
            "name": "Remote rules",
            "source": "https://example.org/rules",
            "type": "hosts",
            "exclusions": ["excluded rule 1"]
        }
    ],
    "transformations": ["Deduplicate", "Compress"],
    "exclusions": ["excluded rule 1", "excluded rule 2"],
    "exclusions_sources": ["global_exclusions.txt"],
    "inclusions": ["*"],
    "inclusions_sources": ["global_inclusions.txt"]
}

name - (mandatory) the list name.
description - (optional) the list description.
homepage - (optional) URL to the list homepage.
license - (optional) Filter list license.
version - (optional) Filter list version.
sources - (mandatory) array of the list sources.
- .source - (mandatory) path or URL of the source. It can be a traditional filter list or a hosts file.
- .name - (optional) name of the source.
- .type - (optional) type of the source. It could be adblock for Adblock-style lists or hosts for /etc/hosts style lists. If not specified, adblock is assumed.
- .transformations - (optional) a list of transformations to apply to the source rules. By default, no transformations are applied. Learn more about possible transformations here.
- .exclusions - (optional) a list of rules (or wildcards) to exclude from the source.
- .exclusions_sources - (optional) a list of files with exclusions.
- .inclusions - (optional) a list of wildcards to include from the source. All rules that don't match these wildcards won't be included.
- .inclusions_sources - (optional) a list of files with inclusions.
transformations - (optional) a list of transformations to apply to the final list of rules. By default, no transformations are applied. Learn more about possible transformations here.
exclusions - (optional) a list of rules (or wildcards) to exclude from the source.
exclusions_sources - (optional) a list of files with exclusions.
inclusions - (optional) a list of wildcards to include from the source. All rules that don't match these wildcards won't be included.
inclusions_sources - (optional) a list of files with inclusions.

Here is an example of a minimal configuration:

{
    "name": "test list",
    "sources": [
        {
            "source": "rules.txt"
        }
    ]
}

Exclusion and inclusion rules

Please note, that exclusion or inclusion rules may be a plain string, wildcard, or a regular expression.

plainstring - every rule that contains plainstring will match the rule
*.plainstring - every rule that matches this wildcard will match the rule
/regex/ - every rule that matches this regular expression, will match the rule. By default, regular expressions are case-insensitive.
! comment - comments will be ignored.

[!IMPORTANT] Ensure that rules in the exclusion list match the format of the rules in the filter list. To maintain a consistent format, add the Compress transformation to convert /etc/hosts rules to adblock syntax. This is especially useful if you have multiple lists in different formats.

Here is an example:

Rules in HOSTS syntax: /hosts.txt

0.0.0.0 ads.example.com
0.0.0.0 tracking.example1.com
0.0.0.0 example.com

Exclusion rules in adblock syntax: /exclusions.txt

||example.com^

Configuration of the final list:

{
    "name": "List name",
    "description": "List description",
    "sources": [
        {
            "name": "HOSTS rules",
            "source": "hosts.txt",
            "type": "hosts",
            "transformations": ["Compress"]
        }
    ],
    "transformations": ["Deduplicate", "Compress"],
    "exclusions_sources": ["exclusions.txt"]
}

Final filter output of /hosts.txt after applying the Compress transformation and exclusions:

||ads.example.com^
||tracking.example1.com^

The last rule ||example.com^ will correctly match the rule from the exclusion list and will be excluded.

AdBlock Compiler

Configuration