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Subroutines

VCL services do not have a single entry point or main function, but rather a number of predefined subroutines that are called at various stages of the request lifecycle. See using VCL to learn more about how and when each subroutine is called. It is also possible to define your own custom subroutines and call them from the built-in ones.

Built-in (lifecycle) subroutines

The following subroutines are part of the VCL lifecycle:

• vcl_recv
• vcl_hash
• vcl_hit
• vcl_miss
• vcl_pass
• vcl_fetch
• vcl_error
• vcl_deliver
• vcl_log

Custom subroutines

VCL subroutines allow users to isolate code and avoid repetition. They are defined using the sub keyword:

sub compression_check {
  if (req.http.Accept-Encoding ~ "gzip|br") {
    set req.http.Compression-Accepted-By-Client = "yes";
  }
}

The validity of a subroutine to the compiler depends on where it is called from. A subroutine called from vcl_recv may contain only code that would be valid within the vcl_recv subroutine.

Returning a state

In the VCL lifecycle, built-in subroutines return a state indicating what Fastly should do next. Custom subroutines may also return a state as if they were the built-in subroutine that called them. For instance, vcl_recv might call a custom subroutine that includes return (lookup);. This type of return acts as if it had been placed within the calling subroutine, and terminates processing of both the custom subroutine and the parent built-in subroutine.

This type of return statement makes custom subroutines sensitive to where they are called from. If a custom subroutine contains a return (fetch); statement, it can no longer be called from any context other than vcl_miss (the only built-in subroutine to have a valid return state of fetch). The same applies to using variables scoped to specific subroutines within custom subroutines.

Calling a subroutine

Subroutines are called using the call statement:

sub vcl_recv {
  # set the compression-accepted-by-client header if applicable
  call compression_check;
}

Concatenation

Built-in subroutines with the same name are automatically concatenated in the order the compiler encounters them. Note that a return statement in one subroutine also returns from subsequent concatenated subroutines.

sub vcl_recv {
  return (lookup);
}
sub vcl_recv {
  # this code won't run due to the return statement in the prior vcl_recv
  # if the order of these two subs were reversed, the origin would be set before returning
  set req.backend = origin;
}

Custom subroutines may not be concatenated. Multiple declarations of the same (non-built-in) name are not permitted.

Recursion

Subroutines may not call themselves, either directly or via another subroutine. Even if the loop is not infinite, the compiler will still disallow it.