Use the Compute Engine alpha API

This document explains how to enable your project to send HTTP requests to alpha Compute Engine API URIs. If you're new to the Compute Engine API, then see Prerequisites.

By default, your project can't send HTTP requests to the following alpha Compute Engine API URI:

https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/alpha/...

Google Cloud manages access to alpha URIs for specific Compute Engine features. You must first allow your organization, folder, or project to access and use alpha features. After this step, you can view which features are available, and then enable a project to send HTTP requests to their alpha URIs. Use Compute Engine alpha features to test and develop with early-stage features before they're available in Preview.

Before you begin

You can only enable a project to send HTTP requests to an alpha URI if the project is part of an organization. If not, then migrate the project to an organization.
If you haven't already, set up authentication. Authentication verifies your identity for access to Google Cloud services and APIs. To run code or samples from a local development environment, you can authenticate to Compute Engine by selecting one of the following options:
Select the tab for how you plan to use the samples on this page:
Console

When you use the Google Cloud console to access Google Cloud services and APIs, you don't need to set up authentication.
gcloud
1. Install the Google Cloud CLI, and then sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity. After signing in, initialize the Google Cloud CLI by running the following command:
  gcloud init
  Note: If you installed the gcloud CLI previously, make sure you have the latest version by running gcloud components update.
2. Set a default region and zone.
Terraform

To use the Terraform samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.
1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.
Configure the gcloud CLI to use your federated identity.

For more information, see Sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.
Create local authentication credentials for your user account:
```
gcloud auth application-default login
```
If an authentication error is returned, and you are using an external identity provider (IdP), confirm that you have signed in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

REST

To use the REST API samples on this page in a local development environment, you use the credentials you provide to the gcloud CLI.

Install the Google Cloud CLI, and then sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

For more information, see Authenticate for using REST in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

Required roles

To get the permissions that you need to enable or disable projects to send HTTP requests to alpha Compute Engine API URIs, ask your administrator to grant you the following IAM roles:

To enable an organization policy: Organization Policy Administrator (roles/orgpolicy.policyAdmin) on the organization
To view, enable, or disable alpha features: Compute Admin (roles/compute.admin) on the project

For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations.

These predefined roles contain the permissions required to enable or disable projects to send HTTP requests to alpha Compute Engine API URIs. To see the exact permissions that are required, expand the Required permissions section:

Required permissions

The following permissions are required to enable or disable projects to send HTTP requests to alpha Compute Engine API URIs:

To edit organization policies: orgpolicy.policy.set on the organization, folder, or project
To enable or disable access to an alpha Compute Engine API URI for a project: compute.previewFeatures.update on the project
To view available alpha features: compute.previewFeatures.get on the project

You might also be able to get these permissions with custom roles or other predefined roles.

Allow access to alpha features

Configure the Block Compute Engine preview features (compute.managed.blockPreviewFeatures) organization policy. By default, this policy blocks all preview features.

To allow access to alpha features, you must either explicitly allow specific features (recommended) or disable the policy (optional).

Method 1: Explicitly allow specific features (Recommended)

To allow specific preview features while keeping the policy enforced, select one of the following options:

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Organization policies page.

Go to Organization policies
If you haven't already, from the project picker, select the organization, folder, or project where you want to edit the policy.
In the Name column, click Block Compute Engine preview features. The Policy details page appears.
Click Manage policy. The Edit policy page appears.
In the Policy source section, select Override parent's policy.
In the Rules section, click Add rule, and then do the following:
1. In the Enforcement section, select On.
2. In the row containing the allowedPreviewFeatures parameter, click Edit. The Edit parameter values pane appears.
3. In the Value type section, select User-defined.
4. In the User-defined values section, enter the feature name (for example, alpha-api-access).
5. Click Save.
Click Set policy. Then, in the dialog that appears, click Set policy again.

The policy change can take up to 15 minutes to propagate.

gcloud

To download the compute.managed.blockPreviewFeatures policy as a file named policy.yaml, use the gcloud org-policies describe command with one of the following flags:
- To configure the policy in your organization, include the --organization flag:
```
gcloud org-policies describe compute.managed.blockPreviewFeatures --organization=ORGANIZATION_ID > policy.yaml
```
- To configure the policy in your folder, include the --folder flag:
```
gcloud org-policies describe compute.managed.blockPreviewFeatures --folder=FOLDER_ID > policy.yaml
```
- To configure the policy in your project, include the --project flag:
```
gcloud org-policies describe compute.managed.blockPreviewFeatures --project=PROJECT_ID > policy.yaml
```
Replace the following:
- ORGANIZATION_ID: the ID of your organization
- FOLDER_ID: the ID of your folder
- PROJECT_ID: the ID of your project
Open the policy.yaml file using a text editor. In the file, after the rules field, configure it to enforce the policy and list the allowed features under the parameters field. For example, if you're configuring the policy in your organization, your policy.yaml entry is as follows:
```
name: organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/policies/compute.managed.blockPreviewFeatures
spec:
  rules:
  - enforce: true
    parameters:
      allowedPreviewFeatures:
      - alpha-api-access
```
Save the policy.yaml file, and then close the text editor.
To update the policy for your organization, folder, or project, use the gcloud org-policies set-policy command:
```
gcloud org-policies set-policy policy.yaml
```

Method 2: Disable the policy (Optional)

If you want to allow access to all preview features without listing them individually, you can disable the policy.

Console

Follow steps 1-5 from Method 1.
In the Rules section, click Add rule, and in the Enforcement section, select Off.
Click Set policy. Then, in the dialog that appears, click Set policy again.

gcloud

Download the policy as described in Method 1.
Open the policy.yaml file using a text editor. In the file, after the rules field, add the enforce field set to false. For example, if you're disabling the policy in your organization, your policy.yaml entry is as follows:
```
name: organizations/ORGANIZATION_ID/policies/compute.managed.blockPreviewFeatures
spec:
  rules:
  - enforce: false
```
Save the policy.yaml file, and then close the text editor.
To update the policy for your organization, folder, or project, use the gcloud org-policies set-policy command:
```
gcloud org-policies set-policy policy.yaml
```
Optional: To delete the policy.yaml file, do one of the following:
- If you're using the Linux or macOS terminal, then use the following command:
```
rm policy.yaml
```
- If you're using the Windows terminal, then use the following command:
```
del policy.yaml
```

The policy change can take up to 15 minutes to propagate.

For more information about managing organization policies, see Using constraints in the Resource Manager documentation.

Use alpha features in your project

After you allow your organization, folder, or project access to Compute Engine alpha features, you can enable a project to use those features by completing the following steps:

View available alpha features
Enable an alpha feature
Optional: View enabled alpha features

View available alpha features

To view which Compute Engine features are available in alpha, select one of the following options:

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Preview features page.

Go to Preview features

In the table that appears, you can view a list of available alpha features.

gcloud

To view the Compute Engine features available in alpha, use the gcloud compute preview-features list command.

Execute the following command:

Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell

gcloud compute preview-features list

Windows (PowerShell)

gcloud compute preview-features list

Windows (cmd.exe)

gcloud compute preview-features list

You should receive a response similar to the following:

NAME              STATUS
alpha-feature-1   DISABLED
alpha-feature-2   DISABLED

REST

To view the Compute Engine features available in alpha, make a GET request to the previewFeatures.list method.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

PROJECT_ID: the ID of your project

HTTP method and URL:

GET https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login , or by using Cloud Shell, which automatically logs you into the gcloud CLI . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Execute the following command:

curl -X GET \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     "https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures"

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method GET `
    -Headers $headers `
    -Uri "https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{ 
  "previewFeatures": [
    {
      "activationStatus": "DISABLED",
      "creationTimestamp": "2025-03-01T00:00:00Z",
      "description": "Please see status.description for details.",
      "id": "560966157",
      "name": "alphaFeature1",
      "status": {
        "description": "Enables access to alpha APIs.",
        "helpLink": "some-link",
        "releaseStatus": {
          "stage": "GA",
          "updateDate": {
            "day": 1,
            "month": 3,
            "year": 2025
          }
        }
      }
    },
    ...
  ]
}

Enable an alpha feature

To enable your project to send HTTP requests to the alpha URI of a Compute Engine feature, select one of the following options:

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Preview features page.

Go to Preview features
Click Enable next to the preview feature you want to enable. Then, in the dialog that appears, click Enable again.

gcloud

To enable your project to send HTTP requests to the alpha URI of a Compute Engine feature, use the gcloud compute preview-features update command with the --activation-status flag set to enabled.

Before using any of the command data below, make the following replacements:

FEATURE_NAME: the name of the feature that you want to start using.

Execute the following command:

Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell

gcloud compute preview-features update FEATURE_NAME \
    --activation-status=enabled \
    --rollout-plan=fast-rollout

Windows (PowerShell)

gcloud compute preview-features update FEATURE_NAME `
    --activation-status=enabled `
    --rollout-plan=fast-rollout

Windows (cmd.exe)

gcloud compute preview-features update FEATURE_NAME ^
    --activation-status=enabled ^
    --rollout-plan=fast-rollout

You should receive a response similar to the following:

status: DONE

REST

To enable your project to send HTTP requests to the alpha URI of a Compute Engine feature, make a PATCH request to the previewFeatures.update method.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

PROJECT_ID: the ID of your project.
FEATURE_NAME: the name of the feature that you want to start using.

HTTP method and URL:

PATCH https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures/FEATURE_NAME

Request JSON body:

{
  "activationStatus": "ENABLED",
  "rolloutOperation": {
    "rolloutInput": {
      "predefinedRolloutPlan": "ROLLOUT_PLAN_FAST_ROLLOUT"
    }
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X PATCH \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures/FEATURE_NAME"

PowerShell (Windows)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method PATCH `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures/FEATURE_NAME" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "compute#operation",
  "status": "DONE"
}

Terraform

To enable your project to send HTTP requests to the alpha URI of a Compute Engine feature, use the google_compute_preview_feature Terraform resource.

For example, to enable access to all Compute Engine alpha features, use the following resource:


resource "google_compute_preview_feature" "default" {
  name              = "alpha-api-access"
  activation_status = "ENABLED"
  rollout_operation {
    rollout_input {
      predefined_rollout_plan = "ROLLOUT_PLAN_FAST_ROLLOUT"
    }
  }
}

For more information about using Terraform with Google Cloud, see the Terraform on Google Cloud documentation.

View enabled alpha features

To view a list of enabled Compute Engine alpha features in your project, select one of the following options:

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Preview features page.

Go to Preview features
In the table that appears, you can view the enabled features by verifying whether a green check mark appears next to a feature name.

gcloud

To view a list of enabled alpha features, use the gcloud compute preview-features list command with the --filter flag set to activationStatus=ENABLED.

Execute the following command:

Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell

gcloud compute preview-features list --filter=activationStatus=ENABLED

Windows (PowerShell)

gcloud compute preview-features list --filter=activationStatus=ENABLED

Windows (cmd.exe)

gcloud compute preview-features list --filter=activationStatus=ENABLED

You should receive a response similar to the following:

NAME              STATUS
alpha-feature-1   ENABLED
alpha-feature-2   ENABLED

REST

To view a list of enabled alpha features, make a GET request to the previewFeatures.list method. In the request URL, set the filter query parameter to items.activationStatus=ENABLED.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

PROJECT_ID: the ID of your project

HTTP method and URL:

GET https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures?filter=activationStatus=ENABLED

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Execute the following command:

curl -X GET \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     "https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures?filter=activationStatus=ENABLED"

PowerShell (Windows)

Execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method GET `
    -Headers $headers `
    -Uri "https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures?filter=activationStatus=ENABLED" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{ 
  "etag": "Ehx4OkkYX3CUXGRWAE8lvEn0ZDE=/rEhZfPEilwjblfZuwOYpO1nHC2c=",
  "id": "projects/example-project",
  "previewFeatures": [
    {
      "activationStatus": "ENABLED",
      "creationTimestamp": "2025-03-01T00:00:00Z",
      "description": "Please see status.description for details.",
      "id": "560966157",
      "name": "alphaFeature1",
      "status": {
        "description": "Enables access to alpha APIs.",
        "helpLink": "some-link",
        "releaseStatus": {
          "stage": "GA",
          "updateDate": {
            "day": 1,
            "month": 3,
            "year": 2025
          }
        }
      }
    },
    ...
  ],
  "selfLink": "https://www./compute/projects/example-project"
}

Disable an alpha feature

If you no longer need to use a Compute Engine alpha feature, then you can disable your project access to it.

To disable your project from sending HTTP requests to the alpha URI of a Compute Engine feature, select one of the following options:

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Preview features page.

Go to Preview features
Click Disable next to the preview feature you want to disable. Then, in the dialog that appears, click Disable again.

gcloud

To disable your project from sending HTTP requests to the alpha URI of a Compute Engine feature, use the gcloud compute preview-features update command with the --activation-status flag set to unspecified.

Before using any of the command data below, make the following replacements:

FEATURE_NAME: the name of the feature that you want to stop using.

Execute the following command:

Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell

gcloud compute preview-features update FEATURE_NAME \
    --activation-status=unspecified \
    --rollout-plan=fast-rollout

Windows (PowerShell)

gcloud compute preview-features update FEATURE_NAME `
    --activation-status=unspecified `
    --rollout-plan=fast-rollout

Windows (cmd.exe)

gcloud compute preview-features update FEATURE_NAME ^
    --activation-status=unspecified ^
    --rollout-plan=fast-rollout

You should receive a response similar to the following:

status: DONE

REST

To disable your project from sending HTTP requests to the alpha URI of a Compute Engine feature, make a PATCH request to the previewFeatures.update method.

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

PROJECT_ID: the ID of your project.
FEATURE_NAME: the name of the feature that you want to stop using.

HTTP method and URL:

PATCH https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures/FEATURE_NAME

Request JSON body:

{
  "activationStatus": "ACTIVATION_STATUS_UNSPECIFIED",
  "rolloutOperation": {
    "rolloutInput": {
      "predefinedRolloutPlan": "ROLLOUT_PLAN_FAST_ROLLOUT"
    }
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X PATCH \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures/FEATURE_NAME"

PowerShell (Windows)

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method PATCH `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://compute./compute/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/previewFeatures/FEATURE_NAME" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "compute#operation",
  "status": "DONE"
}

Terraform

To disable your project from sending HTTP requests to the alpha URI of a Compute Engine feature, use the google_compute_preview_feature Terraform resource.

For example, to disable access to all Compute Engine alpha features, use the following resource:


resource "google_compute_preview_feature" "default" {
  name              = "alpha-api-access"
  activation_status = "ACTIVATION_STATE_UNSPECIFIED"
  rollout_operation {
    rollout_input {
      predefined_rollout_plan = "ROLLOUT_PLAN_FAST_ROLLOUT"
    }
  }
}

For more information about using Terraform with Google Cloud, see the Terraform on Google Cloud documentation.

What's next

Best practices for the Compute Engine API

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Last updated 2026-08-05 UTC.

Use the Compute Engine alpha API Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Before you begin

Console

gcloud

Terraform

REST

Required roles

Required permissions

Allow access to alpha features

Method 1: Explicitly allow specific features (Recommended)

Console

gcloud

Method 2: Disable the policy (Optional)

Console

gcloud

Use alpha features in your project

View available alpha features

Console

gcloud

Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell

Windows (PowerShell)

Windows (cmd.exe)

REST

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Enable an alpha feature

Console

gcloud

Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell

Windows (PowerShell)

Windows (cmd.exe)

REST

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Terraform

View enabled alpha features

Console

gcloud

Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell

Windows (PowerShell)

Windows (cmd.exe)

REST

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Disable an alpha feature

Console

gcloud

Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell

Windows (PowerShell)

Windows (cmd.exe)

REST

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

PowerShell (Windows)

Terraform

What's next

Use the Compute Engine alpha API