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What is Diffbot-User?

Diffbot-User is the agent Diffbot uses for fetches its users request.

User-triggered fetchNot documentedNo way to verify
Operator
Diffbot
Purpose
User-triggered fetch. Fetches a page when a person asks an assistant about it.
robots.txt token
Diffbot-User
Sample user agent
Diffbot does not publish its full user agent strings.User agents change with versions. Match on the token, not the full string.
Follows robots.txt
Not documented by the operator. Diffbot does not state this separately for Diffbot-User.
How to verify
Diffbot doesn't publish a way to verify it.
Sources
Diffbot documentation
Last reviewed

Allow or block Diffbot-User

Block Diffbot-User
User-agent: Diffbot-User
Disallow: /

Asks Diffbot-User not to crawl any page. Well-behaved crawlers stop; it does not stop anyone who ignores robots.txt.

Allow Diffbot-User
User-agent: Diffbot-User
Allow: /

Lets Diffbot-User crawl everything. You only need this if a broader rule would otherwise block it.

Should you block it?

Diffbot-User only visits when a person asks Diffbot's assistant about your page. Blocking it means the assistant can't read the page that person asked about.

Write a full policy with the AI Crawler Policy Generator

Diffbot-User can't be verified

Diffbot doesn't publish IP ranges, DNS names or signatures for Diffbot-User. The user agent is the only signal, and anyone can copy it, so treat a request that claims to be Diffbot-User as unproven.

Questions about Diffbot-User

Is Diffbot-User safe to allow?

Diffbot-User reads public pages; it does not log in or submit forms. Whether to allow it depends on whether you want Diffbot's product to use your pages.

How do I know a request is really Diffbot-User?

You can't, from the request alone. Diffbot doesn't publish IP ranges, DNS names or signatures for it, so the user agent is the only signal, and anyone can copy that.

How often does Diffbot-User visit?

It depends on your site; Diffbot doesn't publish a schedule. Referscope shows the real visits.

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