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AI crawler

What is Meta-ExternalAgent?

Meta-ExternalAgent is Meta's crawler for training its AI models and indexing content.

AI trainingFollows robots.txtNo way to verify
Operator
Meta
Purpose
AI training. Collects pages to train AI models. Blocking it does not remove you from AI answers.
robots.txt token
meta-externalagent
Sample user agent
meta-externalagent/1.1 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers)User agents change with versions. Match on the token, not the full string.
Follows robots.txt
Yes, according to Meta.
How to verify
Meta doesn't publish a way to verify it.
Sources
Meta documentation
Last reviewed

Allow or block Meta-ExternalAgent

Block Meta-ExternalAgent
User-agent: meta-externalagent
Disallow: /

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

Allow Meta-ExternalAgent
User-agent: meta-externalagent
Allow: /

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

Should you block it?

Blocking Meta-ExternalAgent asks Meta not to use new crawls of your pages for training. It doesn't remove you from AI answers, and it doesn't affect Meta-WebIndexer.

Write a full policy with the AI Crawler Policy Generator

Meta-ExternalAgent can't be verified

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

Questions about Meta-ExternalAgent

Is Meta-ExternalAgent safe to allow?

Meta-ExternalAgent reads public pages; it does not log in or submit forms. Whether to allow it is about how your content is used, not security.

How do I know a request is really Meta-ExternalAgent?

You can't, from the request alone. Meta 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 Meta-ExternalAgent visit?

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

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