Claude-User is the user agent Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant, uses to access websites when a person asks Claude a question. The visit is triggered by that request and is not broad crawling. The robots.txt token is Claude-User.
At a glance
- Operator
- Anthropic
- Purpose
- fetching pages when users ask Claude a question
- robots.txt token
Claude-User- Respects robots.txt
- yes, blocking prevents retrieval for user queries, says Anthropic
- IP list
- yes (JSON)
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What does Anthropic use Claude-User for?
According to Anthropic, Claude uses this user agent to visit websites in response to user queries. Anthropic runs two more bots with separate tasks: ClaudeBot collects web content for training, and Claude-SearchBot improves the quality of search results. A visit from Claude-User therefore happens at a specific moment when someone asked a matching question.
| Bot | Operator | Purpose | robots.txt token | robots.txt according to the operator | IP list published? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google-Extended | Controls Gemini training and grounding (no crawler of its own) | Google-Extended | robots.txt token only; fetching is done by existing Google crawlers | n/a (no user agent of its own) | |
| GPTBot | OpenAI | Training | GPTBot | Disallowing it signals content should not be used to train foundation models | yes (openai.) |
| OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | Search (ChatGPT) | OAI-SearchBot | opted-out sites are not shown in ChatGPT search answers | yes (openai.) |
| ChatGPT-User | OpenAI | User-triggered fetch | ChatGPT-User | robots.txt rules may not apply, says OpenAI (user-initiated) | yes (openai.) |
| ClaudeBot | Anthropic | Training | ClaudeBot | yes, Anthropic says its bots honor robots.txt | yes (claude.) |
| Claude-SearchBot | Anthropic | Search (Claude) | Claude-SearchBot | yes, Anthropic says its bots honor robots.txt | yes (claude.) |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Search (Perplexity), not used for model training | PerplexityBot | controllable via robots.txt; the docs contain no explicit compliance statement | yes (perplexity.) |
| Applebot-Extended | Apple | Controls AI training (does not crawl, says Apple) | Applebot-Extended | robots.txt token only, applies to content Applebot already crawled | n/a (no crawler of its own) |
| CCBot | Common Crawl | Open web crawl archive | CCBot | can be blocked via robots.txt, says Common Crawl | yes (index.) |
| Meta-ExternalAgent | Meta | Training foundation AI models, improving products | meta-externalagent | can be blocked via robots.txt, says Meta | not stated by the operator |
A selection of ten AI bots from major operators, not a complete list. All values come from each operator's own documentation (as of 8 October 2026). The table does not show whether a bot actually complies with robots.txt; it only reflects what operators state. User agents can be spoofed; published IP lists or reverse DNS identify genuine requests. Sources: OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI Crawlers; Anthropic: Does Anthropic crawl data from the web, and how can site owners block the crawler? (updated 2026-04-07); Perplexity: Perplexity Crawlers; Google: Google's common crawlers (last updated 2026-07-14); Google: Overview of Google crawlers and fetchers (last updated 2026-06-12); Google: Verifying Google crawlers and fetchers (IP range files); Apple: About Applebot (2026-09-04); Meta: Meta Web Crawlers; Common Crawl: CCBot. Last checked: .
How can you control Claude-User?
Anthropic states that its bots honor robots.txt directives, and that Claude-User lets site owners control which sites can be accessed through user-initiated requests. Unlike OpenAI for ChatGPT-User, Anthropic names no exception for user-triggered fetches. The non-standard Crawl-delay extension is supported as well. Blocking Claude-User, according to Anthropic, may reduce a site’s visibility for user-directed web search. Requests can be checked against the IP ranges Anthropic publishes as a JSON file.
Example
User-agent: Claude-User
Disallow: /private/
The rule blocks only the /private/ directory. The rest of the site stays available to Claude-User.
Common mistakes
- Blocking Anthropic bots by IP address. Anthropic warns that this stops the bot from reading robots.txt and may not guarantee an opt-out.
- Setting the rule on the main domain only. Anthropic says the directive must be applied to each subdomain separately.
FAQ
Does blocking Claude-User affect training? Training collection is the job of ClaudeBot. Each Anthropic bot has its own user agent and can be controlled separately.
How does Claude-User differ from ChatGPT-User? Both fetch pages when a user asks a question. One belongs to Anthropic, the other to OpenAI. OpenAI notes that robots.txt rules may not apply to ChatGPT-User, while Anthropic documents robots.txt control for Claude-User.
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Sources
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