Bot signals · Web crawler
What is SmartCrawl?
WPMU DEV SmartCrawl crawler
SmartCrawl is WPMU DEV’s SEO plugin for WordPress. Its Sitemap Crawler is an external service that scans a site to find issues and URLs missing from its sitemap, starting at the homepage and following internal links up to 500 URLs, and it sends the user agent SmartCrawl SEO Audit 1.0.
01 · Profile
SmartCrawl at a glance.
What to look for in your logs, and what the lookup API returns for its addresses.
- Type
- Web crawler
- User agent
SmartCrawl SEO Audit- API flag
risk.is_crawler
A user agent alone never sets a flag. Anyone can claim to be SmartCrawl; the flag follows the address the request comes from.
02 · In the response
What a match looks like.
A lookup of a SmartCrawl address sets risk.is_crawler. The flags come with geolocation and network data in the same response, for API keys on every paid plan.
The response says which kind of bot an address belongs to, not which operator. A request that claims to be SmartCrawl while risk.is_crawler is false should not be trusted as SmartCrawl.
{
// … location and network fields …
"risk": {
"is_ai": false,
"is_crawler": true,
"is_scanner": false
}
}
03 · Control
Allow or block SmartCrawl.
Your options
- robots.txt works only for crawlers that choose to follow it. Check the operator’s documentation for the token it reads.
- Firewall, WAF or CDN. Many offer bot rules you can allow or deny by category. Use them to enforce what robots.txt only asks for.
- In your app. Look up the client address and allow or deny on
risk.is_crawler, alongside the user agent. - Never on the user agent alone. Blocking the name stops only honest clients; allowing it lets anyone in who borrows it.
04 · Questions
About SmartCrawl.
What is SmartCrawl?
SmartCrawl is WPMU DEV’s SEO plugin for WordPress. Its Sitemap Crawler is an external service that scans a site to find issues and URLs missing from its sitemap, starting at the homepage and following internal links up to 500 URLs, and it sends the user agent SmartCrawl SEO Audit 1.0.
How do I block SmartCrawl?
Deny it at your firewall, WAF or CDN, or look up each client address and deny requests where risk.is_crawler is true. Do not rely on the user agent alone.
Can I trust a request that says it is SmartCrawl?
Not on the user agent alone: any client can send “SmartCrawl SEO Audit” in its user agent. A user agent alone never sets a flag. Check the address with the free bot checker or the lookup API.
Which risk flag does SmartCrawl set?
Its addresses set risk.is_crawler in the lookup response. The risk flags come with every paid plan.
From the blog
Go deeper.
Related bots
Recognise SmartCrawl on every request.
is_ai, is_crawler and is_scanner in every lookup, on every paid plan, from 9,00 € a month (VAT included).