What is CloudflareWebScanner?

CloudflareWebScanner is a bot in the search engine crawlers category, operated by Cloudflare.

Bot name
CloudflareWebScanner
Operator
Cloudflare
Type
Bot
Respects robots.txt
Yes
robots.txt user agent
CloudflareWebScanner
Signs requests (Web Bot Auth)
Yes

About CloudflareWebScanner

Cloudflare Web Scanner is a well-behaved crawler that checks domain liveness, content type, robots.txt directives, and other web properties to map the shape of the web.

Search engine crawlers index your pages so they can appear in search results. Keep the genuine ones allowed and verify them, because fake search crawlers are one of the most common disguises for scrapers.

CloudflareWebScanner user agent

CloudflareWebScanner identifies itself with this user agent string:

  • CloudflareWebScanner/1.0

Anyone can copy a user agent string. Transfon Security also checks where each request comes from, so a request that claims to be a known crawler but comes from the wrong network is treated as a fake, not as the real crawler.

How to block CloudflareWebScanner in robots.txt

CloudflareWebScanner follows robots.txt, so these rules stop it crawling the paths you choose. robots.txt is a plain text file at the root of your domain, such as https://example.com/robots.txt.

Block CloudflareWebScanner from the whole site

User-agent: CloudflareWebScanner
Disallow: /

Block CloudflareWebScanner from some folders

User-agent: CloudflareWebScanner
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /search

Allow CloudflareWebScanner only on some folders

User-agent: CloudflareWebScanner
Allow: /blog/
Disallow: /

Allow CloudflareWebScanner and block other crawlers

User-agent: CloudflareWebScanner
Allow: /

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

Things to know

  • Each host needs its own file. Rules on www.example.com do not apply to shop.example.com.
  • A crawler obeys only the most specific group that names it. Once you add a User-agent: CloudflareWebScanner group, CloudflareWebScanner ignores your User-agent: * rules, so repeat any that should still apply.
  • The user agent name is not case sensitive. We take CloudflareWebScanner from CloudflareWebScanner's user agent; check Cloudflare's own documentation if it publishes a different robots.txt name.
  • Crawlers cache robots.txt, so changes can take up to a day to apply. Disallow stops crawling but does not remove pages already collected or indexed.

Limits of robots.txt

  1. CloudflareWebScanner may not follow the rule. CloudflareWebScanner says it follows robots.txt, but nothing enforces that. Changes can take a day to apply, the operator can change its policy, and other crawlers from Cloudflare use different names and rules.
  2. The user agent could be fake. robots.txt matches the name a request claims. Anyone can send CloudflareWebScanner's user agent, and a scraper using it is not bound by Cloudflare's robots.txt policy. Only checking the source network tells a real CloudflareWebScanner from a fake one.

Treat robots.txt as a statement of your policy, and enforce it where requests arrive.

Who should care about CloudflareWebScanner

Publishers

CloudflareWebScanner brings search traffic, so keep the real one allowed. Fake CloudflareWebScanner requests are a common cover for scrapers, so verify it by network rather than by name.

Transfon Security for publishers

Media buyers and advertisers

Search crawlers fetch landing pages to check them. Keep CloudflareWebScanner allowed, but out of campaign and conversion data.

Transfon Security for advertisers

E-commerce

CloudflareWebScanner indexes products for search results. Allow it, and block impersonators that use its name to scrape prices.

Transfon Security for e-commerce

SaaS and APIs

Allow CloudflareWebScanner on marketing and docs pages, and keep it off signed-in app pages it cannot use.

Transfon Security for SaaS and APIs

Block CloudflareWebScanner with Transfon Security

robots.txt is a request, not an enforcement. Transfon Security shows CloudflareWebScanner by name in the Top Bots report, so you can see how often it visits and which pages it reads. Block or allow it with a User Agent rule, or slow it down with a rate limit decision rule.

Transfon Security

Control CloudflareWebScanner on your site

  • See every CloudflareWebScanner visit and the pages it reads
  • Spot bots that fake trusted crawler names
  • Block, allow or rate limit CloudflareWebScanner with one rule
  • Works with or without robots.txt support

Frequently asked questions

What is CloudflareWebScanner?

CloudflareWebScanner is a bot in the search engine crawlers category, operated by Cloudflare. Cloudflare Web Scanner is a well-behaved crawler that checks domain liveness, content type, robots.txt directives, and other web properties to map the shape of the web.

Does CloudflareWebScanner respect robots.txt?

Yes. CloudflareWebScanner follows robots.txt, so a Disallow rule for the CloudflareWebScanner user agent stops it from crawling the paths you list.

How do I block CloudflareWebScanner?

Add "User-agent: CloudflareWebScanner" followed by "Disallow: /" to the robots.txt file at the root of your site. To enforce it, block requests whose user agent contains "CloudflareWebScanner" at your WAF. In Transfon Security that is one User Agent block rule.

Is robots.txt enough to block CloudflareWebScanner?

No. robots.txt is voluntary, so CloudflareWebScanner may not follow it, and anyone can send CloudflareWebScanner's user agent, so a fake CloudflareWebScanner ignores your rule. Enforce the rule where requests arrive, at your WAF, and check the source network.

Should I block CloudflareWebScanner?

Search engine crawlers index your pages so they can appear in search results. Keep the genuine ones allowed and verify them, because fake search crawlers are one of the most common disguises for scrapers.

Related bots

All search engine crawlers · Full bot directory

See Which Bots Visit Your Site

Transfon Security identifies every bot in this directory in your traffic reports, flags fake search crawlers, and lets you allow, block or rate limit each bot.

Stay ahead of the publishing curve

Privacy, security, monetization, and performance insights. A few emails a month, no spam.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy.