What is HSTSPreloadBot?

HSTSPreloadBot is a bot in the security scanners category, operated by Chromium.

Bot name
HSTSPreloadBot
Operator
Chromium
Type
Bot
Respects robots.txt
Not confirmed
robots.txt user agent
hstspreload-bot
Signs requests (Web Bot Auth)
No

About HSTSPreloadBot

Checks that links can be preloaded for Chromium

Security scanners probe sites for vulnerabilities, certificates and exposed services. Some are research projects, some are vendors you hired. Allow your own scanners and block the rest at the WAF.

HSTSPreloadBot user agent

HSTSPreloadBot identifies itself with this user agent string:

  • hstspreload-bot

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 HSTSPreloadBot in robots.txt

We have not confirmed whether HSTSPreloadBot follows robots.txt. Add a rule, then check your logs to see that it stopped. robots.txt is a plain text file at the root of your domain, such as https://example.com/robots.txt.

Block HSTSPreloadBot from the whole site

User-agent: hstspreload-bot
Disallow: /

Block HSTSPreloadBot from some folders

User-agent: hstspreload-bot
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /search

Allow HSTSPreloadBot only on some folders

User-agent: hstspreload-bot
Allow: /blog/
Disallow: /

Allow HSTSPreloadBot and block other crawlers

User-agent: hstspreload-bot
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: hstspreload-bot group, HSTSPreloadBot ignores your User-agent: * rules, so repeat any that should still apply.
  • The user agent name is not case sensitive. We take hstspreload-bot from HSTSPreloadBot's user agent; check Chromium'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. HSTSPreloadBot may not follow the rule. robots.txt is a request that nothing enforces, and we have not confirmed that HSTSPreloadBot follows it. Check your logs after adding a rule.
  2. The user agent could be fake. robots.txt matches the name a request claims. Anyone can send HSTSPreloadBot's user agent, and a scraper using it is not bound by Chromium's robots.txt policy. Only checking the source network tells a real HSTSPreloadBot from a fake one.

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

Who should care about HSTSPreloadBot

Publishers

Allow HSTSPreloadBot if it is a service you use, and keep its visits out of page views and ad requests either way.

Transfon Security for publishers

Media buyers and advertisers

HSTSPreloadBot is not a person. Exclude it from campaign and conversion data so reports reflect real visitors.

Transfon Security for advertisers

E-commerce

Allow HSTSPreloadBot only if it works for your store, and keep it away from cart and checkout.

Transfon Security for e-commerce

SaaS and APIs

If HSTSPreloadBot is a service you use, allow it on the endpoints it needs and block it elsewhere.

Transfon Security for SaaS and APIs

Block HSTSPreloadBot with Transfon Security

robots.txt is a request, not an enforcement. Transfon Security shows HSTSPreloadBot 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 HSTSPreloadBot on your site

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

Frequently asked questions

What is HSTSPreloadBot?

HSTSPreloadBot is a bot in the security scanners category, operated by Chromium. Checks that links can be preloaded for Chromium

Does HSTSPreloadBot respect robots.txt?

We have not confirmed whether HSTSPreloadBot follows robots.txt. Add a robots.txt rule, then check your logs to see that it stopped, and block it by user agent if it did not.

How do I block HSTSPreloadBot?

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

Is robots.txt enough to block HSTSPreloadBot?

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

Should I block HSTSPreloadBot?

Security scanners probe sites for vulnerabilities, certificates and exposed services. Some are research projects, some are vendors you hired. Allow your own scanners and block the rest at the WAF.

Related bots

All security scanners · 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.

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