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Meta-ExternalAgent user agent

Operated by Meta · Model training · Learning from you

robots.txt token
Meta-ExternalAgent
Full User-Agent string
meta-externalagent/1.1 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/crawler)

Meta-ExternalAgent identifies itself with the token Meta-ExternalAgent. That is the case-insensitive substring to grep for in access logs, and the exact name to put after User-agent: in robots.txt. It collects pages as training data for a model.

Allow or block Meta-ExternalAgent in robots.txt

Robots.txt applies the most specific matching group, so a group naming Meta-ExternalAgent overrides your User-agent: * rules for this bot alone.

Allow
User-agent: Meta-ExternalAgent
Allow: /
Block
User-agent: Meta-ExternalAgent
Disallow: /

What blocking costs you: Meta AI (Llama family) can't train on your content.

To see which AI crawlers your robots.txt allows right now, run your domain through the AI crawler access checker. To check whether AI answers actually cite you, use the AI citation checker.

Meta's other crawlers

Blocking one Meta bot does not block the others — each token is a separate group.

FAQ

What is the Meta-ExternalAgent user agent?
Meta-ExternalAgent announces itself with the User-Agent token "Meta-ExternalAgent". That token is the case-insensitive substring to match in server logs and the exact name to put after "User-agent:" in robots.txt. The full line Meta publishes is: meta-externalagent/1.1 (+https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/crawler)
Who operates Meta-ExternalAgent and what does it collect?
Meta-ExternalAgent is run by Meta and collects pages as training data for a model. In the AI picture that puts it under "Learning from you": Feeding the models that power future answers.
How do I block Meta-ExternalAgent?
Add a robots.txt group naming the token exactly: User-agent: Meta-ExternalAgent followed by Disallow: /. Robots.txt matches the most specific group, so a Meta-ExternalAgent group overrides whatever your User-agent: * group says. Meta AI (Llama family) can't train on your content.
Should I block Meta-ExternalAgent?
That depends on what you lose. Meta AI (Llama family) can't train on your content. Sites chasing AI citations usually keep the live-answer and AI-search bots open and make a separate decision about the training crawlers. Run your domain through the AI crawler access checker to see which ones your robots.txt lets in today.
Can Meta-ExternalAgent be spoofed?
Yes. A User-Agent header is self-reported, so any scraper can claim to be Meta-ExternalAgent. The token is fine for reporting and for robots.txt, but if you are rate-limiting or firewalling on it, verify the request IP against Meta's published ranges before you trust the name.

Paste a full User-Agent line and identify any crawler with the AI bot user agent list and lookup, or see every token side by side.