What is Meta-ExternalAgent?
Meta-ExternalAgent is Meta's crawler used for AI training and other purposes. Training crawlers collect pages that may be used to train or improve AI models. From the operator's wording: training foundation AI models or improving products by indexing content directly.
| Operator | Meta |
|---|---|
| Purpose (operator wording) | training / other (training foundation AI models or improving products by indexing content directly) |
| robots.txt token | Meta-ExternalAgent |
| User agent string | meta-externalagent/1.1 (+/documentation/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers) (as printed on the doc page; the link is relative) ; also meta-externalagent/1.1 |
| Respects robots.txt | Yes (operator gives robots.txt instructions) |
| IP ranges | Not stated by the operator |
| Last verified |
What else should I know about Meta-ExternalAgent?
What is the Meta-ExternalAgent user agent string?
This is the user agent string Meta documents for Meta-ExternalAgent, as of October 29, 2026. Version numbers and details can change, so match on the token in robots.txt, not on the whole string.
meta-externalagent/1.1 (+/documentation/sharing/webmasters/web-crawlers) (as printed on the doc page; the link is relative) ; also meta-externalagent/1.1How do I block Meta-ExternalAgent in robots.txt?
Add this group to the robots.txt file at the root of your site. It asks Meta-ExternalAgent to stay out of every page.
User-agent: meta-externalagent
Disallow: /To allow it explicitly, for example while a broader rule blocks other bots:
User-agent: meta-externalagent
Allow: /How do I opt out of Meta training but stay in its search?
Each Meta user agent has its own token, so you can set them one by one. This file blocks Meta-ExternalAgent and allows Meta-ExternalFetcher, Meta-WebIndexer. Every line comes from the rows in this dataset. Whether allowing a bot keeps you in a product is Meta's call, so check each crawler's page. Meta says Meta-ExternalFetcher may not follow robots.txt.
User-agent: meta-externalagent
Disallow: /
User-agent: meta-externalfetcher
Allow: /
User-agent: meta-webindexer
Allow: /Does blocking Meta-ExternalAgent affect AI answers?
Meta does not say what blocking Meta-ExternalAgent changes. That is not stated.
Each other Meta user agent has its own robots.txt token, so a rule for Meta-ExternalAgent does not cover them. See the related crawlers below.
Does Meta-ExternalAgent follow robots.txt?
Yes. Operator gives robots.txt instructions. Meta: 'In order to block these crawlers, add a disallow for the relevant crawler to robots.txt.' Changes may take up to 24 hours.
Robots.txt is a request, not a lock (RFC 9309).
What IP addresses does Meta-ExternalAgent use?
Not stated by the operator. Without a published list you cannot verify Meta-ExternalAgent by address, so a rule at your server cannot rely on one.
Which other Meta crawlers are there?
What should I read next?
Next: give AI tools something to quote
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