[AI crawlers](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers) · Anthropic · Fetches when a user asks · Counted in the score

# Claude-User

Claude-User is Anthropic's fetches when a user asks crawler token. Blocking it costs points in the AI readiness score. 12% of the top 1,000 websites with a robots.txt block it.

Fetches a site when a person asks Claude a question that needs web retrieval, so Claude can answer from the page and cite it.

## Where this comes from

- **Documented by the vendor.** Source: [support.claude.com](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler)
- **Honours robots.txt.** Published addresses: [claude.com/crawling/bots.json](https://claude.com/crawling/bots.json).
- **Counted in the readiness score.** It can keep a site out of AI search or answers, so a block costs points.

## In the top 1,000 websites

- **12% block it in robots.txt** (68 of the 569 sites with a robots.txt), as of 2026-10-12.
- Method, limits and the full data: [the October 2026 study of the top 1,000 websites](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/research/ai-crawler-access-october-2026).

## What blocking it costs

A rule may not stop it: Claude-User fetches a page because a person asked about it, and its vendor says such fetches can bypass robots.txt. Where it does honour the rule, the assistant cannot read your page when asked. The score counts it, so a block costs points.

## The robots.txt lines

To let it in (a group that names the crawler replaces any wildcard rules for it, so this also lifts a `User-agent: *` block):

```
User-agent: Claude-User
Allow: /
```

To keep it out:

```
User-agent: Claude-User
Disallow: /
```

A rule in robots.txt is a request. Anthropic says this crawler honours it. The [robots.txt generator](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/tools/robots-txt) writes a whole file with the same split: block the training crawlers, keep the search and answer crawlers.

## Also from [Anthropic](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/vendor/anthropic)

- [`ClaudeBot`](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/claudebot) · Training only
- [`Claude-SearchBot`](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/claude-searchbot) · AI search index
- [`Claude-Web`](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/claude-web) · Retired token
- [`anthropic-ai`](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/anthropic-ai) · Retired token

## Does Claude-User get through on your site?

[Run the free check](https://www.crawlreadiness.com/): it reads your robots.txt against all 51 crawlers and tells you which ones can read you, and what to change.

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Source: https://www.crawlreadiness.com/crawlers/claude-user