SnapchatBot
Snap Inc. •
Since 2017
Quick Actions
Official Docs
What is SnapchatBot?
SnapchatBot fetches web page metadata to generate link previews when URLs are shared within Snapchat. The bot retrieves Open Graph and meta tag information to display rich link cards including titles, descriptions, and thumbnail images. It respects robots.txt directives. Website owners who want their content to display well when shared on Snapchat should ensure proper Open Graph tags are in place.
User Agent String
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Snapchat/1.0; +https://www.snapchat.com)
How to Control SnapchatBot
Block Completely
To prevent SnapchatBot from accessing your entire website, add this to your robots.txt file:
# Block SnapchatBot
User-agent: Snapchat
Disallow: /
Block Specific Directories
To restrict access to certain parts of your site while allowing others:
User-agent: Snapchat
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Allow: /public/
Set Crawl Delay
To slow down the crawl rate (note: not all bots respect this directive):
User-agent: Snapchat
Crawl-delay: 10
How to Verify SnapchatBot
Verification Method:
Check user agent string for Snapchat identifier
Check user agent string for Snapchat identifier
Learn more in the official documentation.
Detection Patterns
Multiple ways to detect SnapchatBot in your application:
Basic Pattern
/SnapchatBot/i
Strict Pattern
/^Mozilla/5\.0 \(compatible; Snapchat/1\.0; \+https\://www\.snapchat\.com\)$/
Flexible Pattern
/SnapchatBot[\s\/]?[\d\.]*?/i
Vendor Match
/.*Snap Inc\..*SnapchatBot/i
Implementation Examples
// PHP Detection for SnapchatBot
function detect_snapchatbot() {
$user_agent = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] ?? '';
$pattern = '/SnapchatBot/i';
if (preg_match($pattern, $user_agent)) {
// Log the detection
error_log('SnapchatBot detected from IP: ' . $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']);
// Set cache headers
header('Cache-Control: public, max-age=3600');
header('X-Robots-Tag: noarchive');
// Optional: Serve cached version
if (file_exists('cache/' . md5($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']) . '.html')) {
readfile('cache/' . md5($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']) . '.html');
exit;
}
return true;
}
return false;
}
# Python/Flask Detection for SnapchatBot
import re
from flask import request, make_response
def detect_snapchatbot():
user_agent = request.headers.get('User-Agent', '')
pattern = r'SnapchatBot'
if re.search(pattern, user_agent, re.IGNORECASE):
# Create response with caching
response = make_response()
response.headers['Cache-Control'] = 'public, max-age=3600'
response.headers['X-Robots-Tag'] = 'noarchive'
return True
return False
# Django Middleware
class SnapchatBotMiddleware:
def __init__(self, get_response):
self.get_response = get_response
def __call__(self, request):
if self.detect_bot(request):
# Handle bot traffic
pass
return self.get_response(request)
// JavaScript/Node.js Detection for SnapchatBot
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
// Middleware to detect SnapchatBot
function detectSnapchatBot(req, res, next) {
const userAgent = req.headers['user-agent'] || '';
const pattern = /SnapchatBot/i;
if (pattern.test(userAgent)) {
// Log bot detection
console.log('SnapchatBot detected from IP:', req.ip);
// Set cache headers
res.set({
'Cache-Control': 'public, max-age=3600',
'X-Robots-Tag': 'noarchive'
});
// Mark request as bot
req.isBot = true;
req.botName = 'SnapchatBot';
}
next();
}
app.use(detectSnapchatBot);
# Apache .htaccess rules for SnapchatBot
# Block completely
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} SnapchatBot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
# Or redirect to a static version
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} SnapchatBot [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/static/
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /static/$1 [L]
# Or set environment variable for PHP
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "SnapchatBot" is_bot=1
# Add cache headers for this bot
<If "%{HTTP_USER_AGENT} =~ /SnapchatBot/i">
Header set Cache-Control "public, max-age=3600"
Header set X-Robots-Tag "noarchive"
</If>
# Nginx configuration for SnapchatBot
# Map user agent to variable
map $http_user_agent $is_snapchatbot {
default 0;
~*SnapchatBot 1;
}
server {
# Block the bot completely
if ($is_snapchatbot) {
return 403;
}
# Or serve cached content
location / {
if ($is_snapchatbot) {
root /var/www/cached;
try_files $uri $uri.html $uri/index.html @backend;
}
try_files $uri @backend;
}
# Add headers for bot requests
location @backend {
if ($is_snapchatbot) {
add_header Cache-Control "public, max-age=3600";
add_header X-Robots-Tag "noarchive";
}
proxy_pass http://backend;
}
}
Should You Block This Bot?
Recommendations based on your website type:
| Site Type | Recommendation | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| E-commerce | Optional | Evaluate based on bandwidth usage vs. benefits |
| Blog/News | Allow | Increases content reach and discoverability |
| SaaS Application | Block | No benefit for application interfaces; preserve resources |
| Documentation | Selective | Allow for public docs, block for internal docs |
| Corporate Site | Limit | Allow for public pages, block sensitive areas like intranets |
Advanced robots.txt Configurations
E-commerce Site Configuration
User-agent: Snapchat
Crawl-delay: 5
Disallow: /cart/
Disallow: /checkout/
Disallow: /my-account/
Disallow: /api/
Disallow: /*?sort=
Disallow: /*?filter=
Disallow: /*&page=
Allow: /products/
Allow: /categories/
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
Publishing/Blog Configuration
User-agent: Snapchat
Crawl-delay: 10
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /drafts/
Disallow: /preview/
Disallow: /*?replytocom=
Allow: /
SaaS/Application Configuration
User-agent: Snapchat
Disallow: /app/
Disallow: /api/
Disallow: /dashboard/
Disallow: /settings/
Allow: /
Allow: /pricing/
Allow: /features/
Allow: /docs/
Quick Reference
User Agent Match
SnapchatBot
Robots.txt Name
Snapchat
Category
social
Respects robots.txt
Yes
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