Which user-agent strings identify DuckDuckBot?

The following user-agent strings identify DuckDuckBot: DuckDuckBot/1.1; (+http://duckduckgo.com/duckduckbot.html).

Does DuckDuckBot respect robots.txt rules?

Yes, DuckDuckBot respects robots.txt directives according to official documentation.

How do I block or allow DuckDuckBot in robots.txt?

You can control DuckDuckBot access using robots.txt rules. See the blocking snippet on this page for specific directives.

How can I verify DuckDuckBot traffic in server logs?

You can verify DuckDuckBot requests by checking your server access logs for the documented user-agent strings. For accurate verification, correlate user-agent patterns with IP ranges or verification methods provided by DuckDuckGo.

What is DuckDuckBot?

Direct Answer: DuckDuckBot is a web crawler for DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckBot's job is to constantly improve our search results and offer users the best and most secure search experience possible.

Operator: DuckDuckGo Purpose: Search Indexing

User-Agent Identification

The following user-agent strings identify DuckDuckBot in your server logs:

DuckDuckBot/1.1; (+http://duckduckgo.com/duckduckbot.html)

robots.txt Rules for DuckDuckBot

Respects robots.txt: Yes

Use the following robots.txt rules to control DuckDuckBot access:

# Block DuckDuckBot
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Disallow: /

# Allow DuckDuckBot
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Allow: /

Crawl Behavior

Request Pattern: Not Documented

Log Verification

To verify DuckDuckBot traffic in your server logs:

Search access logs for the user-agent strings listed above
Check if the IP addresses match documented ranges (if provided by DuckDuckGo)
Verify the crawl pattern matches documented behavior
Use reverse DNS lookup for additional verification if available

Note: Observed behavior in production environments may differ from official documentation. Log-based monitoring provides the only reliable verification of actual bot behavior.

Official Documentation

View Official DuckDuckBot Documentation →

Information extracted on February 2, 2026 from official sources. Content generated with AI assistance.