Applebot-Extended: Apple's AI Training Opt-Out Token
Apple · Robots.txt control token (not a crawler) · Last verified October 2026
Applebot-Extended is a robots.txt control token, not a crawler. It governs whether Apple may use content Applebot already collected to train Apple Intelligence foundation models. The actual crawling is done by Applebot. Blocking the token doesn't change Applebot's crawling or your Siri/Spotlight results.
What is Applebot-Extended?
Controls whether Apple may use your content to train Apple Intelligence foundation models. The actual crawler is Applebot.
Why there is no user-agent string
Applebot-Extended never fetches anything, so it has no user-agent string. You'll never see it in your server logs — the crawling is done by Applebot. The token exists only as a name you can reference in robots.txt.
Does Applebot-Extended respect robots.txt?
Not applicable — it's a token, not a bot. Apple honors it as a training opt-out.
How to use the Applebot-Extended token in robots.txt
To opt out of training use, add this to robots.txt. (Allowing is the default — you only need a rule to block.)
User-agent: Applebot-Extended Disallow: /
What blocking Applebot-Extended does (and doesn't do)
Training opt-out only. Blocking Applebot-Extended doesn't affect Siri results, Spotlight, or Applebot's crawling. Like Google-Extended, it's frequently misunderstood — and frequently blocked by accident in aggressive AI-bot templates.
Beyond robots.txt
robots.txt is a request, not a barrier. For server- and CDN-level blocking (nginx, Apache, Cloudflare WAF), see blocking beyond robots.txt on the overview page.
Applebot-Extended vs. related bots
Changelog
Last verified October 2026.
What does Applebot-Extended see on your site?
Operator docs: Apple · All AI crawlers