Botscent

Botscent is an open source script that detects which AI agent or crawler is browsing a website.

Botscent tells your site if an AI agent, not a person, is browsing it, and names the specific agent. It uses a server part that reads request headers and a 5 KB page script that detects browser marks, automation flags, and hidden page input. Tested agents include Claude for Chrome, ChatGPT for Chrome, Manus, Devin, Codex, Cursor, and Grok Bot, alongside crawlers and tools. The page script makes no network requests, sets no cookies, and uses no storage. The project is open source under the MIT license, requires no account or key, and costs nothing.

Botscent at a glance

Best for: Software engineer, Founder
Runs on: Web
Pricing: Free
Released: October 2026
Category: AI agent tool
Website: botscent.nibnalin.me

Key features

Detects AI agents and crawlers
Identifies specific agent names
Uses a 5 KB page script
Zero dependencies
Reads request headers on the server
Checks Web Bot Auth signatures
Inspects automation flags and browser marks
Maintains zero network requests and cookies

Use it for

Log AI agent traffic on a website
Adapt website content for AI agents
Block specific automated agents
Measure and analyze agent visits

Companions

Tools that articles about Botscent recommend using with it, each with its job.

n8n — Self-hostable automation with code allowed in any step
Claude Code — Terminal-first agent that handles multi-hour refactors and migrations
Cursor — Same MCP server, registered with one command.
Pinecone — Official template ingests scraped pages into Pinecone.
Qdrant — Self-hostable index for crawled docs.

Alternatives to Botscent

WebBrain — Runs locally or in the cloud with your choice of LLM and zero telemetry.
BrowserOS — Runs entirely locally and lets AI agents use real user logins to complete tasks.
dots — Uses a patched Firefox engine to bypass detection and web blocks.
Browser Use — Managed remote browsers built for protected sites at $0.02 an hour.
Firecrawl — Provides direct web data access for AI agents with open source flexibility.
Lightpanda — Lower memory footprint and faster execution than Chrome for automated workflows.
Page Agent — Integrates directly into web pages without browser extensions or headless browsers.
Ego Lite — Executes browser automation in isolated workspaces using existing logins.
OpenBot — Runs entirely on your own infrastructure with strict document permissions and custom.
BrowserAct Skills — Builds tested web scrapers from single text prompts with managed infrastructure.
AgentGPT — It allows users to build and deploy autonomous agents in the browser.
Botscope — Stops malicious bots and tracks AI crawler traffic with no server changes required.

All Botscent alternatives