What is KimiBot? AI crawler guide
KimiBot by Moonshot AI: Moonshot AI crawler for content that may be used to improve its Kimi models. Check its reported user-agent, robots.txt behavior, source, and verification guidance.
Moonshot AI crawler for content that may be used to improve its Kimi models.
What is KimiBot?
KimiBot is the web crawler operated by Moonshot AI for the purpose of collecting content that may be used to improve its Kimi models. It identifies itself with the user-agent token KimiBot and honors the Robots Exclusion Protocol, meaning it respects robots.txt directives. The crawler is distinct from any search retrieval crawler that Kimi might operate, so blocking it specifically targets training-related data collection without affecting other Kimi services. Site owners can control its access through standard robots.txt rules, and its behavior is documented in Moonshot AI's official crawler policy.
What it's for
For a site owner, KimiBot represents a way that Moonshot AI may gather publicly available web content to train or improve its Kimi models. Allowing the crawler could mean your site's content contributes to the development of AI systems, while blocking it ensures your content is not used for that purpose. Since KimiBot is separate from any search retrieval crawler, blocking it does not impact how your site might appear in Kimi's search features, if any exist.
How to handle KimiBot
To prevent KimiBot from crawling your site for training purposes, add a robots.txt rule that disallows the KimiBot user-agent. This will stop the crawler from accessing any paths you specify. Because KimiBot honors robots.txt, the directive is effective immediately upon the crawler's next visit. There is no need for additional verification or proprietary controls beyond the standard robots.txt file.
robots.txt rule
User-agent: KimiBot Disallow: /
Blocking cost
Blocking KimiBot may prevent your content from being used to train or improve Kimi models, but it does not affect any separate search retrieval crawler that Kimi might operate.
Examples
- A news website adds 'User-agent: KimiBot' with 'Disallow: /' to its robots.txt, and KimiBot stops crawling all pages, ensuring articles are not used for model training.
- A blog allows KimiBot on its public articles but disallows it on private drafts by specifying 'Disallow: /drafts/', and the crawler respects the restriction.
- An e-commerce site notices KimiBot in its logs and, after reviewing the official policy, decides to block it entirely to keep product descriptions out of AI training data.
Related bots
- GPTBot: Also tracked as a training crawler.
- MistralAI-Training: Also tracked as a training crawler.
- Bytespider: Also tracked as a training crawler.
- Applebot-Extended: Also tracked as a training crawler.
- Meta-ExternalAgent: Also tracked as a training crawler.
- CCBot: Also tracked as a training crawler.
- ClaudeBot: Also tracked as a training crawler.
- AI2Bot: Also tracked as a training crawler.
- Google-Extended: Also tracked as a training crawler.
- AI Training Opt-Out: KimiBot is a training crawler tied to this policy decision.
- Robots.txt: Robots.txt is the control file used to allow or block KimiBot.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does KimiBot do?
KimiBot is a crawler from Moonshot AI that collects web content which may be used to improve its Kimi models. It follows robots.txt rules and is separate from any search retrieval crawler.
How can I block KimiBot?
You can block KimiBot by adding a 'User-agent: KimiBot' line followed by 'Disallow: /' (or a specific path) in your robots.txt file. The crawler honors these directives.
Will blocking KimiBot affect my site's visibility in Kimi search?
No, blocking KimiBot only opts your content out of training use. It does not affect any search retrieval crawler that Kimi might operate, so your site's appearance in search results, if applicable, would not be impacted.
Is KimiBot the only crawler from Moonshot AI?
According to the official documentation, KimiBot is specifically for content that may be used to improve Kimi models. Moonshot AI may operate other crawlers for different purposes, such as search retrieval, but those would use different user-agent tokens.
Data & Sources
- Moonshot AI documentation - Primary source for KimiBot crawler details.
- KimiBot verification: Published IP ranges - Verification information published for KimiBot.