Safe Official docs AI & LLM Bots

img2dataset

Q: What is the official user-agent string for img2dataset?

The official user-agent string for img2dataset is: img2dataset . This is the exact string you must use in robots.txt, Nginx, Apache, or Cloudflare firewall rules to target this bot. User-agent matching in robots.txt is case-insensitive, but the string must be spelled correctly. You can verify that a request genuinely comes from img2dataset by performing a reverse-DNS lookup on the source IP - legitimate bots resolve back to their operator's domain.

Q: Is img2dataset safe?

Yes. img2dataset is a documented bot: Open Source Community publishes a page that names it and explains what it does. Note how it treats robots.txt (below) before relying on a Disallow rule.

Q: How do I block img2dataset in robots.txt?

Add the following lines to your /robots.txt file: User-agent: img2dataset Disallow: / This instructs img2dataset not to crawl any path on your site. The Disallow: / directive covers the entire domain including subfolders. To only block specific sections, replace / with the path (e.g., Disallow: /blog/ ). Note: robots.txt is publicly readable - any bot or human can inspect it at yourdomain.com/robots.txt .

Q: How do I verify if img2dataset is crawling my site?

Search your web server access logs for the string img2dataset (case-insensitive grep: grep -i "img2dataset" /var/log/nginx/access.log ). You can also check Google Search Console → Coverage → Crawl Stats for Googlebot variants. For img2dataset specifically, filter by user-agent in your log analysis tool (GoAccess, AWStats, etc.).

Operated by Open Source Community

Scout's quick take

img2dataset collects pages for Open Source Community's AI training. Blocking it keeps your content out of future training runs and does not change your Google or Bing rankings.

User-agent: img2dataset
Disallow: /

Check if ChatGPT can read my site Build a full robots.txt

Quick Facts

User-Agent:: img2dataset
Category:: AI & LLM Bots
Operator:: Open Source Community
Safety:: Safe
Blocking Impact:: Low - No SEO ranking impact
SEO Impact Score:: 2/10
Official docs:: github.com

Confirmed by the operator

Open Source Community names img2dataset on its own documentation page, linked above. The token, purpose and robots.txt behaviour on this profile come from that page, re-checked on October 19, 2026.

What is img2dataset?

img2dataset is an open-source tool for downloading large image datasets from URL lists. It is run by whoever downloads it, not by one company.

It is commonly used to build image datasets for model training. It identifies itself with the token img2dataset. Open Source Community documents it at github.com.

What happens if you block img2dataset?

No effect on Google or Bing.

Generally safe to allow; provides legitimate crawling value.

Want to see whether img2dataset actually visits you? Read how do I monitor AI bot traffic to my website?

How to block img2dataset with robots.txt

<code>User-agent: img2dataset</code> - Matching is case-insensitive. Robots.txt is fetched from the root of each subdomain separately.

Block completely (robots.txt)

User-agent: img2dataset
Disallow: /

Allow all (robots.txt)

User-agent: img2dataset
Allow: /

Block private only (robots.txt)

User-agent: img2dataset
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /api/
Disallow: /admin/
Allow: /

Nginx server block

# Nginx: Hard-block img2dataset
if ($http_user_agent ~* "img2dataset") {
    return 403 "Bot blocked";
}

Apache .htaccess

# Apache: Hard-block img2dataset
SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "img2dataset" bad_bot
Order Allow,Deny
Allow from all
Deny from env=bad_bot

Meta robots tag

X-Robots-Tag header

X-Robots-Tag: noindex, nofollow

Is img2dataset safe to allow?

Yes. img2dataset is a documented bot: Open Source Community publishes a page that names it and explains what it does. Note how it treats robots.txt (below) before relying on a Disallow rule.

Verify by reverse-DNS lookup: legitimate img2dataset requests resolve to open-source-community's domain.

What does img2dataset do?

From Open Source Community's own documentation.

img2dataset is an open-source tool for downloading large image datasets from URL lists.
Content may be used to train AI models
No effect on Google or Bing.

img2dataset in context

img2dataset is a training crawler operated by Open Source Community. In plain terms, it collects pages to train AI models. Our database files it under AI and LLM crawlers and ranks it Tier 2, important crawlers from established AI and search operators. 74 of the 104 AI and LLM crawlers in our database share this tier.

Its safety rating is safe and its blocking impact is low. So the decision about img2dataset rests on what you want from Open Source Community, not on its behaviour. How we rate safety and impact.

How site owners treat img2dataset

Our robots.txt study of the Tranco top 10,000 did not track img2dataset as a named token, so we do not publish an adoption figure for it. If you run a large site, your own logs are the best evidence of how often it visits.

Does it follow robots.txt?

img2dataset's operator does not clearly document how it treats robots.txt. Write the img2dataset rule anyway, then confirm in your logs that its requests stop.

Open Source Community crawlers and close alternatives

Open Source Community runs only this one crawler in our database, so a single User-agent: img2dataset group controls everything Open Source Community fetches through it.

Other AI and LLM crawlers that do the same job (collects pages to train AI models) include ClaudeBot from Anthropic, Google-Extended from Google, GPTBot from OpenAI, Meta-ExternalAgent from Meta, AI2Bot from Allen Institute for AI, aiHitBot from aiHit. Deciding about img2dataset is usually a decision about the whole group, so check how your file treats these too.

We first recorded img2dataset on March 17, 2026. Open Source Community documents it on github.com, and we recheck that page before each release.

Which rule img2dataset actually follows

img2dataset reads exactly one group in robots.txt, the most specific one that names img2dataset, and never combines rules across groups. This short file shows the trap:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /private/

User-agent: img2dataset
Disallow: /drafts/

Find the group. img2dataset looks for a group naming img2dataset. One exists, so it ignores User-agent: * completely.
Apply only that group. It is refused /drafts/ and nothing else.
The surprise. /private/ is open to img2dataset, because that rule lives in the * group it no longer reads. To keep it out of both, repeat Disallow: /private/ inside its own group.

Test yourself: does a rule under User-agent: * apply to img2dataset if the file also has a User-agent: img2dataset group?

No. Once a group names it, img2dataset reads only that group. Put every rule you want it to follow inside its own group.

Test yourself: will blocking img2dataset remove your pages from AI answers?

No. img2dataset collects training data. Blocking it changes what future models learn, not which pages AI answers cite today.

Test yourself: is User-agent: img2dataset the same as User-agent: img2dataset?

Yes. RFC 9309 makes user-agent matching case-insensitive. Paths are a different story: Disallow: /Blog/ does not block /blog/.

Should you allow img2dataset? Decide by situation

Recommended setting for img2dataset by type of site
If you are...	Recommended setting
You publish content and want AI answers to cite it	Your call. img2dataset is a training crawler, so blocking it does not remove you from AI answers; retrieval crawlers do that job.
You license content and want to stop AI training	Block it by name with `User-agent: img2dataset` and `Disallow: /`.
You run an online shop	Allow it unless your logs show it is costly.
Your server is under load from bots	Rate-limit before blocking. It is rated safe in our database.

Check img2dataset on your own site

Open /robots.txt on your domain and search for img2dataset. If it is not named, it follows User-agent: *.
List the Disallow lines in the group img2dataset follows and test your key URLs against them; the longest match wins, and Allow wins a tie.
Look beyond the file. A firewall or bot manager can refuse img2dataset even when robots.txt allows it, and that never shows in the file.
Run our robots.txt AI crawler test to see how img2dataset and every other crawler we track are treated in one pass, including firewall refusals.

Common mistakes with img2dataset

The errors we see most often with img2dataset in the files and firewalls we test:

Assuming that blocking img2dataset removes you from AI answers. It is a training crawler; AI answers are fed by retrieval and user-triggered crawlers with different tokens.
Blocking img2dataset with a broad User-agent: * rule that also catches search engines. Name img2dataset in its own group instead.
Expecting a img2dataset block to remove content already collected. robots.txt only affects future visits.

All three hide inside a file that looks correct, so check img2dataset from outside after every change.

Spotting img2dataset in your logs

robots.txt says what img2dataset may do; your access logs show what it actually did.

Count requests

On a server with standard Nginx or Apache logs, this counts matching requests per day (adjust the log path for your host):

grep -iE "img2dataset" /var/log/nginx/access.log \
  | awk '{print $4}' | cut -d: -f1 | sort | uniq -c

And this shows which paths it requested most, which is the quickest way to see whether your Disallow lines are being respected:

grep -iE "img2dataset" /var/log/nginx/access.log \
  | awk '{print $7}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -20

Check the requests are genuine

Anyone can send the img2dataset user-agent, so confirm the source before acting on a match:

img2dataset: we hold no published IP list, so use reverse DNS where the operator documents a hostname and treat an unverifiable img2dataset request with caution.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official user-agent string for img2dataset?

The official user-agent string for img2dataset is: img2dataset. This is the exact string you must use in robots.txt, Nginx, Apache, or Cloudflare firewall rules to target this bot. User-agent matching in robots.txt is case-insensitive, but the string must be spelled correctly. You can verify that a request genuinely comes from img2dataset by performing a reverse-DNS lookup on the source IP - legitimate bots resolve back to their operator's domain.

Is img2dataset safe?

Yes. img2dataset is a documented bot: Open Source Community publishes a page that names it and explains what it does. Note how it treats robots.txt (below) before relying on a Disallow rule.

Will blocking img2dataset hurt my SEO?

No effect on Google or Bing.

How do I block img2dataset in robots.txt?

Add the following lines to your /robots.txt file:

User-agent: img2dataset
Disallow: /

This instructs img2dataset not to crawl any path on your site. The Disallow: / directive covers the entire domain including subfolders. To only block specific sections, replace / with the path (e.g., Disallow: /blog/). Note: robots.txt is publicly readable - any bot or human can inspect it at yourdomain.com/robots.txt.

Does img2dataset respect robots.txt?

Depends on the person running it. Recent versions honour X-Robots-Tag noai/noimageai headers by default, which is unusual among crawlers.

How do I verify if img2dataset is crawling my site?

Search your web server access logs for the string img2dataset (case-insensitive grep: grep -i "img2dataset" /var/log/nginx/access.log). You can also check Google Search Console → Coverage → Crawl Stats for Googlebot variants. For img2dataset specifically, filter by user-agent in your log analysis tool (GoAccess, AWStats, etc.).

What is the crawl frequency of img2dataset?

img2dataset crawls at a moderate rate. If you notice excessive traffic in your logs, you can add a Crawl-delay directive:

User-agent: img2dataset
Crawl-delay: 10

(10 second delay between requests).

Can I block img2dataset from specific pages only?

Yes. Instead of a global Disallow: / you can restrict img2dataset to specific paths:

User-agent: img2dataset
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /staging/
Allow: /

This allows img2dataset everywhere except the listed paths. Path matching in robots.txt uses prefix matching - Disallow: /private/ blocks /private/page.html but NOT /public/private/.

Does blocking img2dataset prevent AI training on my content?

A robots.txt Disallow for img2dataset is the opt-out Open Source Community documents. Robots.txt is voluntary, so for enforcement add a firewall or CDN rule. It is commonly used to build image datasets for model training.

Is there an alternative to robots.txt to opt out of img2dataset?

The opt-out Open Source Community documents is robots.txt. A firewall, CDN or server rule that returns 403 for img2dataset enforces it. Per-bot meta tags and llms.txt are not opt-out mechanisms any major operator documents.