---
title: >-
  Bots and agents should identify themselves via Web Bot Auth - Shopify
  developer changelog
description: >-
  Shopify’s developer changelog documents all changes to Shopify’s platform.
  Find the latest news and learn about new platform opportunities.
source_url:
  html: >-
    https://shopify.dev/changelog/bots-and-agents-should-identify-themselves-via-web-bot-auth
  md: >-
    https://shopify.dev/changelog/bots-and-agents-should-identify-themselves-via-web-bot-auth.md
metadata:
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  affectedApi: []
  primaryTag:
    displayName: Platform
    handle: platform
  secondaryTag:
    displayName: Update
    handle: update
  indicatesActionRequired: true
  createdAt: '2026-05-05T15:01:12-04:00'
  postedAt: '2026-05-07T15:00:00-04:00'
  updatedAt: '2026-05-07T14:16:45-04:00'
  effectiveAt: '2026-05-30T12:00:00-04:00'
---

May 7, 2026

Tags:

* Action Required
* Platform

# Bots and agents should identify themselves via Web Bot Auth

### What's changing

Shopify now applies stricter rate limits to bots and agents that access the Storefront API and Shopify-hosted online store pages. Bots and agents that don't sign their requests are subject to the strictest limits. To qualify for higher rate limits, operators should sign their requests with Web Bot Auth. For more details, see [Storefront rate limits](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/usage/limits#storefront-api-rate-limits).

### What you should do

If you operate a bot or agent accessing Shopify storefronts, sign your requests using [Web Bot Auth](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-meunier-web-bot-auth-architecture/). To get started, review the Web Bot Auth architecture and Cloudflare's [implementation guide](https://developers.cloudflare.com/bots/concepts/bot/verified-bots/web-bot-auth/) — for context only, you do not need to enroll with Cloudflare.

#### Higher access tiers

If you require higher rate limits than those provided to Web Bot Auth traffic, please contact us [through this form](https://forms.gle/V88RD31uAVirqE4e9).

#### Shopify Merchants

Shopify merchants who want to [crawl their own stores](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/seo/crawling-your-store) can find ready-to-use Web Bot Auth signatures in the Shopify admin.