What is WP.com mShots?
WP.com mShots is a web fetcher operated by Automattic that captures webpage screenshots and thumbnails for the WordPress.com mShots service. You can set up Agent Analytics to see when WP.com mShots visits your website.
Overview
| Operated By | Automattic |
| Source | Official Website |
| Expected To Follow Robots.txt | No |
| Insights Last Updated | September 24, 2026 |
Do you operate this agent? Contact us to suggest an update.
Category
Expected Behavior
WP.com mShots usually makes a single request within seconds of a URL being shared, without crawling further. Traffic rises and falls with sharing activity, so a widely circulated link can produce a sharp burst of fetches.
How To Block WP.com mShots With Robots.txt
Add this rule to your robots.txt file to request that WP.com mShots not access your website, or use Automatic Robots.txt to request the same of all fetchers at once. You can customize which pages are blocked by swapping out / for a different path.
User-agent: WP.com mShots # https://knownagents.com/agents/wp-com-mshots
Disallow: /Insights for WP.com mShots
As of September 24, 2026, this data reflects agent visits measured across thousands of websites using Agent Analytics, combined with daily scans of the top 1000 websites and their robots.txt files.
Robots.txt Blocked Percentage
Country of Origin
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I Block WP.com mShots?
Usually not. Blocking WP.com mShots may leave shared links without a title or image, making them less inviting to click. If it begins fetching at unexpected volume, try rate limiting before blocking it outright. Almost none of the top websites we track currently have robots.txt rules for WP.com mShots.
Does WP.com mShots Follow Robots.txt Rules?
No. WP.com mShots is not expected to follow robots.txt rules, so a disallow rule only communicates your preference. Enforce the block with firewall or server rules, then use Agent Analytics to verify that its requests stop.
Does WP.com mShots Access Private Content?
No. WP.com mShots has no credentials and should access only the public URL and assets needed for a preview. It does not continue through the rest of your site.
How Can I Tell if WP.com mShots Is Visiting My Website?
Agent Analytics tracks WP.com mShots visits in real time. You can also check your server logs for requests whose user-agent string contains "WP.com mShots". Look for a page and its preview assets being requested without follow-up navigation. Because WP.com mShots does not publish a verification method, any client can claim its identity and a log match is only a clue.
Why Is WP.com mShots Visiting My Website?
Someone shared a link to your page. WP.com mShots fetched it to build a preview card, and each new share may trigger another request. A spike often means your content is circulating more widely.