Datadog and New Relic synthetic user agents
Datadog Synthetics and New Relic Synthetics run scheduled checks that fetch your site from monitoring locations to measure uptime and performance. Their requests carry identifying tokens (Datadog/Synthetics and New Relic markers) so they can be recognised. They are monitoring bots you usually run yourself, not human visits.
What this means
Datadog Synthetics and New Relic Synthetics are monitoring features that periodically request your URLs (and run browser-based checks) from various locations to measure availability and performance. Each check is a scheduled fetch, not a person visiting.
Because you configure these monitors, their traffic is predictable and recurring. The point of recognising them is to keep their volume out of human analytics and to confirm they are hitting the right endpoints.
How they identify themselves
Datadog's synthetic checks send a user agent containing a Datadog/Synthetics token, and New Relic's send one containing a New Relic Synthetics marker. Match on those token substrings. Both vendors document their synthetic monitoring and the identifying user agents.
The user agents are claims like any other; for your own monitors that is fine, since you control them. Browser-based synthetic checks may instead present a real browser UA, so combine the token with the known check source where needed.
- Datadog checks carry a Datadog/Synthetics token
- New Relic checks carry a New Relic Synthetics marker
- Browser-based checks may present a real browser user agent
Operating around synthetic checks
Exclude synthetic-monitor traffic from human analytics so uptime probing does not distort page views or bounce metrics. Keep an allowlist of your own monitors so they are not blocked by anti-bot rules you apply to others.
If you see synthetic-monitor tokens you did not configure, investigate — it may be a stale monitor, a teammate's check, or a copied user agent. The cadence and source usually make the origin clear.
How it appears in analytics and logs
Requests carrying a Datadog Synthetics or New Relic token are scheduled monitoring checks. Their cadence is regular and configured by you; a steady drumbeat of these hits is healthy monitoring, not audience, and should be excluded from human metrics.
Diagnostic use case
Recognise your own Datadog or New Relic synthetic checks in logs, exclude them from human analytics, and confirm monitors are actually reaching the site.
What WebmasterID can help detect
WebmasterID classifies Datadog and New Relic synthetic checks server-side as monitoring bots and surfaces them on the bot-intelligence view, so uptime probes do not inflate human page views.
Common mistakes
- Counting your own synthetic monitor checks as human visits.
- Blocking Datadog/New Relic monitor UAs with anti-bot rules and breaking your own uptime checks.
- Assuming browser-based synthetic checks carry the monitoring token — they may show a browser UA.
Privacy and accuracy notes
Synthetic-monitor detection uses only the user agent. No human identity is involved — these are your own scheduled probes. WebmasterID records them as monitoring bot events, separate from human analytics.
Frequently asked questions
- Should I block synthetic monitor user agents?
- Not your own — they are how you measure uptime. Allowlist them and exclude them from human analytics. Only investigate monitor tokens you did not configure.
Related pages
- Uptime monitor user agents
Uptime and synthetic monitoring tools repeatedly request your site to check availability and response time. Tools such as UptimeRobot and Pingdom usually identify themselves in the user agent. Their traffic is expected, periodic, and automated. This page explains how to recognise it and keep it out of human analytics.
- Nagios and Icinga monitor user agents
Nagios and Icinga are open-source monitoring systems that probe HTTP endpoints with check plugins (such as check_http) to verify availability. Those checks often send a recognisable monitoring user agent and run on a fixed schedule. They are infrastructure monitors you run yourself, not human visits.
- User agent in analytics
Analytics platforms parse the user-agent string to report browser, operating system, and device-type breakdowns. Because the user agent is client-supplied, increasingly reduced, and easily spoofed — and because bots send their own strings — these breakdowns are useful approximations, not exact device censuses.
- Website observability
Distinguish monitoring probes from real human traffic.
Sources and verification notes
Last reviewed 2026-06-24. Facts are checked against primary/official sources where available; uncertain specifics are marked “Data not yet verified” rather than guessed.