Pinterest crawler user agent
Pinterest operates a crawler that fetches URLs to validate Rich Pin metadata and build pin previews. It identifies itself with a Pinterest user-agent token and a self-identifying URL, and honours robots.txt. It is a crawler, not a human visit.
What this means
Pinterest crawls URLs to build pin previews and to validate Rich Pins — pins that pull extra metadata (such as product or article details) from the linked page. The crawler reads Open Graph, Schema.org, and Pinterest-specific meta tags.
The pin preview reflects the metadata the crawler read, not a human visit. Pinterest provides a Rich Pin Validator that triggers a fetch to check the markup.
How the Pinterest crawler identifies itself
Pinterest's crawler uses a user agent containing the Pinterest token along with a self-identifying URL pointing at Pinterest's bot documentation. Match on the stable token substring. Pinterest documents the crawler and the robots.txt behaviour it honours.
The user agent is a claim and can be copied. The crawler reads server-rendered metadata; JavaScript-injected tags are typically not seen.
- User agent contains the Pinterest token plus a self-identifying URL
- Reads Open Graph, Schema.org, and Pinterest meta tags
- Honours robots.txt; Rich Pin Validator triggers a fetch
Debugging Rich Pins
If a Rich Pin does not show enriched data, run the URL through Pinterest's Rich Pin Validator to see what the crawler read, and confirm the page returns 200 with the required metadata in the initial HTML.
Seeing the Pinterest token in your logs for the URL confirms the crawler reached your server.
How it appears in analytics and logs
A request whose user agent contains the Pinterest token means Pinterest's crawler fetched a URL to read pin or Rich Pin metadata. It is bot traffic, expected around pinning or validation, not audience.
Diagnostic use case
Confirm whether Pinterest's crawler fetched a page, debug Rich Pin validation, and keep crawler requests out of human analytics.
What WebmasterID can help detect
WebmasterID classifies Pinterest's crawler server-side as a social/crawler bot and surfaces its fetches on the bot-intelligence view, so validation crawls do not inflate human page views.
Common mistakes
- Counting Pinterest crawler fetches as human Pinterest referral sessions.
- Disallowing the Pinterest token in robots.txt and expecting Rich Pins to work.
- Relying on JavaScript-injected metadata the crawler does not execute.
Privacy and accuracy notes
Detection uses only the user agent. No human identity is attached. WebmasterID records it as a social-preview/crawler bot event, separate from human analytics.
Frequently asked questions
- Why are my Rich Pins not enriched?
- Pinterest's crawler could not read the required metadata. Use the Rich Pin Validator and confirm a 200 response with the needed Open Graph / Schema.org tags in the initial HTML.
Related pages
- LinkedInBot user agent
LinkedInBot is the crawler LinkedIn uses to fetch a shared URL and read its Open Graph metadata so it can render the link preview attached to a post. It is a preview-generation bot, not a human visit, and identifies itself with a documented LinkedInBot user-agent token plus a self-identifying URL.
- Embedly and Iframely user agents
Embedly and Iframely are third-party services that generate rich embed cards and previews from a URL's oEmbed and Open Graph metadata, used by many publishing and chat tools. Their crawlers fetch your pages on behalf of those apps and identify themselves with documented tokens. They are bots, not human visits.
- Social preview bot user agents
When someone pastes your link into a social or messaging app, a preview bot fetches the page to build a card from your Open Graph and Twitter Card tags. Bots like facebookexternalhit, Twitterbot, Slackbot, Discordbot, and LinkedInBot identify themselves by token. This page covers what they are and why they hit you.
- Bot intelligence
Server-side classification of social crawlers and preview bots.
Sources and verification notes
- Pinterest — Crawler and Rich Pins guidanceDocuments the crawler, Rich Pins, and validation.
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.