Bot Protection
Learning Focus
By the end of this lesson you will understand Cloudflare's bot management features and how to configure them.
What Bot Protection Does
Cloudflare identifies and blocks malicious bots while allowing legitimate bots (like Googlebot) through. It uses:
- Known bot signatures
- Machine learning classification
- JavaScript challenges
- CAPTCHA challenges
Configuring in Cloudflare
- Security → Bots in the Cloudflare dashboard
- Enable Bot Fight Mode (free tier)
- Configure Bot Management (paid plans) for more granular control
Good Bots vs Bad Bots
| Bot Type | Action | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Verified search engines | Allow | Googlebot, Bingbot |
| AI crawlers | Allow or block (your choice) | GPTBot, ClaudeBot |
| Scrapers | Challenge or block | Content theft bots |
| DDoS bots | Block | Attack botnets |
Key Takeaways
- Cloudflare bot management filters automated traffic at the edge.
- Bot Fight Mode is available on the free tier and handles most common bots.
- Allow verified search engine bots for SEO while blocking scrapers.
What's Next
- Return to the Cloudflare Integration module for the complete overview.