# MistralAI-User

**Category:** Answer engine
**Operated by:** Mistral AI

> The fetcher Mistral's assistant uses to open a page when a user's question needs it.

---

## At a glance

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Operator | Mistral AI |
| Category | Answer engine |
| User-Agent token | `MistralAI-User` |
| robots.txt token | `MistralAI-User` |
| Respects robots.txt | Documented as compliant |
| Operator docs | docs.mistral.ai |

**About Answer engine crawlers:** Fetches your page in real time to answer a user who is asking right now. Blocking it removes you from those answers — this is the one to leave open.

---

## What MistralAI-User does

MistralAI-User retrieves specific pages while Mistral's assistant is answering someone. Mistral documents that it is not used to crawl the web in any automatic fashion. Mistral runs separate tokens for search indexing and for training-data collection, so this one is purely the live-answer path.

---

## Should you block MistralAI-User?

Blocking it removes your pages from answers Mistral is composing for a user right now. If your actual concern is training, this is the wrong token — Mistral publishes a distinct training user agent, and blocking the user-facing one does not address it.

**Our take:** Leave it open. Answer-engine fetchers only run because a person just asked a question, and the page they read is the page that gets cited. Being the source is the entire goal — blocking here buys you nothing and costs you the mention.

---

## How to block MistralAI-User

Add the rule below to the `robots.txt` file at the root of your domain (`yourdomain.com/robots.txt`). Use the `MistralAI-User` token rather than the raw User-Agent string, and repeat the rule on every subdomain you want covered.

**Block MistralAI-User:**
```
User-agent: MistralAI-User
Disallow: /
```

**Allow MistralAI-User explicitly:**
```
User-agent: MistralAI-User
Allow: /
```

> **Note:** `robots.txt` is a request, not a lock — it works because well-behaved crawlers choose to read it. It also isn't retroactive: anything already fetched stays fetched. If you need a hard stop, block at your firewall or CDN as well.

---

## How MetaPilot handles MistralAI-User

MetaPilot detects MistralAI-User in your edge logs, so you see its real hits on your real pages rather than a guess: how often it visits, which URLs it takes, and how that trend moves week to week. From the same screen you flip MistralAI-User between allow and deny with one click — MetaPilot rewrites only its own managed section of your `robots.txt` and serves it at the edge, so the change is live on the crawler's next visit with no deploy and no touching your own rules.

---

## Related crawlers

- **Claude-User** (Anthropic) — Answer engine: The fetcher Claude uses to read a specific page while answering a user who asked about it.
- **DuckAssistBot** (DuckDuckGo) — Answer engine: DuckDuckGo's real-time fetcher for DuckAssist, the AI-assisted answers that appear above its search results.
- **Gemini-Deep-Research** (Google) — Answer engine: The agent behind Gemini's Deep Research mode, which reads pages as it works through a multi-step research task for one user.
- **ChatGPT-User** (OpenAI) — Answer engine: The fetcher ChatGPT uses to open a specific page in real time while answering someone.

---

## FAQ

**What is MistralAI-User?**
The fetcher Mistral's assistant uses to open a page when a user's question needs it. MistralAI-User retrieves specific pages while Mistral's assistant is answering someone. Mistral documents that it is not used to crawl the web in any automatic fashion. Mistral runs separate tokens for search indexing and for training-data collection, so this one is purely the live-answer path.

**Does MistralAI-User respect robots.txt?**
Yes — Mistral AI documents that MistralAI-User honours `robots.txt`. A `Disallow` for the `MistralAI-User` token is respected.

**How do I block MistralAI-User?**
Add these two lines to the `robots.txt` file at the root of your domain:
`User-agent: MistralAI-User`
`Disallow: /`
Use the `MistralAI-User` token, not the raw User-Agent string, and repeat the rule on every subdomain you want covered.

**Will blocking MistralAI-User hurt my traffic?**
Blocking it removes your pages from answers Mistral is composing for a user right now. If your actual concern is training, this is the wrong token — Mistral publishes a distinct training user agent, and blocking the user-facing one does not address it.