Other · Yandex
YandexPartner user agent, IP ranges and robots.txt
YandexPartner is Yandex's other. It identifies itself with the YandexPartner user-agent token, applies robots.txt only in part, per its operator, and can be verified by reverse DNS (yandex.ru, yandex.net, yandex.com).
- Operator
- Yandex
- Reviewed
- September 2026
- Sources
- 1
- Operator
- Yandex
- User-agent token
- YandexPartner
- Purpose
- Other
- robots.txt token
- YandexPartner
- Honors robots.txt
- Partially, see notes
- Published IP ranges
- No official range file
- Verification
- Reverse DNS lookup on the requesting IP must return a host ending in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, and a forward DNS lookup of that host must return the same IP. Yandex Webmaster also provides an IP address check tool.
- Reverse DNS suffix
- yandex.ru, yandex.net, yandex.com
- Full user-agent example
- Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YandexPartner/3.0; +http://yandex.com/bots)
Block or allow YandexPartner in robots.txt
User-agent: YandexPartner
Disallow: /User-agent: YandexPartner
Allow: /Verify a request is really YandexPartner
Anyone can put YandexPartner in a User-Agent header. Reverse DNS lookup on the requesting IP must return a host ending in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, and a forward DNS lookup of that host must return the same IP. Yandex Webmaster also provides an IP address check tool.
host <request-ip>
# expect a hostname ending in yandex.ru, yandex.net, yandex.com
host <that-hostname>
# expect it to resolve back to <request-ip>What YandexPartner does
Yandex operates YandexPartner, a robot that downloads information about the content of Yandex partner sites. It has the robots.txt token YandexPartner but, per Yandex, does not take general robots.txt rules into account. Site owners verify it by reverse DNS to a hostname ending in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, confirmed by forward DNS, or with the Yandex Webmaster IP check tool.
The documented user agent is Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; YandexPartner/3.0; +http://yandex.com/bots), so the token to match in logs is YandexPartner. Yandex describes the visits as downloading information about the content of Yandex partner sites, and its documentation says nothing more about what that information is or how it is used. Yandex also does not say whether the robot visits sites outside its partner program, so the stated purpose is the only guide to why it appears in your logs.
Robots.txt handling is the detail to get right. Yandex marks this robot as not taking general robots.txt rules into account, so by Yandex's own description a User-agent: * block does not cover it. It does have its own token, so a rule that names YandexPartner directly is the documented way to restrict it. Blocking it withholds your content information from whatever Yandex partner function consumes it; Yandex does not document what that function is, and it documents no effect on Yandex search results either way.
Yandex publishes no IP ranges for YandexPartner. Verify a request by reverse DNS on the source IP, checking that the hostname ends in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, and then by a forward lookup that returns the same IP. A hostname that does not resolve back to the original IP is not a verified Yandex request. Yandex Webmaster's IP address check tool performs the same test. Yandex does not document whether the robot executes JavaScript.
Operator note. It does not take into account the general rules in robots.txt.
Common questions
- Does YandexPartner obey robots.txt?
- Partly. Yandex documents a YandexPartner token, so rules that name it directly apply, but Yandex states the robot does not take general robots.txt rules into account. A User-agent: * Disallow has no documented effect on it; write a rule for YandexPartner specifically if you want to restrict it.
- Should I block YandexPartner?
- Yandex says the robot downloads information about the content of Yandex partner sites and documents nothing further about its use. If you are not a Yandex partner or do not want that collection, block it with a rule naming YandexPartner. Yandex does not document any effect on search results.
- How do I verify YandexPartner?
- Reverse-resolve the source IP and confirm the hostname ends in yandex.ru, yandex.net or yandex.com, then forward-resolve that hostname and confirm the original IP comes back. Yandex publishes no IP range list for this robot, so DNS or the Yandex Webmaster IP address check tool are the documented options.
Sources
The operator documentation used for this entry. Recorded review date September 2026; consult the linked pages for current policy and compare them with this dated snapshot.
This registry documents how operators describe their own bots so site owners can identify and control them. It does not publish third-party IP lists or guess at undocumented behaviour. To see how your own site responds to automated visitors, the bot detection scanner reads a URL's live response and names the protection it finds.