How it works
Where DNA sits, what it does with each request, and what you see.
DNA sits in front of your site. Every request reaches DNA first, and DNA lets it in, charges it, or stops it, by your rules.
What happens to a request
- A visitor asks for a page. DNA sees the request before your site does.
- DNA works out who is asking: a person, a known AI agent, or something pretending to be one.
- DNA applies your rules:
- Let in: your site serves the page as usual. With no rule, every request is let in.
- Charge: the agent pays the price you set, then gets the page. See Rules and pricing.
- Block: the request gets a
403and never reaches your site.
- The request appears in your Requests log: who it was, and what DNA did.
A new account only watches. Everything is let in and logged until you add a rule.
Who is asking
Every request in your log carries one of these labels.
| Label | Means |
|---|---|
| Verified | Proven. The agent signed the request, or it came from addresses its operator publishes |
| Name only | It named itself, or looks like a known agent, but nothing proved it |
| Impersonator | It used a known agent's name, such as Googlebot, and the proof didn't match. Review these first |
| No name | It didn't say who it is. Most people browsing your site are here |
- An agent can move up. Once DNA confirms an agent's signing key, its later requests show as Verified.
- You don't keep a bot list. DNA recognises the agents and keeps the list current.
- The CSV export has a finer-grained
identitycolumn:proven,claimed,derived,spoofed, orunverified.
Rules
- Rules match on label, what an agent is built for (such as search or training), and path. You write them under Rules.
- Each site's rules apply top to bottom; the first that matches decides.
- With no rule, nothing is blocked or charged. See Rules and pricing.
Availability
Your site waits at most your cutoff for a decision: 2 s by default, 10 s for a request that presents a payment. A decision that arrives always applies.
| If no decision arrives in time | The request |
|---|---|
| Default | Goes to your site, priced pages included |
Fail mode set to closed | Gets a 403 |
| It presents a payment | Gets a 502, never the page without paying |
What DNA stores
| Data | Stored |
|---|---|
| Path, user agent, signature, and who it was | Yes |
| Visitor IP address | A salted, truncated hash; never the address itself |
| Your page's status code, content type, and size | Yes, so the dashboard can show your response times and errors |
| Page content | No; it never reaches us |