---
title: "getBotDetection()"
description: "Server-side composable to access bot detection state in Nitro routes and middleware."
canonical_url: "https://nuxtseo.com/docs/robots/nitro-api/get-bot-detection"
last_updated: "2026-05-25T06:22:02.079Z"
---

## Introduction

**Type:** `function getBotDetection(event: H3Event): BotDetectionContext`

Perform bot detection using request headers in server-side Nitro routes, middleware, and API handlers.

This function analyzes HTTP headers to detect known bots and returns detailed classification information.

**🔔 Important:** Bot detection only runs when you explicitly call these utility functions. No automatic bot detection occurs - it's entirely opt-in based on your usage of these functions.

## Usage

### Basic Detection

```ts
// server/api/example.ts
import { getBotDetection } from '#robots/server/composables/getBotDetection'
import { defineEventHandler } from 'h3'

export default defineEventHandler(async (event) => {
  const detection = getBotDetection(event)

  if (detection.isBot) {
    return { message: 'Bot detected', bot: detection.botName }
  }

  return { message: 'Human user' }
})
```

### Helper Functions

```ts
// server/api/bot-check.ts
import { getBotInfo, isBot } from '#robots/server/composables/getBotDetection'
import { defineEventHandler } from 'h3'

export default defineEventHandler(async (event) => {
  // Simple boolean check
  if (isBot(event)) {
    return { isBot: true }
  }

  // Get detailed bot info
  const botInfo = getBotInfo(event)
  return { isBot: false, info: botInfo }
})
```

### Middleware Usage

```ts
// middleware/bot-filter.ts
import { getBotDetection } from '#robots/server/composables/getBotDetection'
import { createError, defineEventHandler } from 'h3'

export default defineEventHandler(async (event) => {
  const detection = getBotDetection(event)

  // Block untrusted bots from API routes
  if (event.node.req.url?.startsWith('/api/') && detection.isBot && !detection.trusted) {
    throw createError({
      statusCode: 403,
      statusMessage: 'Bot access denied'
    })
  }
})
```

## Return Type

### `getBotDetection()`

Returns the complete bot detection context:

```ts
interface BotDetectionContext {
  isBot: boolean
  userAgent?: string
  detectionMethod?: 'headers' | 'fingerprint'
  botName?: BotName // 'googlebot', 'twitterbot', 'claude', etc.
  botCategory?: BotCategory // 'search-engine', 'social', 'ai', etc.
  trusted?: boolean // Whether this is a legitimate bot
}
```

### `isBot()`

**Type:** `function isBot(event: H3Event): boolean`

Simple boolean check for bot detection.

### `getBotInfo()`

**Type:** `function getBotInfo(event: H3Event): BotInfo | null`

Returns bot details if detected:

```ts
interface BotInfo {
  name?: BotName // Specific bot name ('googlebot', 'facebook', etc.)
  category?: BotCategory // Bot category ('search-engine', 'social', etc.)
  trusted?: boolean // Legitimacy flag
  method?: 'headers' | 'fingerprint' // Detection method
}
```

## Detection Methods

- **headers**: Detected via HTTP headers and user agent analysis
- **fingerprint**: Detected via client-side browser fingerprinting (only available after client hydration)

## Availability

The bot detection state is available:

- ✅ **Server routes**: Immediately available
- ✅ **API handlers**: Immediately available
- ✅ **Middleware**: Immediately available
- ✅ **Server plugins**: Immediately available

Note that client-side fingerprint detection results are only available after the client has loaded and run the detection.

## Pure Utility Functions

For use outside of Nuxt/Nitro contexts, import from `/util`:

```ts
import { getBotDetection, getBotInfo, isBot } from '@nuxtjs/robots/util'

// Works with any headers object
const headers = { 'user-agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1)' }

const detection = getBotDetection(headers)
// { isBot: true, botName: 'googlebot', botCategory: 'search-engine', ... }

const isBotDetected = isBot(headers)
// true

const botInfo = getBotInfo(headers)
// { name: 'googlebot', category: 'search-engine', trusted: true, method: 'headers' }
```

These pure functions work in any JavaScript environment and don't require H3 events or Nuxt context.