01 · Operator
Who operates Snap URL Preview Service
- Company
- Snap Inc.
- Type
- Social preview bot
- Official docs
- developers.snap.com
02 · Behavior
What Snap URL Preview Service does
When a link is shared in Snapchat, the service fetches the page HTML. It reads Open Graph tags first and falls back to X/Twitter Card tags. It shows a title, subtitle and thumbnail. It caches each URL for 30 minutes to limit traffic.
03 · Impact
Why Snap URL Preview Service matters for your site
If you allow it
- Shared links get rich preview cards in Snapchat
- Traffic is light because of caching
If you block it
- You do not want previews of your pages in Snapchat
04 · Allow
How to allow Snap URL Preview Service
robots.txt
# Snap URL Preview Service has no documented robots.txt token and does not read robots.txt.
# Use a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule instead.Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "Snap URL Preview Service")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.WordPress
# Snap URL Preview Service has no documented robots.txt token and does not read robots.txt.
# Use a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule instead.nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "Snap URL Preview Service") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Snap URL Preview Service [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block Snap URL Preview Service
Start with robots.txt. If Snap URL Preview Service keeps showing up in your logs, block it at your CDN or web server.
robots.txt
# Snap URL Preview Service has no documented robots.txt token and does not read robots.txt.
# Use a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule instead.Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "Snap URL Preview Service")
Action: BlockWordPress
# Snap URL Preview Service has no documented robots.txt token and does not read robots.txt.
# Use a Cloudflare, nginx or Apache rule instead.nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "Snap URL Preview Service") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Snap URL Preview Service [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for Snap URL Preview Service
| User agent | Share | Last active | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Snap URL Preview Service; bot; snapchat; https://developers.snap.com/robots |
100% | 16 days ago | Unverified |
07 · Verification
Is it really Snap URL Preview Service?
Snap URL Preview Service’s operator publishes no IP ranges or hostnames, so requests cannot be verified. Treat the user agent as a claim, and watch your logs for unusual request rates.
FAQ
Questions about Snap URL Preview Service
What is the Snap URL Preview Service?
It is Snapchat's crawler that fetches shared links to build preview cards with a title, subtitle and image.
Which tags does Snapchat use for link previews?
It uses Open Graph tags such as og:title and og:image. If they are missing, it falls back to Twitter Card tags.
How often does Snapchat fetch a shared URL?
Snap caches responses for each URL for 30 minutes to avoid excess traffic.
Last updated Oct 14, 2026