Show HN: IsAgent – Detect agents like ChatGPT Agent on your website
npm install @stytch/is-agent (requires registration to use)
We built this because we’ve had a lot more conversations lately about "good bots" like AI agents and how to recognize and serve them better - just as we might internationalize a website or create a mobile-friendly version, can we create more agent-friendly experiences?
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I’ll be the first to say: the detection is not perfect, and even noisy at times. We prioritized ease-of-use with a lightweight frontend-only SDK, and that means that there are limited signals we can actually use to identify agents. In the long run, I expect most "good bot" operators like Browserbase to offer the option to self-identify through web standards, which will make agent detection much more reliable.
A personal note: a couple years ago, I was a generative AI skeptic. But I’ve come around to cautious optimism: the technology is genuinely useful and different, and I think it makes sense now to try to identify AI agents and experiment with agent-ready experiences including LLMs.txt, MCP servers, and auth-on-behalf-of-end-user methods.
I’d love your feedback, especially if you:
* Are building AI tools or browser automations
* Have built out mobile, internationalized, or accessible experiences (curious on how this compares)
* Or, have opinions on the future of the Agent Experience
I’ll be around in the comments here, or feel free to email me at bchen@stytch.com !
-Bobbie
Some links:
1. IsAgent.dev - demo and docs
2. Announcement blog including thoughts from Browserbase, Orb, Freestyle Cloud, and Mintlify: https://stytch.com/blog/introducing-is-agent/