Spyglasses – AI Traffic Analytics
AI traffic analytics for WordPress. Detect and monitor traffic from AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity.
Consider an alternative
Spyglasses shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 30+ sites and was last updated 9 months ago, and scores 39/100 on our health check.
- Momentum — downloads up 112.3% vs the previous 30 days
- Small user base (30+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.9 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Spyglasses stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| ai agents | >100 |
| AI Analytics | >100 |
| ai seo | >100 |
| ai visits | >100 |
| analytics | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Spyglasses – AI Traffic Analytics
From the official readme · v1.2.1Description
Important: This plugin requires a free account with Spyglasses. Sign up at spyglasses.io to get your API key. By using this plugin, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Spyglasses provides advanced detection for AI agents, bots, and AI referrer traffic that interacts with your WordPress site.
Key Features
- AI Agent Detection: Automatically detect traffic from AI browsing assistants
- AI Referrer Tracking: Identify human visitors who clicked links from AI-generated content
- Real-time Monitoring: Track and monitor AI-related traffic to your site
- Bot Blocking: Selectively block specific AI agents or entire categories of bots
- AI Model Trainer Protection: Prevent AI systems from scraping your content for model training
- Dashboard Insights: View detailed analytics on AI traffic via the Spyglasses dashboard
- Central Management: Configure all blocking settings from your Spyglasses dashboard
- Lightweight: Minimal impact on site performance and user experience
- Easy Setup: Simple configuration with just an API key
- Auto-Updating Patterns: Automatically syncs with latest AI detection patterns daily
- Smart Filtering: Automatically excludes WordPress internal processes to prevent log pollution
- Cache-Friendly: Fully compatible with all major caching plugins including LiteSpeed Cache, WP Super Cache, W3TC, WP Rocket, and more
- Reliable Fallbacks: Local pattern storage ensures detection continues working even during API outages
How It Works
Spyglasses uses pattern recognition to identify:
- AI agents and bots visiting your site through user-agent detection
- Human visitors from AI platforms through referrer detection
When AI-related traffic is detected, information about the visit is securely sent to the Spyglasses collector for analysis and reporting. You can also choose to block specific types of bots from accessing your site through your Spyglasses dashboard.
Privacy & Transparency
Spyglasses only collects information about AI-related traffic, not about your regular human visitors. All code is open source and available for review on GitHub.
External Services
This plugin connects to external Spyglasses API services to provide AI traffic detection and analytics functionality. A Spyglasses account is required for the plugin to work.
Spyglasses Pattern API
What it does: Downloads the latest AI agent detection patterns to keep your site’s bot detection up-to-date.
API Endpoint: https://www.spyglasses.io/api/patterns
Data sent: Your API key for authentication
When: Daily automatic sync (if enabled) or manual sync from plugin settings
Purpose: Ensures your site can detect the newest AI agents and bots as they emerge
Spyglasses Collector API
What it does: Receives and processes data about AI agent and other bot visits to your website for analytics and reporting.
API Endpoint: https://www.spyglasses.io/api/collect
Data sent when an AI agent or bot is detected:
* IP Address of the AI agent/bot
* User Agent string of the AI agent/bot
* URL/web page that was visited
* HTTP request headers from the AI agent/bot
* Request method (GET, POST, etc.)
* Response status code and timing
* Referrer information (if available)
* Timestamp of the visit
When: Only when traffic matching AI agent or bot patterns is detected on your site
Purpose: Provides analytics dashboard showing AI traffic patterns, blocked requests, and detailed visitor logs
Important: No data about regular human visitors is collected or sent. Only traffic that matches known AI agent patterns triggers data collection.
Service Provider
Both services are provided by Orchestra AI, Inc.:
- Website: spyglasses.io
- Terms of Service: spyglasses.io/legal/terms
- Privacy Policy: spyglasses.io/legal/privacy-policy
Installation
- Upload the
spyglassesfolder to the/wp-content/plugins/directory - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
- Go to Settings > Spyglasses – AI Traffic Analytics to configure the plugin
- Enter your Spyglasses API key
- That’s it! Spyglasses will now detect and monitor AI-related traffic to your site
- Configure blocking rules in your Spyglasses dashboard at spyglasses.io
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Spyglasses account?
Yes, you’ll need to sign up for a Spyglasses account at spyglasses.io to get an API key.
Will this slow down my website?
No, Spyglasses is designed to be lightweight and only processes requests from detected AI agents and referrers. It has minimal impact on your site’s performance.
What information is collected?
Spyglasses collects information about AI-related traffic, including user agent, IP address, requested URL, HTTP headers, and referrer information. No personal information about your regular visitors is collected.
What’s the difference between AI agents and AI referrers?
AI agents are bots that browse your site directly (like Claude-SearchBot or Perplexity-User). These have distinctive user-agent strings and can be blocked if desired. AI referrers are regular human visitors who clicked a link to your site from AI-generated content (like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity). These are detected by their referrer information and are never blocked because they’re real people.
How can I see the data collected?
You can view all data collected in your Spyglasses dashboard. Log in to your account at spyglasses.io to access your dashboard.
How does bot blocking work?
Bot blocking settings are managed centrally through your Spyglasses dashboard. You can block bots at several levels: all AI model trainers, by category, by subcategory, by bot type, or by specific pattern. Blocked bots receive a 403 Forbidden response. Note that AI referrer traffic (humans from AI platforms) is never blocked.
Where do I configure blocking settings?
All blocking settings are now managed centrally through your Spyglasses dashboard at spyglasses.io/app. This allows you to configure settings once and have them apply to all your WordPress sites using Spyglasses.
Is this compatible with caching plugins?
Yes, Spyglasses is fully compatible with all major caching plugins including LiteSpeed Cache, WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket, and others. The plugin automatically sets appropriate cache headers to ensure accurate detection while maintaining optimal performance.
How are the detection patterns updated?
By default, Spyglasses automatically syncs agent detection patterns daily from our API. This ensures you always have the latest patterns for new AI agents and referrers. You can manually sync patterns from the settings page or disable automatic syncing if you prefer.
How do I troubleshoot issues with Spyglasses?
If you encounter problems, enable “Debug Mode” in the Spyglasses settings page. This creates a detailed debug log at wp-content/uploads/spyglasses-debug.log with information about plugin operations, pattern loading, and detection events. You can also enable WordPress debug logging by adding these lines to your wp-config.php: define('WP_DEBUG', true); define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true); After reproducing the issue, check both the Spyglasses debug log and the WordPress debug log (usually at wp-content/uploads/debug.log) for error messages. Look for messages starting with “Spyglasses:” and share them…
Changelog
Important update: Bot blocking settings are now managed centrally through your Spyglasses dashboard. Visit spyglasses.io/app to configure your blocking rules. This provides better consistency and allows you to manage all your sites from one place.
1.2.1
- Tested against WordPress 6.9
- Now ignores XMLRPC, wp-admin, and other requests that don’t represent external user page views by default
1.2.0
- Adjusted script tags to conform to WordPress guidance
- Updated readme to clarify an account on Spyglasses is needed
- Adjusted how log files are generated for debugging
1.1.7
- Revised slug to better describe the plugin
1.1.6
- Enhanced code compliance with WordPress.org best practices and coding standards
- Improved security with better output escaping and filesystem operations
- Updated image rendering to use WordPress-compliant methods
1.1.5
- Plugin now reports type WordPress when sending collector events
1.1.0
- Major Update: Central Management
- Bot blocking settings are now managed centrally through your Spyglasses dashboard
- Simplified WordPress admin interface – no more complex blocking configuration in WordPress
- All blocking rules, AI model trainer settings, and custom patterns are now configured at spyglasses.io/app
- Settings automatically sync across all your WordPress sites
- Improved reliability and consistency of blocking rules
- Backward compatibility maintained – existing local settings will be migrated automatically
Screenshots
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FAQ
Spyglasses – AI Traffic Analytics: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 9, 2026
Is Spyglasses free?
Yes. Spyglasses is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Spyglasses safe to use in 2026?
Spyglasses shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 30+ sites and was last updated 9 months ago, and scores 39/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Spyglasses?
Spyglasses is active on 30+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 1,415 times since it launched in August 2025. It was downloaded 501 times in the last 30 days.
Does Spyglasses work with WordPress 7.1?
Spyglasses is officially tested up to WordPress 6.9.10, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does Spyglasses need?
Spyglasses requires PHP 7.2 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Spyglasses last updated?
The latest version, 1.2.1, was released on January 2, 2026 (9 months ago).
Who makes Spyglasses?
Spyglasses is developed and maintained by Spyglasses.
What are the best alternatives to Spyglasses?
The most popular alternatives to Spyglasses are Lime Connect (formerly User… (900+ installs), StoreAgent (600+ installs) and Siteline Agent Analytics (30+ installs).
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