Using Cloudflare on your website could be blocking RSS users

Cloudflare's AI-based bot scoring can block RSS readers from accessing websites that use the service, according to a Mastodon-shared warning dated Wed 2 Sep 2026. Cloudflare evaluates each visit and assigns a score, generated using AI, to determine whether traffic comes from an AI scraper or bot, then presents RSS readers with challenges they cannot fulfill. The post advises site owners to unblock RSS readers and notes that powRSS users can be identified by the `powRSS/<version> (+https://powrss.com)` User-Agent.

Using Cloudflare on your website could be blocking RSS users Wed 2 Sep 2026 If you use Cloudflare, you may be blocking RSS users. Came across this link on Mastodon today and I’m sharing it as a bit of a heads up: When enabling the tools, Cloudflare will evaluate each visit to your website and determine whether the visit is from an AI scraper or “bot” based on a score , which ironically Cloudflare uses AI to generate. Then, when a user’s RSS reader attempts to read your website, Cloudflare presents it with a number of challenges that the reader would never be able to fulfill. Consider unblocking RSS readers if you must use Cloudflare. For powRSS specifically, you can keep an eye out for the powRSS/<version +https://powrss.com User-Agent.