Known Limitations
Sites and browsers that Bowmark cannot reach — save credits by checking here first before you try.
Reading this with an agent?
curl -s https://bowmark.ai/docs/known-limitations.md. The whole site as one file: https://bowmark.ai/llms-full.txt. Index of every page: https://bowmark.ai/llms.txt.Some sites carry bot walls so strong that even the paid browser agent cannot clear them. Check this page before you spend credits on a browser_agent run against a site known to be hard-walled. These blocks are not bugs — they are deliberate business decisions by the site to refuse automated access entirely, and Bowmark respects that.
Sites with complete bot-wall blocks
The following sites are fully blocked even with the paid browser_agent, meaning
every run will report status: "failed" with an error starting blocked: :
Retail & eCommerce
| Site | Wall | Why it's hard |
|---|---|---|
| fnac.com (French retail) | DataDome | Block includes headers and JavaScript challenges; persists across proxy rotation |
| amazon.fr | AWS WAF | One of the strictest retail walls; blocks even residential proxies |
How to tell if a site is blocked
When you hit a hard bot wall, browser_agent.status() returns:
{
"status": "failed",
"error": "blocked: <site> is refusing the browser"
}This is not a temporary error. Retrying will not help — the wall refuses all automated access, and no proxy, model, or backend option can bypass it.
What to do instead
- For retail & ecommerce sites: Look for a typed provider in the library. Fnac and Amazon have
many providers (
amazon_fr,fnac, etc.) that reach the data through faster, cheaper routes than a browser agent would. - For a site with no provider: Check whether the site publishes an API, RSS feed, or other machine-readable surface. See The implementation ladder § Rung 9 for ways to find non-obvious data sources.
- If none of those work, the site's policy is to refuse automation, and that boundary is correct to respect. Contact the site directly if you need data access.
Sites where the browser agent is slow or expensive
Some sites do not hard-block, but hit a wall or challenge that costs extra time and money:
| Site | Issue | Typical cost | Alternative | |---|---|---| | LinkedIn | Heavy bot challenges; CAPTCHA on many queries | $1.50–$3.00 per run | API via credential |
This list is partial and may grow
The walls change, sometimes weekly. If you hit a wall on a site not listed here, reach out to support@bowmark.ai or check back — it may be documented by then.
How this list is maintained
We test high-traffic sites regularly. If a site changes its wall policy, or if you discover a new wall we have not documented, email support@bowmark.ai — each report helps us keep this list current.