What is Detect?

Checkpoint Detect provides passive AI agent detection for your web applications. Unlike Enforce, Detect methods identify and classify traffic without blocking or redirecting visitors. Use Detect to build analytics, understand your traffic composition, and gather intelligence before deciding on an enforcement strategy.

Every detection returns:

A classification of the visitor: human, ai_agent, bot, or incomplete_data
A confidence score from 0 to 100
Metadata — for agent/bot traffic, the detected agent's name (detectedAgent.name), plus verificationMethod and riskLevel (human results carry no detectedAgent)

Detection Methods

Checkpoint offers four detection methods. Choose one or combine several depending on your stack and requirements.

Method	Best For	Integration	Latency	Server-Side	Can Enforce
Pixel	Analytics, marketing	Script tag / GTM	Async	No	No
Beacon	Client-side apps	npm package	Async (non-blocking)	No	No
Middleware	Next.js / Express apps	npm package	In-request	Yes	Yes*
Gateway	Custom domains	DNS config	~1–5ms (edge)	Yes	Yes*

*Middleware and Gateway can also operate in Enforce mode. See Enforce for details on blocking, redirects, and policies.

Middleware and Gateway are documented in the Enforce section because they both detect and enforce — "detect-only" is a mode of those products (middleware in observe/log mode, or the Gateway's detect mode). There are no separate detect/middleware or detect/gateway pages.

When to Use Each Method

Pixel

Choose the Pixel when you need a lightweight, no-code integration. It loads asynchronously and has zero impact on page performance. Ideal for marketing teams, CMS-based sites, and any property where you want visibility without changing application code.

Read the Pixel guide →

Beacon

Choose the Beacon when you need a full-featured client-side SDK with event tracking, WebWorker support, and fine-grained control over data collection. Ideal for SPAs and applications that need real-time detection data on the client.

Read the Beacon guide →

Middleware

For Node.js apps (Next.js, Express) needing server-side detection with low latency. Runs before route handlers and can enforce policies.

See Middleware setup.

Gateway

Infrastructure-level detection with lowest latency. Sits at DNS/proxy layer, protects any origin without code changes.

See Gateway setup.

Detection Classes

Every detection is assigned one of four classes:

Class	Value	Description
Human	`human`	Regular browser traffic from a human visitor
AI Agent	`ai_agent`	AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini
Bot	`bot`	Web crawlers, scrapers, and automated tools (Googlebot, Bingbot)
Incomplete Data	`incomplete_data`	Insufficient signals to make a confident determination

Confidence Scores

Confidence scores range from 0 to 100 and indicate how certain Checkpoint is about a detection:

Range	Level	Meaning
91–100	Very high	Strong, corroborated signals.
71–90	High	Solid evidence from multiple indicators.
31–70	Medium	Moderate evidence; some indicators present but not conclusive.
0–30	Low	Weak signals; may be based on a single indicator.

Confidence reflects how certain Checkpoint is in the assigned classification — not a measure of "agent evidence." A human verdict still carries a confidence (a clean browser request scores low, around 10). A score of exactly 0 indicates an error or incomplete_data, not a confident human result.

Combining Detection Methods

You can use multiple detection methods simultaneously. For example:

Pixel on your marketing site for traffic analytics
Beacon in your authenticated application for detailed event tracking
Middleware on your API routes for server-side detection with enforcement

Each method sends data to the same Checkpoint project, giving you a unified view in the dashboard.

Next Steps

Marketing Pixel — lightweight, no-code detection
JavaScript Beacon — full-featured client-side SDK
Enforce — add blocking, redirects, and policies to your detection

Detect

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