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A Meta Tag for the Age of Automation

Amazon recently sued Perplexity over Comet, their AI agent that automated shopping on Amazon.com. Comet acted like a human browser, buying products without explicit permission — and right now, there’s no HTML signal to tell an agent "don’t do that."


At Pendless, we're particularly concerned because we see the incredible potential of our tools for lightweight, responsible browser automation. Not only can our agents safely handle single tasks like clicks or form submissions, but they can also perform a wide range of automation actions in complex environments, streamlining repetitive workflows and reducing human effort.



To make this safe and clear for everyone, we propose a new HTML5 meta tag:


<meta name="rpa-policy" content="allow|disallow|read-only">

  • allow: automation welcome (by default).

  • disallow: no automated actions.


We could also introduce complementary tags for finer control:

<meta name="rpa-sensitive-action" content="disallow">

This tag could flag critical operations like purchases, financial transactions, or account changes that require explicit user consent.


Additionally:

<meta name="rpa-agent-opt-in" content="Comet,Pendless">

This tag could allow specific agents by name to bypass restrictions, giving sites control over which trusted tools can perform automated tasks while keeping general automation blocked.


This would give AI agents a clear signal, let websites declare their policy, and make compliance auditable. Sites that welcome automation could opt in; sites that don’t could signal it clearly.


Automation isn't going away. A simple, standardized signal could help make it safer and smoother for everyone.


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