{{Short description|Software acting on behalf of a user}} {{for|the HTTP header|User-Agent header}}
On the Web, a '''user agent''' is a software agent responsible for retrieving and facilitating end-user interaction with Web content.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/work/wiki/Definition_of_User_Agent |title=W3C Definition of User Agent |publisher=www.w3.org |date=2011-06-16 |access-date=2018-10-20}}</ref> This includes all web browsers, such as Google Chrome and Safari, some email clients, standalone download managers like youtube-dl, and other command-line utilities like cURL.<ref name="mdn">{{cite web |title=User agent |url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/User_agent |website=MDN Web Docs|date=8 July 2024 }}</ref>
The user agent is the client in a client–server system. The HTTP User-Agent header is intended to clearly identify the agent to the server.<ref name="mdn"/> However, this header can be omitted or spoofed,<ref name="mdn"/> so some websites use other detection methods.
== References == {{Reflist}} Category:Clients (computing)