How to Review and Approve Source Requests

Learn how to review pending source requests, verify robots.txt permissions, set opt-out verdicts, and approve or reject submissions.

July 7, 2026 By Obama

This guide walks you through reviewing and verifying source requests submitted by country admins. Completing this process ensures that requested sources comply with legal scraping requirements, such as robots.txt rules and opt-out policies, before they are configured.

This guide is intended for Legal Experts who are responsible for auditing and approving new source requests during the legal compliance phase of the source management workflow.

Step #1: Click Requests in the top navigation to view the list of sources awaiting legal approval. — Click **Requests** in the top navigation to view the list of sources awaiting legal approval.

Step #2: Click the View (eye) icon next to the source request you want to review. — Click the **View** (eye) icon next to the source request you want to review.

Step #3: Review the details in the View source request modal. You cannot edit the core source details, but you can review them and set the opt-out verdict. — Review the details in the **View source request** modal. You cannot edit the core source details, but you can review them and set the opt-out verdict.

Step #4: Select the appropriate opt-out check verdict for the source. — Select the appropriate opt-out check verdict for the source.

Option	Description
Yes	The source allows opting out or has a valid opt-out mechanism in place.
No	The source does not allow opting out.
Not checked	The opt-out status has not been verified yet.

Step #5: Click Check robots.txt to automatically verify if scraping is allowed by the source website's configuration. — Click **Check robots.txt** to automatically verify if scraping is allowed by the source website's configuration.

Step #6: Review the robots.txt check results. If the source URL is disallowed, a warning will appear indicating that scraping is prohibited. — Review the robots.txt check results. If the source URL is disallowed, a warning will appear indicating that scraping is prohibited.

Be sure to read any comments left by the country admin at the bottom of the modal for additional context on the source request.

Step #7: Click Close when you are finished reviewing the source details and comments. — Click **Close** when you are finished reviewing the source details and comments.

Step #8: Click the Accept or Reject action icon in the main requests table to finalize your decision. — Click the **Accept** or **Reject** action icon in the main requests table to finalize your decision.

Once accepted, the source request moves to the "Awaiting Configuration" tab, where the country admin can configure it for data collection.

Once rejected, you will be able to write a reason of rejection and the source request's status will change to the "Rejected" status.

Q: Can I edit the source details during the legal review?

A: No, you cannot edit the main source details (such as the URL or document type), but you can update the opt-out check status, etc.

Q: What happens after I accept a source request?

A: The source request is approved and automatically moves to the "Awaiting Configuration" status, where the country admin will take over to configure it.

Term	Definition
robots.txt	A configuration file on a website that instructs automated bots and web scrapers on which pages or files they are permitted to access.
Opt-out check	A verification step used to determine if a data source provides a legal mechanism for individuals or entities to opt out of data collection.

Option

Description

Yes

The source allows opting out or has a valid opt-out mechanism in place.

The source does not allow opting out.

Not checked

The opt-out status has not been verified yet.

Term

Definition

robots.txt

A configuration file on a website that instructs automated bots and web scrapers on which pages or files they are permitted to access.

Opt-out check

A verification step used to determine if a data source provides a legal mechanism for individuals or entities to opt out of data collection.