---
title: "Critical blocker: definition and formula · Specoria"
description: "What “Critical blocker” means in Specoria, the formula our code uses and, where we have one, a worked example."
source_url: "https://specoria.com/glossary/critical-blocker/"
lang: "en"
---

GLOSSARY Score model v2.6 · last reviewed October 8, 2026

# Critical blocker: definition and formula

What “Critical blocker” means in Specoria, the formula our code uses and, where we have one, a worked example.

## Definition

A failed check that means an agent can’t read the store at all, or reads it wrongly: for example, a hard refusal to bots, products only visible with JavaScript, no Product data on the product page, or a price mismatch. It caps the score.

## Formula

`one blocker → score ≤ 45 · two or more → score ≤ 39`

## Checks that can be a critical blocker

In score model v2.6, a failure in one of these checks is a critical blocker (for the robots.txt check, only a block on the agents named on its page):

- [Search and user agents allowed (robots.txt)](https://specoria.com/method/checks/bots-search/)
- [Is bot protection open to agents?](https://specoria.com/method/checks/waf-access/)
- [Product name and price readable without JavaScript](https://specoria.com/method/checks/no-js/)
- [Product structured data (schema.org)](https://specoria.com/method/checks/product-schema/)
- [Price consistency](https://specoria.com/method/checks/price-match/)

A failed transaction gate (Add-to-cart button in the initial HTML or Buying without an account) is not a critical blocker, but it caps the score at 60 when no access or data gate failed; the lowest cap wins.

## How to read it

A blocker caps the score, it doesn’t subtract from it: one blocker means at most 45, two or more at most 39. If the uncapped score is already lower, the cap changes nothing.

Blockers come first in the [Priority order](https://specoria.com/glossary/priority-order/) order, a store with any blocker can’t be “agent-ready” whatever its score ([Readiness level](https://specoria.com/glossary/readiness-level/)), and the simulated agent in the free result eliminates a store with a blocker.

## What it does not tell you

- How many assistants are affected: a robots.txt block counts as critical only for the agents named on the [Search and user agents allowed (robots.txt)](https://specoria.com/method/checks/bots-search/) page.
- Softer blocks: a security layer’s challenge page, a CAPTCHA for example, is scored as a possible block that passes partly, and a rate limit as “couldn’t check”; neither is a blocker ([Is bot protection open to agents?](https://specoria.com/method/checks/waf-access/)).
- Anything about checkout in the free test: guest checkout can’t be checked from outside, so it never triggers the transaction cap there; the deep audit measures it with a real browser.
- Other product pages: product data and price checks are judged on the one product page we read.

## What moves it

- Fixing a blocker lifts its cap: from two blockers to one raises the limit from 39 to 45, and fixing the last one removes it.
- Each check in the list above has a page with what passes and how to fix it; there are also [fix guides by shop platform](https://specoria.com/platforms/).
- Running the free test again after a fix: the cap is recomputed from the new results.

See also: [robots.txt: when a block is critical](https://specoria.com/method/checks/bots-search/)

## Related terms

Readiness score (free test): How 27 checks on your public pages become one number from 0 to 100.

- [Agent readiness score](https://specoria.com/glossary/readiness-score/)
- [Check result and credit](https://specoria.com/glossary/check-credit/)
- [Couldn’t check](https://specoria.com/glossary/#not-verifiable)
- [Not applicable](https://specoria.com/glossary/#not-applicable)
- [Insufficient measurement](https://specoria.com/glossary/insufficient-measurement/)
- [Readiness level](https://specoria.com/glossary/readiness-level/)
- [Category score](https://specoria.com/glossary/category-score/)
- [Priority order](https://specoria.com/glossary/priority-order/)
- [Potential score](https://specoria.com/glossary/potential-score/)

[Run the free test →](https://specoria.com/#contact)[All terms in the glossary →](https://specoria.com/glossary/)