diff --git a/crates/webclaw-server/src/error.rs b/crates/webclaw-server/src/error.rs
index 7f1d36e..a63848f 100644
--- a/crates/webclaw-server/src/error.rs
+++ b/crates/webclaw-server/src/error.rs
@@ -74,7 +74,16 @@ impl From<webclaw_fetch::FetchError> for ApiError {
             webclaw_fetch::FetchError::InvalidUrl(msg) => {
                 Self::BadRequest(format!("invalid url: {msg}"))
             }
-            other => Self::Fetch(other.to_string()),
+            other => {
+                let msg = other.to_string();
+                if msg.contains("invalid url:")
+                    || msg.contains("blocked private or internal address")
+                {
+                    Self::BadRequest(msg)
+                } else {
+                    Self::Fetch(msg)
+                }
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/brand.rs b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/brand.rs
index 908976a..f3f6a43 100644
--- a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/brand.rs
+++ b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/brand.rs
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@ pub async fn brand(
     if req.url.trim().is_empty() {
         return Err(ApiError::bad_request("`url` is required"));
     }
+    let url = webclaw_fetch::url_security::validate_public_http_url(&req.url).await?;
 
-    let fetched = state.fetch().fetch(&req.url).await?;
+    let fetched = state.fetch().fetch(url.as_str()).await?;
     let brand = extract_brand(&fetched.html, Some(&fetched.url));
 
     Ok(Json(json!({
diff --git a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/crawl.rs b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/crawl.rs
index 4d15195..9ea484c 100644
--- a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/crawl.rs
+++ b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/crawl.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ pub async fn crawl(
     if req.url.trim().is_empty() {
         return Err(ApiError::bad_request("`url` is required"));
     }
+    let url = webclaw_fetch::url_security::validate_public_http_url(&req.url).await?;
     let max_pages = req.max_pages.unwrap_or(50).min(HARD_MAX_PAGES);
     let max_depth = req.max_depth.unwrap_or(3);
     let concurrency = req.concurrency.unwrap_or(5).min(20);
@@ -56,8 +57,8 @@ pub async fn crawl(
         cancel_flag: None,
     };
 
-    let crawler = Crawler::new(&req.url, config).map_err(ApiError::from)?;
-    let result = crawler.crawl(&req.url, None).await;
+    let crawler = Crawler::new(url.as_str(), config).map_err(ApiError::from)?;
+    let result = crawler.crawl(url.as_str(), None).await;
 
     let pages: Vec<Value> = result
         .pages
diff --git a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/diff.rs b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/diff.rs
index e4e038d..b0706fb 100644
--- a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/diff.rs
+++ b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/diff.rs
@@ -75,8 +75,9 @@ pub async fn diff_route(
     if req.url.trim().is_empty() {
         return Err(ApiError::bad_request("`url` is required"));
     }
+    let url = webclaw_fetch::url_security::validate_public_http_url(&req.url).await?;
 
-    let current = state.fetch().fetch_and_extract(&req.url).await?;
+    let current = state.fetch().fetch_and_extract(url.as_str()).await?;
     let previous = req.previous.into_extraction();
     let result = diff(&previous, &current);
 
diff --git a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/extract.rs b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/extract.rs
index 05b8909..55b34a0 100644
--- a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/extract.rs
+++ b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/extract.rs
@@ -43,10 +43,11 @@ pub async fn extract(
             "either `schema` or `prompt` is required",
         ));
     }
+    let url = webclaw_fetch::url_security::validate_public_http_url(&req.url).await?;
 
     // Fetch + extract first so we feed the LLM clean markdown instead of
     // raw HTML. Cheaper tokens, better signal.
-    let extraction = state.fetch().fetch_and_extract(&req.url).await?;
+    let extraction = state.fetch().fetch_and_extract(url.as_str()).await?;
     let content = if extraction.content.markdown.trim().is_empty() {
         extraction.content.plain_text.clone()
     } else {
diff --git a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/map.rs b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/map.rs
index 846183a..6daec69 100644
--- a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/map.rs
+++ b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/map.rs
@@ -27,8 +27,9 @@ pub async fn map(
     if req.url.trim().is_empty() {
         return Err(ApiError::bad_request("`url` is required"));
     }
+    let url = webclaw_fetch::url_security::validate_public_http_url(&req.url).await?;
 
-    let entries = sitemap::discover(state.fetch(), &req.url).await?;
+    let entries = sitemap::discover(state.fetch(), url.as_str()).await?;
 
     let body = if req.include_metadata {
         json!({
diff --git a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/structured.rs b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/structured.rs
index c9cdc1a..9c10b67 100644
--- a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/structured.rs
+++ b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/structured.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ impl From<ExtractorDispatchError> for ApiError {
         match e {
             ExtractorDispatchError::UnknownVertical(_) => ApiError::NotFound,
             ExtractorDispatchError::UrlMismatch { .. } => ApiError::bad_request(e.to_string()),
-            ExtractorDispatchError::Fetch(f) => ApiError::Fetch(f.to_string()),
+            ExtractorDispatchError::Fetch(f) => ApiError::from(f),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ pub async fn scrape_vertical(
     if req.url.trim().is_empty() {
         return Err(ApiError::bad_request("`url` is required"));
     }
-    let data = extractors::dispatch_by_name(state.fetch(), &vertical, &req.url).await?;
+    let url = webclaw_fetch::url_security::validate_public_http_url(&req.url).await?;
+    let data = extractors::dispatch_by_name(state.fetch(), &vertical, url.as_str()).await?;
     Ok(Json(json!({
         "vertical": vertical,
         "url": req.url,
diff --git a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/summarize.rs b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/summarize.rs
index b967f1f..6b645ab 100644
--- a/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/summarize.rs
+++ b/crates/webclaw-server/src/routes/summarize.rs
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@ pub async fn summarize_route(
     if req.url.trim().is_empty() {
         return Err(ApiError::bad_request("`url` is required"));
     }
+    let url = webclaw_fetch::url_security::validate_public_http_url(&req.url).await?;
 
-    let extraction = state.fetch().fetch_and_extract(&req.url).await?;
+    let extraction = state.fetch().fetch_and_extract(url.as_str()).await?;
     let content = if extraction.content.markdown.trim().is_empty() {
         extraction.content.plain_text.clone()
     } else {