How to install robots-txt
npx skills add https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills --skill robots-txtFull instructions (SKILL.md)
Source of truth, from kostja94/marketing-skills.
name: robots-txt description: When the user wants to configure, audit, or optimize robots.txt. Also use when the user mentions "robots.txt," "crawler rules," "block crawlers," "AI crawlers," "GPTBot," "allow/disallow," "disallow path," "crawl directives," "user-agent," "block Googlebot," "fix robots.txt," "robots.txt blocking," or "search engine crawling." For indexing, use indexing. metadata: version: 1.2.0
SEO Technical: robots.txt
Guides configuration and auditing of robots.txt for search engine and AI crawler control.
When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.
Scope (Technical SEO)
- Robots.txt: Configure Disallow/Allow, Sitemap, Clean-param; audit for accidental blocks
- Crawler access: Path-level crawl control; AI crawler allow/block strategy
- Differentiation: robots.txt = crawl control (who accesses what paths); noindex = index control (what gets indexed). See indexing for page-level exclusions.
Initial Assessment
Check for project context first: If .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md exists, read it for site URL and indexing goals.
Identify:
- Site URL: Base domain (e.g.,
https://example.com) - Indexing scope: Full site, partial, or specific paths to exclude
- AI crawler strategy: Allow search/indexing vs. block training data crawlers
Best Practices
Purpose and Limitations
| Point | Note |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Controls crawler access; does NOT prevent indexing (disallowed URLs may still appear in search without snippet) |
| Advisory | Rules are advisory; malicious crawlers may ignore |
| Public | robots.txt is publicly readable; use noindex or auth for sensitive content. See indexing |
Crawl vs Index vs Link Equity (Quick Reference)
| Tool | Controls | Prevents indexing? |
|---|---|---|
| robots.txt | Crawl (path-level) | No—blocked URLs may still appear in SERP |
| noindex (meta / X-Robots-Tag) | Index (page-level) | Yes. See indexing |
| nofollow | Link equity only | No—does not control indexing |
When to Use robots.txt vs noindex
| Use | Tool | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Path-level (whole directory) | robots.txt | Disallow: /admin/, Disallow: /api/, Disallow: /staging/ |
| Page-level (specific pages) | noindex meta / X-Robots-Tag | Login, signup, thank-you, 404, legal. See indexing for full list |
| Critical | Do NOT block in robots.txt | Pages that use noindex—crawlers must access the page to read the directive |
Paths to block in robots.txt: /admin/, /api/, /staging/, temp files. Paths to use noindex (allow crawl): /login/, /signup/, /thank-you/, etc.—see indexing.
Location and Format
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Path | Site root: https://example.com/robots.txt |
| Encoding | UTF-8 plain text |
| Standard | RFC 9309 (Robots Exclusion Protocol) |
Core Directives
| Directive | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
User-agent: | Target crawler | User-agent: Googlebot, User-agent: * |
Disallow: | Block path prefix | Disallow: /admin/ |
Allow: | Allow path (can override Disallow) | Allow: /public/ |
Sitemap: | Declare sitemap absolute URL | Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml |
Clean-param: | Strip query params (Yandex) | See below |
Path Format Rules (Critical)
Different directives use different path formats — a common source of errors:
| Directive | Format | Correct | Wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disallow / Allow | Root-relative path only (starts with /) | Disallow: /admin/ | Disallow: https://example.com/admin/ |
| Sitemap | Absolute URL only | Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml | Sitemap: /sitemap.xml |
Wildcards: * matches any character sequence (Disallow: /tmp/*). $ marks exact URL ending (Allow: /news/.html$).
Priority: More specific paths take precedence. Allow: /shop/shoes/ overrides Disallow: /shop/. Path matching is case-sensitive: Disallow: /PDF/ does not match /pdf/.
Critical: Do Not Block
| Do not block | Reason |
|---|---|
| CSS, JS, images | Google needs them to render pages; blocking breaks indexing |
/_next/ (Next.js) | Breaks CSS/JS loading; static assets in GSC "Crawled - not indexed" is expected. See indexing |
| Pages that use noindex | Crawlers must access the page to read the noindex directive; blocking in robots.txt prevents that |
Only block: paths that don't need crawling: /admin/, /api/, /staging/, temp files.
AI Crawler Strategy
robots.txt is effective for all measured AI crawlers. Set rules per user-agent; check each vendor's docs for current tokens.
| User-agent | Purpose | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| OAI-SearchBot | ChatGPT search | Allow | Respects robots.txt |
| GPTBot | OpenAI training | Disallow | Respects robots.txt; shares crawl data with OAI-SearchBot if both allowed |
| ChatGPT-User | User-initiated browsing | N/A | No longer respects robots.txt (Dec 2025); use server-side controls instead |
| Claude-SearchBot | Claude search | Allow | Respects robots.txt |
| Claude-User | Anthropic user-initiated browsing | Allow | Respects robots.txt (unlike ChatGPT-User) |
| ClaudeBot | Anthropic training | Disallow | Respects robots.txt |
Deprecated:
anthropic-ai— retired by Anthropic, replaced by ClaudeBot / Claude-User / Claude-SearchBot. References toanthropic-aiin robots.txt have no effect. | PerplexityBot | Perplexity search | Allow | Respects robots.txt | | Google-Extended | Gemini training | Disallow | Respects robots.txt | | CCBot | Common Crawl (LLM training) | Disallow | Respects robots.txt | | Bytespider | ByteDance | Disallow | Respects robots.txt | | Meta-ExternalAgent | Meta | Disallow | Respects robots.txt | | AppleBot | Apple (Siri, Spotlight); renders JS | Allow for indexing | Respects robots.txt |
Allow vs Disallow: Allow search/indexing bots (OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot); Disallow training-only bots (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, CCBot) if you don't want content used for model training.
Important — ChatGPT-User exemption: As of December 2025, ChatGPT-User no longer respects robots.txt directives. OpenAI considers it a proxy for human-initiated browsing. If you need to block it, use server-side controls (WAF rules, IP rate-limiting), not robots.txt. See site-crawlability for AI crawler optimization (SSR, URL management).
Clean-param (Yandex)
Clean-param: utm_source&utm_medium&utm_campaign&utm_term&utm_content&ref&fbclid&gclid
Output Format
- Current state (if auditing)
- Recommended robots.txt (full file)
- Compliance checklist
- References: Google robots.txt
Related Skills
- indexing: Full noindex page-type list; when to use noindex vs robots.txt; GSC indexing diagnosis
- page-metadata: Meta robots (noindex, nofollow) implementation
- xml-sitemap: Sitemap URL to reference in robots.txt
- site-crawlability: Broader crawl and structure guidance; AI crawler optimization
- rendering-strategies: SSR, SSG, CSR; content in initial HTML for crawlers
Related skills
More from kostja94/marketing-skills and the wider catalog.
schema-markup
When the user wants to add or optimize structured data (Schema.org, JSON-LD). Also use when the user mentions "schema," "structured data," "JSON-LD," "rich results," "rich snippets," "Google rich snippets," "featured snippet schema," "add schema to page," "missing structured data," "schema validation error," "Schema Markup Validator," "Google Rich Results Test," "FAQ schema," "Article schema," "Organization schema," "JobPosting," "HowTo," "Event," "SoftwareApplication," "BreadcrumbList," "WebSite," "Recipe," "Product," or "Dataset." For SERP feature types and zero-click patterns, use serp-features. For AI search visibility strategy (not markup), use generative-engine-optimization. For HowTo step sections (placement, copy, vs FAQ), use howto-section-generator.
seo-audit
When the user wants to run an SEO audit, technical SEO audit, or site health check. Also use when the user mentions "SEO audit," "technical audit," "site audit," "crawl audit," "indexing audit," "SEO health," or "fix SEO issues." For prioritization and organic strategy, use seo-strategy. For GSC data analysis, use google-search-console.
seo-monitoring
When the user wants to build an SEO data analysis system, monitor indexing/traffic/keywords/backlinks, or set up benchmarks. Also use when the user mentions "SEO data analysis," "SEO monitoring," "article database," "traffic benchmark," "penalty recovery," "SEO work document," "SEO dashboard," "keyword tracking," "ranking monitoring," "indexing report," or "backlink monitoring." For GSC API, use google-search-console.
seo-strategy
When the user wants to plan SEO strategy, prioritize SEO work, or understand the SEO workflow. Also use when the user mentions "SEO strategy," "SEO plan," "SEO roadmap," "SEO priority," "SEO audit," "SEO workflow," "where to start SEO," "SEO approach," "organic growth strategy," "why SEO," "SEO value," or "search strategy." For technical/crawl audit execution, use seo-audit. For keyword research, use keyword-research. For AI search visibility, use generative-engine-optimization.
serp-features
When the user wants to understand or optimize for SERP feature types (PAA, sitelinks, rich results, AI Overviews). Also use when the user mentions "SERP," "SERP features," "search result features," "People Also Ask," "PAA," "sitelinks," "knowledge panel," "local pack," "rich results," "zero-click," "SERP types," "AI Overviews," "Bing Copilot," or "Yandex AI." For JSON-LD and rich result implementation, use schema-markup. For organic strategy and roadmap, use seo-strategy.
services-page-generator
When the user wants to create, optimize, or audit a services page. Also use when the user mentions "services page," "what we offer," "service offerings," "consulting services," "service page," "offerings page," "service catalog," or "professional services." For sitewide page planning, use website-structure.