Configuration
Guidance
What this file does
robots.txt files commonly declare crawler access rules using directives such as `User-agent`, `Allow`, `Disallow`, and `Sitemap`, helping search engines understand which paths should or should not be crawled [web:671][web:677].
Typical use cases
- Block admin or private sections from crawler access [web:671][web:677].
- Expose your sitemap URL for discovery [web:671].
- Control crawler behavior for specific directories and file paths [web:677].
Important note
robots.txt is a crawler instruction file, not a security mechanism, so sensitive content should still be protected by proper authentication and server controls [web:671][web:677].
Generated robots.txt
How it works
Robots.txt generators commonly produce plain-text crawler directives such as `User-agent`, `Allow`, `Disallow`, `Crawl-delay`, and `Sitemap`, helping website owners build a deployable robots file without writing syntax manually [web:671][web:677]. These tools are typically used as part of SEO setup alongside sitemaps and other indexing controls [web:671].
- `User-agent: *` is commonly used to target all crawlers [web:671].
- `Disallow` rules are typically used for admin, private, temporary, or filtered paths [web:671][web:677].
- `Sitemap` directives help point crawlers to sitemap discovery URLs [web:671].