robots.txt Generator
Create valid robots.txt files with an easy-to-use visual interface
Configuration
Quick Presets
User Agent
Allow/Disallow Rules
No rules added yet
Crawl Delay (Optional)
Sitemap URLs
Generated robots.txt
🔒 Privacy First: All processing happens in your browser. No data is sent to any server. Your robots.txt configuration never leaves your device.
Understanding robots.txt Files
The robots.txt file is a text file placed in your website's root directory that tells web crawlers and search engine bots which pages or sections of your site they can or cannot access. It's part of the Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP), a standard used by websites to communicate with web robots.
Why robots.txt is Important
- Crawl Budget Management: Prevent crawlers from wasting resources on unimportant pages
- Privacy: Block access to private directories and sensitive information
- SEO Optimization: Direct crawlers to focus on your most important content
- Server Load: Reduce server strain by limiting crawler access frequency
- AI Training Control: Block AI crawlers from using your content for training
Basic Syntax
The robots.txt file uses a simple syntax:
# Comment
User-agent: *
Disallow: /private/
Allow: /public/
Crawl-delay: 10
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xmlCommon Directives
User-agent:Specifies which crawler the rules apply to (* means all)Disallow:Tells crawlers not to access the specified pathAllow:Explicitly permits access to a path (useful with Disallow)Crawl-delay:Specifies seconds between requests (not all bots honor this)Sitemap:Points to your XML sitemap location
Blocking AI Crawlers
With the rise of AI systems, many website owners want to prevent their content from being used for AI training. Common AI crawlers include:
- GPTBot: OpenAI's crawler for ChatGPT
- Google-Extended: Google's AI training crawler
- CCBot: Common Crawl's crawler used by many AI companies
- anthropic-ai: Anthropic's Claude training crawler
Best Practices
- Always place robots.txt in your root directory (e.g., example.com/robots.txt)
- Use specific rules rather than blocking entire sections when possible
- Include your sitemap URL for better indexing
- Test your robots.txt using Google Search Console
- Remember that robots.txt is publicly accessible and not a security measure
- Update regularly as your site structure changes
Related Tools
You might also find these utilities helpful:
- Sitemap Generator - Create XML sitemaps for your website
- URL Parser - Analyze and parse URL components
- .htaccess Generator - Create Apache server configurations