Site launch setup
Create a starting robots.txt file before a site or section goes live so core crawler rules are ready.
Build a cleaner robots.txt file for crawler access, sitemap discovery, staged site launches, and technical SEO housekeeping without writing every directive by hand. Set general crawler rules, optional path controls, sitemap references, crawl-delay values, and extra bot-specific blocks in one place.
Set crawler access, add sitemap references, and generate a ready-to-publish robots.txt file instantly.
Choose the main crawler target, set general access rules, add optional path directives, and include a sitemap line if needed. You can also add a second crawler block for more specific bot behavior.
Create a starting robots.txt file before a site or section goes live so core crawler rules are ready.
Draft restricted crawl rules for testing environments, admin areas, and duplicate sections.
Point bots to sitemaps and reduce crawling on low-value paths that do not need repeated access.
Allow normal crawling, block admin and private folders, then add your sitemap URL for cleaner discovery.
Allow a dedicated image bot to crawl an image folder while keeping other sections restricted.
Add crawl-delay for supported crawlers when you want to reduce request frequency on limited infrastructure.
Leave the site open overall but disallow private folders and system paths that do not need repeated crawling.
This tool assembles your selected user-agent rules into plain-text directives you can publish at your domain root. You can choose a main crawler target, define whether the site is broadly open or broadly blocked, and then add more specific allow or disallow paths as needed.
It also supports sitemap references, optional crawl-delay values, and extra bot-specific rules for situations where one crawler needs different instructions than the rest.
Robots.txt is useful for crawl guidance, but it is not a security layer. Sensitive areas still need authentication, permissions, or stronger indexing controls if you truly want them protected.
This is especially useful for technical SEO setup, staging controls, launch checklists, and routine crawler housekeeping across larger sites.
Use the Sitemap Generator to create sitemap output that pairs naturally with robots.txt guidance.
Continue with the Schema Generator after your technical crawl setup is ready.
Pair this with the Meta Tag Generator and URL Slug Generator for a cleaner publishing workflow.
Better technical SEO usually comes from combining crawl rules with better internal structure, clean URLs, and discoverable sitemaps. Use robots.txt to guide crawlers, not to hide sensitive content.
If a path should stay private, protect it directly. If a page should be discoverable, make sure it is linked well internally, appears in your sitemap where appropriate, and has stable metadata.
Useful next internal links from here include Sitemap Generator, Schema Generator, Meta Tag Generator, URL Slug Generator, and the SEO Tools Hub.
Place robots.txt in the root of your domain so it is reachable at a URL like https://example.com/robots.txt. Search engines usually look there first.
Not always. Robots.txt mainly controls crawling. A blocked page can still appear in search results in some cases, so use noindex or stronger access controls when needed.
The sitemap line points crawlers to your XML sitemap so they can discover site URLs more efficiently.
Crawl-delay can help with some crawlers, but not every major search engine uses it. It is best treated as an optional directive rather than a universal control.
Yes. You can create a general rule for all crawlers and then add a separate block for a specific user-agent when you need different access rules.
Yes. The robots.txt generator works in your browser and is free to use without signup.