What is a robots.txt generator?
A robots.txt generator creates a text file that gives participating web crawlers guidance about which paths they may crawl on your site. The file is published at the root of a domain, such as example.com/robots.txt. It can contain groups for one or more user agents, allow or disallow rules, an optional crawl-delay value and a sitemap location. This tool prepares the text locally so you can review it before publishing.
Build a robots.txt file
- Enter an asterisk to apply rules to all crawlers, or add specific user-agent names.
- Add allow or disallow paths beginning with a forward slash.
- Optionally include a crawl delay and full sitemap URL.
- Generate the file, then copy or download robots.txt.
If you leave the rules list empty, this generator writes an allow rule for the entire site. Add a disallow rule only for paths you intentionally want to keep crawlers from accessing. A path rule is a crawl instruction, not a security control. Sensitive pages and files still need proper authentication, authorization or other protection.
Understand allow and disallow rules
An Allow rule signals that a crawler may access a matching path, while Disallow signals that it should avoid crawling it. Different crawlers may have different support for advanced robots syntax, so simple path rules are the safest starting point. If multiple rules overlap, crawler behavior can depend on the most specific match and the crawler's own implementation.
Use a forward slash at the beginning of each path. For example, /admin/ targets that folder path, and /search? can target URL patterns depending on crawler support. Review every line after generating it. A broad rule can accidentally prevent crawlers from accessing important pages, stylesheets or content needed to understand your site.
Sitemap and crawl delay
The Sitemap line gives crawlers the absolute URL of your XML sitemap. It is useful even if you also submit the sitemap through a search-engine console. Crawl-delay is supported by some crawlers but not all, and its exact meaning can vary. Use it cautiously; a high delay can slow crawling and discovery of new or updated pages.
Publish carefully
Upload the finished file to the root of the correct domain and test it after deployment. A robots.txt file does not guarantee that a URL will never appear in search results, especially if other pages link to it. Use a noindex directive or access controls when that is the actual goal. The generator does not publish or test your live file, so verify it with your hosting setup and crawler tools.