# AI Crawler Readiness: robots.txt & llms.txt (`kelp_forest_labs/ai-crawler-readiness`) Actor

See which AI crawlers a site's robots.txt allows or blocks (18 known tokens plus your own), with the deciding rule for each, and whether llms.txt exists and is well-formed. Identified checker, three requests per domain, refusals and errors are free.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/kelp_forest_labs/ai-crawler-readiness.md
- **Developed by:** [kelp forest](https://apify.com/kelp_forest_labs) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 domain checkeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

For each domain, find out **which AI crawlers your robots.txt allows or blocks** and whether **/llms.txt** exists and
follows the structure proposed at llmstxt.org.

### Use cases

- Audit whether your site is open or closed to AI search and training crawlers.
- Compare competitors' AI-crawler policies.
- Check client sites for agencies before and after a robots.txt change.
- Validate a new llms.txt.

### What it does

- Evaluates 18 AI crawler product tokens by default (GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot,
  Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User, anthropic-ai, Google-Extended, Applebot-Extended, PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User,
  CCBot, Bytespider, meta-externalagent, Amazonbot, cohere-ai, DuckAssistBot, MistralAI-User), plus any you add.
- Uses its own RFC 9309 matcher: longest match wins, allow wins ties, `*` and `$` wildcards, merged groups,
  case-insensitive product tokens, `*` group fallback.
- Shows the deciding rule and group for every bot, and lists the blocked bots.
- Checks `/llms.txt` (H1 title, summary, sections, links) and whether `/llms-full.txt` exists.

### Honest user agent, free refusals

The checker always sends its own identified user agent
(`KelpForestLabs-AICrawlerReadiness/1.0 (+https://apify.com/kelp_forest_labs/ai-crawler-readiness; ...)`) and never
pretends to be a browser or another bot. If a site refuses it (HTTP 401/403/429), returns a server error or cannot be
reached, you get an **error row with no verdict and no charge**. We don't guess "blocks all AI bots" from a refusal.

### Pricing (pay per event)

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| `domain` (one domain with a verdict) | US$0.002 |

Each run also has Apify's run-start charge of US$0.00005 per GB of run memory (US$0.00005 at the default 512 MB),
charged when the run starts, even if every domain gets an error row.

### How to use

1. Open the actor in Apify Console and fill in the input form (or paste the JSON example below into the JSON editor).
2. Optional: set a maximum charge for the run under the run options to cap what a run can cost.
3. Click **Start**. Results appear in the **Output** tab as they are produced; export them as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML.

You can also start runs from the Apify API or CLI, run the actor on a schedule (for example weekly), and send
results to other apps with Apify integrations and webhooks.

### Input example

```json
{"domains": ["apify.com", "example.org"], "extraBots": ["MyCustomBot"]}
```

### Output example (local run, Oct 2, 2026; per-bot details trimmed)

```json
{"domain": "https://apify.com", "status": "ok", "robotsTxt": "found", "robotsHttpStatus": 200, "verdict": "all checked AI crawlers allowed", "allowedCount": 18, "blockedCount": 0, "blockedBots": [], "llmsTxt": {"present": true, "valid": true, "title": "Apify", "hasSummary": true, "sections": 9, "links": 72, "issues": []}, "llmsFullTxt": false}
```

### FAQ

**Does a block in robots.txt stop AI crawlers?**
Only crawlers that follow robots.txt. This tool reports the rules; it cannot tell whether a crawler obeys them, and it is not legal advice.

**Which crawlers are checked?**
18 product tokens such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, PerplexityBot and CCBot, plus any you add in `extraBots`. Names are used only to identify the crawlers; this tool is not affiliated with their owners.

**Why did a domain get an error instead of a verdict?**
The site refused our identified checker (401/403/429), had a server error, or could not be reached. We never guess a verdict, and these rows are free.

### Limits: what this actor does not do

- It does not tell you whether a bot actually obeys robots.txt, and it is not legal advice.
- It reads only `/robots.txt`, `/llms.txt` and `/llms-full.txt` (three requests per domain), each with a
  60-second limit, so one slow site cannot hold up the rest of the list.
- An HTML page served at `/robots.txt` (a "soft 404") is treated as no robots.txt: it contains no rules.

### Changelog

- 1.0 (October 2026): first public version.

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

e.g. example.com or https://example.com

## `extraBots` (type: `array`):

Additional crawler names to evaluate besides the built-in AI crawler list. Give the product token (for example MyBot); a full user-agent string such as 'MyBot/2.0 (+https://example.com)' is reduced to its product token, as robots.txt matching uses only that.

## `paths` (type: `array`):

Paths to test for every bot. Only the FIRST path decides the verdict and the allowed/blocked counts; the other paths are reported per bot in `paths`. Default: /

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "apify.com"
  ],
  "paths": [
    "/"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per domain: allowed/blocked verdict per AI crawler with the deciding robots.txt rule, and the llms.txt check.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "domains": [
        "apify.com"
    ],
    "paths": [
        "/"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("kelp_forest_labs/ai-crawler-readiness").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "domains": ["apify.com"],
    "paths": ["/"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("kelp_forest_labs/ai-crawler-readiness").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "domains": [
    "apify.com"
  ],
  "paths": [
    "/"
  ]
}' |
apify call kelp_forest_labs/ai-crawler-readiness --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,kelp_forest_labs/ai-crawler-readiness"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/RNDheJ9e0eFXfqeVX/builds/Tr8KjTgvDeIM1XfqB/openapi.json