# Robots.txt & XML Sitemap Discrepancy Checker (`litezero/robots-txt-sitemap-checker`) Actor

Audit robots.txt directives (Disallow, Allow, Crawl-delay) against XML Sitemap URLs. Identifies blocked sitemap URLs, missing sitemaps, and indexing discrepancies.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/litezero/robots-txt-sitemap-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [LiteZero](https://apify.com/litezero) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.70 / 1,000 item scrapeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## 🤖 Robots.txt & XML Sitemap Discrepancy Checker

Audit technical SEO compliance by cross-checking **robots.txt directives** (Disallow, Allow, User-agent, Crawl-delay) against **XML Sitemap URLs**. Instantly spot critical indexing errors such as URLs listed in your sitemap that are blocked from search engine crawlers by robots.txt.

***

### 🥊 Why This Actor Beats the Competition

| Feature | This Actor (Pay-Per-Result) | Enterprise SEO Suites (Ahrefs, Semrush) | Manual Audit / Spreadsheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Cost** | 💰 **$1.00 / 1,000 URLs checked** | $200–$500/month recurring fees | High labor cost & error-prone |
| **Speed** | ⚡ **Under 15 seconds per audit** | Hours of site-wide crawler processing | Slow manual pattern matching |
| **API Integration** | ✅ **Direct REST API, Python & Node.js SDKs** | Complex web dashboards | None |
| **Discrepancy Detection** | ✅ **Identifies blocked sitemap URLs automatically** | Buried in technical crawl error logs | Manual regex required |

***

### 🛠️ Step-by-Step: How to Use

#### Method 1: Apify Web Console

1. Enter your domain (e.g. `https://apify.com` or `apify.com`) in **Domains or Website URLs**.
2. Set **Max Sitemap URLs to Audit** (e.g. `30`).
3. Click **Start** to run the check.

#### Method 2: Python SDK

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("litezero/robots-txt-sitemap-checker").call(run_input={
    "domainsOrUrls": ["https://apify.com"],
    "maxUrlsToAudit": 50
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    if item["isBlockedByRobots"]:
        print(f"CRITICAL DISCREPANCY: {item['url']} is in sitemap but blocked by: {item['matchedRule']}")
```

***

### 📥 Input Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|:---:|:---:|---|
| `domainsOrUrls` | Array | `["https://apify.com"]` | Domains or website homepages to audit. |
| `maxUrlsToAudit` | Integer | `30` | Maximum sitemap URLs to check against robots.txt rules. |

***

### 📤 Output Sample JSON

```json
{
  "domain": "https://apify.com",
  "url": "https://apify.com/store",
  "isBlockedByRobots": false,
  "matchedRule": "None (Allowed by default)",
  "hasSitemapInRobots": true,
  "sitemapsFound": ["https://apify.com/sitemap.xml"],
  "disallowRulesCount": 8,
  "allowRulesCount": 2,
  "robotsTxtUrl": "https://apify.com/robots.txt",
  "auditedAt": "2026-10-03T09:20:00.000Z"
}
```

***

### 💡 Top Commercial Use Cases

1. **Pre-Launch Technical SEO QA:** Ensure dev/staging Disallow rules were removed before production deployment.
2. **Crawl Budget Optimization:** Confirm high-priority sitemap landing pages are 100% crawlable by Googlebot.
3. **Agency Client Audits:** Deliver automated robots.txt vs sitemap audit reports in client discovery phases.\n

# Actor input Schema

## `domainsOrUrls` (type: `array`):

Domains to audit (e.g. 'apify.com' or 'https://apify.com').

## `maxUrlsToAudit` (type: `integer`):

Maximum URLs from XML sitemap to evaluate against robots.txt rules.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domainsOrUrls": [
    "https://apify.com"
  ],
  "maxUrlsToAudit": 30
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

# 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 = {
    "domainsOrUrls": [
        "https://apify.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("litezero/robots-txt-sitemap-checker").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 = { "domainsOrUrls": ["https://apify.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("litezero/robots-txt-sitemap-checker").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 '{
  "domainsOrUrls": [
    "https://apify.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call litezero/robots-txt-sitemap-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,litezero/robots-txt-sitemap-checker"
        }
    }
}
```

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/2P9gabocyRVCcKcad/builds/LV9zobFR4NHxxBtCA/openapi.json