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name: llms-txt description: "Use when auditing public documentation portals, API references, help centers, SDK docs, or large knowledge bases. Check the final file served at /llms.txt and verify that the linked pages are stable, high-value, and accessible without relying on a JavaScript-only interface." metadata: category: seo priority: medium difficulty: intermediate estimatedTime: "20" source: frontendchecklist.io url: https://frontendchecklist.io/rules/seo/llms-txt

Publish llms.txt for documentation-heavy sites

Documentation portals often bury the most important pages behind dense navigation, search UIs, or framework-specific layouts. A curated llms.txt gives AI tools a cleaner entry point without replacing the normal crawl and indexing mechanisms of the web described by the llms.txt convention.

Quick Reference

• Serve llms.txt at the root (/llms.txt on the production domain) if you run a docs-heavy site
• Curate a short list of stable, high-signal docs pages instead of dumping every URL
• Use llms-full.txt only as an optional companion when you can keep it current
• Keep crawl and indexing controls in robots.txt; llms.txt does not replace them

Check

Check whether this documentation-heavy site publishes llms.txt at the root and whether it contains a curated set of stable, high-value links such as getting-started guides, API references, concepts, and examples. Confirm that linked URLs return HTTP 200 and that llms.txt is not being treated as a replacement for robots.txt or XML sitemaps.

Fix

Add llms.txt at the site root with a short description of the project and a curated list of the most useful documentation URLs. If the docs set is large and you can maintain it, add an optional llms-full.txt companion and link to it from llms.txt. Keep crawl directives in robots.txt.

Explain

Explain what llms.txt is, why it can help documentation-heavy sites give AI tools a cleaner starting point, why llms-full.txt is optional, and why traditional crawl controls still belong in robots.txt.

Code Review

Review route handlers, static files, or framework metadata output related to llms.txt. Flag sites that publish the file outside the root path, link to low-value or unstable pages, expose private/auth-only docs, or imply that llms.txt replaces crawl/indexing controls like robots.txt or sitemaps.

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For full implementation details, code examples, and framework-specific guidance, see references/rule.md.

Rule page: https://frontendchecklist.io/rules/seo/llms-txt