httpsexamplecomrobotstxt

httpsexamplecomrobotstxt is the name used to refer to the robots.txt file at the root of the domain example.com accessed over HTTPS. Robots.txt is a plain text file that communicates with web crawlers and is part of the robots exclusion protocol. Its purpose is to guide compliant bots about which parts of a site may be crawled or indexed.

The file must be located at the site root, for example at https://example.com/robots.txt, and is read by user agents visiting the site. Content is organized into groups that begin with one or more User-agent lines, followed by directives such as Disallow, Allow, or Crawl-delay. Typical directives include Disallow to block a path, Allow to override a broader Disallow, and optional Sitemap lines to point crawlers to an XML sitemap. All lines are case-insensitive, and comments may be added with a leading hash (#). The most common pattern is a group for User-agent: * with instructions applying to all crawlers.

Importantly, robots.txt is a voluntary convention and does not prevent access by users or by crawlers that ignore it. It is also not a secure access control mechanism; sensitive content should be protected by proper authentication. In practice, many major search engines respect the file, while some bots may ignore it, and misconfigurations can inadvertently block legitimate indexing.

Example content typically found in a robots.txt file:

User-agent: *

Disallow: /admin/

Disallow: /private/

Allow: /public/

Crawl-delay: 10

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

This sample illustrates a common pattern, where general directives apply to all crawlers, with specific blocks for sensitive paths and a reference to the site sitemap.

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