# Robots.txt Checker & Parser - Crawl Rules API (`pink_comic/robots-txt-validator`) Actor Check, parse, and validate robots.txt files in bulk. Extract crawl rules, sitemaps, crawl-delay, blocked paths, and per-user-agent allow/disallow results for SEO audits and crawler compliance. - **URL**: https://apify.com/pink\_comic/robots-txt-validator.md - **Developed by:** [Ava Torres](https://apify.com/pink_comic) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools, AI - **Stats:** 3 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.00 / 1,000 results 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## robots.txt Validator & Analyzer Fetch, parse, and analyze `robots.txt` files for any domain in bulk. Built for SEO professionals, developers, and crawler operators who need to audit site access rules at scale. ### What It Does For each domain you supply, the actor: 1. Fetches `/robots.txt` from the domain root over HTTPS (falls back gracefully on 404 or network errors) 2. Parses all `User-agent`, `Allow`, `Disallow`, `Crawl-delay`, and `Sitemap` directives 3. Reports structured rules grouped by user-agent 4. Optionally checks whether specific paths are allowed or blocked for your chosen user-agent ### Input | Field | Type | Required | Description | |-------|------|----------|-------------| | `urls` | string[] | Yes | Domains or full URLs (e.g. `google.com`, `https://openai.com/blog`) | | `userAgent` | string | No | User-agent to evaluate rules for. Defaults to `*` | | `checkPaths` | string[] | No | Specific paths to test for allow/disallow (e.g. `/admin`, `/api/`) | | `maxResults` | integer | No | Cap on domains to process. Defaults to 100 | ### Output One record per domain: | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `domain` | Domain name | | `robotsTxtUrl` | Full URL of the fetched robots.txt | | `robotsTxtFound` | `true` if HTTP 200 was returned | | `robotsTxtContent` | Raw robots.txt text | | `userAgentRules` | Parsed rule blocks, each with `userAgent` and `rules` array of `{directive, path}` | | `sitemapUrls` | All Sitemap URLs declared in the file | | `crawlDelay` | Crawl-delay in seconds for the requested user-agent (null if not set) | | `analyzedPaths` | Per-path results: `{path, allowed}` for each path in `checkPaths` | | `fetchError` | Error message if the file could not be fetched | ### Example Use Cases - **SEO audit**: Check which bots can access which parts of your site - **Crawler compliance**: Verify your spider respects `Disallow` rules before running at scale - **Competitive research**: Understand what paths competitors block from indexing - **Security review**: Identify paths hidden from crawlers (admin panels, staging URLs) - **Sitemap discovery**: Extract all declared sitemap URLs without manual inspection ### Pricing $0.10 per 1,000 domains checked. Typical run of 100 domains costs less than $0.02. # Actor input Schema ## `urls` (type: `array`): Domains or full URLs to analyze. Enter one per line (e.g., example.com, https://openai.com/blog). The actor fetches /robots.txt from each domain's root. ## `userAgent` (type: `string`): The user-agent string to check rules for (e.g., Googlebot, GPTBot, *). Defaults to * (wildcard). ## `checkPaths` (type: `array`): Optional list of URL paths to check whether they are allowed or disallowed for the specified user-agent (e.g., /admin, /sitemap.xml, /api/). ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of domains to process. Use this to control costs. ## Actor input object example ```json { "urls": [ "google.com", "github.com", "openai.com" ], "userAgent": "*", "checkPaths": [], "maxResults": 100 } ```` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "urls": [ "google.com", "github.com", "openai.com" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("pink_comic/robots-txt-validator").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "urls": [ "google.com", "github.com", "openai.com", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("pink_comic/robots-txt-validator").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "urls": [ "google.com", "github.com", "openai.com" ] }' | apify call pink_comic/robots-txt-validator --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=pink_comic/robots-txt-validator", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Robots.txt Checker & Parser - Crawl Rules API", "description": "Check, parse, and validate robots.txt files in bulk. Extract crawl rules, sitemaps, crawl-delay, blocked paths, and per-user-agent allow/disallow results for SEO audits and crawler compliance.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "a0W3f61KgdhmeokwI" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/pink_comic~robots-txt-validator/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-pink_comic-robots-txt-validator", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/pink_comic~robots-txt-validator/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-pink_comic-robots-txt-validator", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/pink_comic~robots-txt-validator/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-pink_comic-robots-txt-validator", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "urls" ], "properties": { "urls": { "title": "Domains / URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Domains or full URLs to analyze. Enter one per line (e.g., example.com, https://openai.com/blog). The actor fetches /robots.txt from each domain's root.", "default": [ "google.com", "github.com", "openai.com" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "userAgent": { "title": "User-Agent", "type": "string", "description": "The user-agent string to check rules for (e.g., Googlebot, GPTBot, *). Defaults to * (wildcard).", "default": "*" }, "checkPaths": { "title": "Paths to Check", "type": "array", "description": "Optional list of URL paths to check whether they are allowed or disallowed for the specified user-agent (e.g., /admin, /sitemap.xml, /api/).", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max Results", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 10000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of domains to process. Use this to control costs.", "default": 100 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```