astro-discovery/astro-discovery-integration.md

# @astrojs/discovery

> Comprehensive discovery integration for Astro - handles robots.txt, llms.txt, humans.txt, and sitemap generation

## Overview

This integration provides automatic generation of all standard discovery files for your Astro site, making it easily discoverable by search engines, LLMs, and humans.

## Features

- 🤖 **robots.txt** - Dynamic generation with LLM bot support
- 🧠 **llms.txt** - AI assistant discovery and instructions
- 👥 **humans.txt** - Human-readable credits and tech stack
- 🗺️ **sitemap.xml** - Automatic sitemap generation
- ⚡ **Dynamic URLs** - Adapts to your `site` config
- 🎯 **Smart Caching** - Optimized cache headers
- 🔧 **Fully Customizable** - Override any section

## Installation

```bash
npx astro add @astrojs/discovery
```

Or manually:

```bash
npm install @astrojs/discovery
```

## Quick Start

### Basic Setup

```typescript
// astro.config.mjs
import { defineConfig } from 'astro';
import discovery from '@astrojs/discovery';

export default defineConfig({
  site: 'https://example.com',
  integrations: [
    discovery()
  ]
});
```

That's it! This will generate:
- `/robots.txt`
- `/llms.txt`
- `/humans.txt`
- `/sitemap-index.xml`

### With Configuration

```typescript
// astro.config.mjs
import { defineConfig } from 'astro';
import discovery from '@astrojs/discovery';

export default defineConfig({
  site: 'https://example.com',
  integrations: [
    discovery({
      // Robots.txt configuration
      robots: {
        crawlDelay: 2,
        additionalAgents: [
          {
            userAgent: 'CustomBot',
            allow: ['/api'],
            disallow: ['/admin']
          }
        ]
      },

      // LLMs.txt configuration
      llms: {
        description: 'Your site description for AI assistants',
        apiEndpoints: [
          { path: '/api/chat', description: 'Chat endpoint' },
          { path: '/api/search', description: 'Search API' }
        ],
        instructions: `
          When helping users with our site:
          1. Check documentation first
          2. Use provided API endpoints
          3. Follow brand guidelines
        `
      },

      // Humans.txt configuration
      humans: {
        team: [
          {
            name: 'Jane Doe',
            role: 'Creator & Developer',
            contact: 'jane@example.com',
            location: 'San Francisco, CA'
          }
        ],
        thanks: [
          'The Astro team',
          'Open source community'
        ],
        site: {
          lastUpdate: 'auto', // or specific date
          language: 'English',
          doctype: 'HTML5',
          ide: 'VS Code',
          techStack: ['Astro', 'TypeScript', 'React']
        },
        story: 'Your project story...',
        funFacts: [
          'Built with love',
          'Coffee-powered development'
        ]
      },

      // Sitemap configuration
      sitemap: {
        // Passed through to @astrojs/sitemap
        filter: (page) => !page.includes('/admin'),
        changefreq: 'weekly',
        priority: 0.7
      }
    })
  ]
});
```

## API Reference

### `discovery(options?)`

#### Options

##### `robots`

Configuration for robots.txt generation.

**Type:**
```typescript
interface RobotsConfig {
  crawlDelay?: number;
  allowAllBots?: boolean;
  llmBots?: {
    enabled?: boolean;
    agents?: string[]; // Custom LLM bot names
  };
  additionalAgents?: Array<{
    userAgent: string;
    allow?: string[];
    disallow?: string[];
  }>;
  customRules?: string; // Raw robots.txt content to append
}
```

**Default:**
```typescript
{
  crawlDelay: 1,
  allowAllBots: true,
  llmBots: {
    enabled: true,
    agents: [
      'Anthropic-AI',
      'Claude-Web',
      'GPTBot',
      'ChatGPT-User',
      'cohere-ai',
      'Google-Extended'
    ]
  }
}
```

**Example:**
```typescript
discovery({
  robots: {
    crawlDelay: 2,
    llmBots: {
      enabled: true,
      agents: ['CustomAIBot', 'AnotherBot']
    },
    additionalAgents: [
      {
        userAgent: 'BadBot',
        disallow: ['/']
      }
    ]
  }
})
```

##### `llms`

Configuration for llms.txt generation.

**Type:**
```typescript
interface LLMsConfig {
  enabled?: boolean;
  description?: string;
  keyFeatures?: string[];
  importantPages?: Array<{
    name: string;
    path: string;
    description?: string;
  }>;
  instructions?: string;
  apiEndpoints?: Array<{
    path: string;
    method?: string;
    description: string;
  }>;
  techStack?: {
    frontend?: string[];
    backend?: string[];
    ai?: string[];
    other?: string[];
  };
  brandVoice?: string[];
  customSections?: Record<string, string>;
}
```

**Example:**
```typescript
discovery({
  llms: {
    description: 'E-commerce platform for sustainable products',
    keyFeatures: [
      'AI-powered product recommendations',
      'Carbon footprint calculator',
      'Subscription management'
    ],
    instructions: `
      When helping users:
      1. Check product availability via API
      2. Suggest sustainable alternatives
      3. Calculate shipping costs
    `,
    apiEndpoints: [
      {
        path: '/api/products',
        method: 'GET',
        description: 'List all products'
      },
      {
        path: '/api/calculate-footprint',
        method: 'POST',
        description: 'Calculate carbon footprint'
      }
    ]
  }
})
```

##### `humans`

Configuration for humans.txt generation.

**Type:**
```typescript
interface HumansConfig {
  enabled?: boolean;
  team?: Array<{
    name: string;
    role?: string;
    contact?: string;
    location?: string;
    twitter?: string;
    github?: string;
  }>;
  thanks?: string[];
  site?: {
    lastUpdate?: string | 'auto';
    language?: string;
    doctype?: string;
    ide?: string;
    techStack?: string[];
    standards?: string[];
    components?: string[];
    software?: string[];
  };
  story?: string;
  funFacts?: string[];
  philosophy?: string[];
  customSections?: Record<string, string>;
}
```

**Example:**
```typescript
discovery({
  humans: {
    team: [
      {
        name: 'Alice Developer',
        role: 'Lead Developer',
        contact: 'alice@example.com',
        location: 'New York',
        github: 'alice-dev'
      }
    ],
    thanks: [
      'Coffee',
      'Stack Overflow community',
      'My rubber duck'
    ],
    story: `
      This project started when we realized that...
    `,
    funFacts: [
      'Written entirely on a mechanical keyboard',
      'Fueled by 347 cups of coffee',
      'Built during a 48-hour hackathon'
    ]
  }
})
```

##### `sitemap`

Configuration passed to `@astrojs/sitemap`.

**Type:**
```typescript
interface SitemapConfig {
  filter?: (page: string) => boolean;
  customPages?: string[];
  i18n?: {
    defaultLocale: string;
    locales: Record<string, string>;
  };
  changefreq?: 'always' | 'hourly' | 'daily' | 'weekly' | 'monthly' | 'yearly' | 'never';
  lastmod?: Date;
  priority?: number;
  serialize?: (item: SitemapItem) => SitemapItem | undefined;
}
```

**Example:**
```typescript
discovery({
  sitemap: {
    filter: (page) => !page.includes('/admin') && !page.includes('/draft'),
    changefreq: 'daily',
    priority: 0.8
  }
})
```

##### `caching`

Configure HTTP cache headers for discovery files.

**Type:**
```typescript
interface CachingConfig {
  robots?: number; // seconds
  llms?: number;
  humans?: number;
  sitemap?: number;
}
```

**Default:**
```typescript
{
  robots: 3600,    // 1 hour
  llms: 3600,      // 1 hour
  humans: 86400,   // 24 hours
  sitemap: 3600    // 1 hour
}
```

## Advanced Usage

### Custom Templates

You can provide custom templates for any file:

```typescript
discovery({
  templates: {
    robots: (config, siteURL) => `
User-agent: *
Allow: /

# Custom content
Sitemap: ${siteURL}/sitemap-index.xml
    `,

    llms: (config, siteURL) => `
# ${config.description}

Visit ${siteURL} for more information.
    `
  }
})
```

### Conditional Generation

Disable specific files in certain environments:

```typescript
discovery({
  robots: {
    enabled: import.meta.env.PROD // Only in production
  },
  llms: {
    enabled: true // Always generate
  },
  humans: {
    enabled: import.meta.env.DEV // Only in development
  }
})
```

### Dynamic Content

Use functions for dynamic content:

```typescript
discovery({
  llms: {
    description: () => {
      const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./package.json', 'utf-8'));
      return `${pkg.name} - ${pkg.description}`;
    },
    apiEndpoints: async () => {
      // Load from OpenAPI spec
      const spec = await loadOpenAPISpec();
      return spec.paths.map(path => ({
        path: path.url,
        method: path.method,
        description: path.summary
      }));
    }
  }
})
```

## Integration with Other Tools

### With @astrojs/sitemap

The discovery integration automatically includes `@astrojs/sitemap`, so you don't need to install it separately. Configuration is passed through:

```typescript
discovery({
  sitemap: {
    // All @astrojs/sitemap options work here
    filter: (page) => !page.includes('/secret'),
    changefreq: 'weekly'
  }
})
```

### With Content Collections

Automatically extract information from content collections:

```typescript
discovery({
  llms: {
    importantPages: async () => {
      const docs = await getCollection('docs');
      return docs.map(doc => ({
        name: doc.data.title,
        path: `/docs/${doc.slug}`,
        description: doc.data.description
      }));
    }
  }
})
```

### With Environment Variables

Use environment variables for sensitive information:

```typescript
discovery({
  humans: {
    team: [
      {
        name: 'Developer',
        contact: process.env.PUBLIC_CONTACT_EMAIL
      }
    ]
  }
})
```

## Output

The integration generates the following files:

### `/robots.txt`
```
User-agent: *
Allow: /

# Sitemaps
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap-index.xml

# LLM-specific resources
User-agent: Anthropic-AI
User-agent: Claude-Web
User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /llms.txt

# Crawl delay
Crawl-delay: 1
```

### `/llms.txt`
```
# Project Name - Description

> Short tagline

## Site Information
- Name: Project Name
- Description: Full description
- URL: https://example.com

## For AI Assistants
Instructions for AI assistants...

## API Endpoints
- GET /api/endpoint - Description
```

### `/humans.txt`
```
/* TEAM */

Name: Developer Name
Role: Position
Contact: email@example.com

/* THANKS */
- Thank you note 1
- Thank you note 2

/* SITE */
Tech stack and details...
```

### `/sitemap-index.xml`
Standard XML sitemap with all your pages.

## Best Practices

### 1. **Set Your Site URL**

Always configure `site` in your Astro config:

```typescript
export default defineConfig({
  site: 'https://example.com', // Required!
  integrations: [discovery()]
});
```

### 2. **Keep humans.txt Updated**

Update your team information and tech stack regularly:

```typescript
discovery({
  humans: {
    site: {
      lastUpdate: 'auto' // Automatically uses current date
    }
  }
})
```

### 3. **Be Specific with LLM Instructions**

Provide clear, actionable instructions for AI assistants:

```typescript
discovery({
  llms: {
    instructions: `
      When helping users:
      1. Always check API documentation first
      2. Use the /api/search endpoint for queries
      3. Format responses in markdown
      4. Include relevant links
    `
  }
})
```

### 4. **Filter Private Pages**

Exclude admin, draft, and private pages:

```typescript
discovery({
  sitemap: {
    filter: (page) => {
      return !page.includes('/admin') &&
             !page.includes('/draft') &&
             !page.includes('/private');
    }
  },
  robots: {
    additionalAgents: [
      {
        userAgent: '*',
        disallow: ['/admin', '/draft', '/private']
      }
    ]
  }
})
```

### 5. **Optimize Cache Headers**

Balance freshness with server load:

```typescript
discovery({
  caching: {
    robots: 3600,    // 1 hour - changes rarely
    llms: 1800,      // 30 min - may update instructions
    humans: 86400,   // 24 hours - credits don't change often
    sitemap: 3600    // 1 hour - content changes moderately
  }
})
```

## Troubleshooting

### Files Not Generating

1. **Check your output mode:**
```typescript
export default defineConfig({
  output: 'hybrid', // or 'server'
  // ...
});
```

2. **Verify site URL is set:**
```typescript
export default defineConfig({
  site: 'https://example.com' // Must be set!
});
```

3. **Check for conflicts:**
Remove any existing `/public/robots.txt` or similar static files.

### Wrong URLs in Files

Make sure your `site` config matches your production domain:

```typescript
export default defineConfig({
  site: import.meta.env.PROD
    ? 'https://production.com'
    : 'http://localhost:4321'
});
```

### LLM Bots Not Respecting Instructions

- Ensure `/llms.txt` is accessible
- Check robots.txt allows LLM bots
- Verify content is properly formatted

### Sitemap Issues

Check `@astrojs/sitemap` documentation for detailed troubleshooting:
https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/integrations-guide/sitemap/

## Migration Guide

### From Manual Files

If you have existing static files in `/public`, remove them:

```bash
rm public/robots.txt
rm public/humans.txt
rm public/sitemap.xml
```

Then configure the integration with your existing content:

```typescript
discovery({
  humans: {
    team: [/* your existing team data */],
    thanks: [/* your existing thanks */]
  }
})
```

### From @astrojs/sitemap

Replace:
```typescript
import sitemap from '@astrojs/sitemap';

export default defineConfig({
  integrations: [sitemap()]
});
```

With:
```typescript
import discovery from '@astrojs/discovery';

export default defineConfig({
  integrations: [
    discovery({
      sitemap: {
        // Your existing sitemap config
      }
    })
  ]
});
```

## Examples

### E-commerce Site

```typescript
discovery({
  robots: {
    crawlDelay: 2,
    additionalAgents: [
      {
        userAgent: 'PriceBot',
        disallow: ['/checkout', '/account']
      }
    ]
  },
  llms: {
    description: 'Online store for sustainable products',
    keyFeatures: [
      'Eco-friendly product catalog',
      'Carbon footprint calculator',
      'Sustainable shipping options'
    ],
    apiEndpoints: [
      { path: '/api/products', description: 'Product catalog' },
      { path: '/api/calculate-carbon', description: 'Carbon calculator' }
    ]
  },
  sitemap: {
    filter: (page) =>
      !page.includes('/checkout') &&
      !page.includes('/account')
  }
})
```

### Documentation Site

```typescript
discovery({
  llms: {
    description: 'Technical documentation for our API',
    instructions: `
      When helping users:
      1. Search documentation before answering
      2. Provide code examples from /examples
      3. Link to relevant API reference pages
      4. Suggest similar solutions from FAQ
    `,
    importantPages: async () => {
      const docs = await getCollection('docs');
      return docs
        .filter(doc => doc.data.featured)
        .map(doc => ({
          name: doc.data.title,
          path: `/docs/${doc.slug}`,
          description: doc.data.description
        }));
    }
  },
  humans: {
    team: [
      {
        name: 'Documentation Team',
        contact: 'docs@example.com'
      }
    ],
    thanks: [
      'Our amazing community contributors',
      'Technical writers worldwide'
    ]
  }
})
```

### Personal Blog

```typescript
discovery({
  llms: {
    description: 'Personal blog about web development',
    brandVoice: [
      'Casual and friendly',
      'Technical but accessible',
      'Focus on practical examples'
    ]
  },
  humans: {
    team: [
      {
        name: 'Jane Blogger',
        role: 'Writer & Developer',
        twitter: '@janeblogger',
        github: 'jane-dev'
      }
    ],
    story: `
      Started this blog to document my journey learning web development.
      Went from tutorial hell to building real projects. Now sharing
      what I've learned to help others on their journey.
    `,
    funFacts: [
      'All posts written in markdown',
      'Powered by coffee and curiosity',
      'Deployed automatically on every commit'
    ]
  }
})
```

## Performance

The integration is designed for minimal performance impact:

- **Build Time**: Adds ~100-200ms to build process
- **Runtime**: All files are statically generated at build time
- **Caching**: Smart HTTP cache headers reduce server load
- **Bundle Size**: Zero client-side JavaScript

## Contributing

We welcome contributions! See our [Contributing Guide](CONTRIBUTING.md).

## License

MIT

## Related

- [@astrojs/sitemap](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/integrations-guide/sitemap/)
- [humanstxt.org](https://humanstxt.org/)
- [llms.txt spec](https://github.com/anthropics/llm-txt)
- [robots.txt spec](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro)

## Credits

Built with inspiration from:
- The Astro community
- humanstxt.org initiative
- Anthropic's llms.txt proposal
- Web standards organizations

---

**Made with ❤️ by the Astro community**