Home/Guides/robots.txt Allow/Disallow conflict fix

robots.txt Allow/Disallow conflict fix

Crawlers apply longest match and ordering rules; overlapping Allow/Disallow lines create ambiguous paths. One typo can block APIs or allow admin paths unintentionally.

Common causes

  • Shorter rule wins incorrectly assumed.
  • Wildcard patterns overlap.
  • Multiple user-agents with divergent rules.

How to fix

  • Test URL against rules with GET via REST Endpoint Tester.
  • Simplify to one clear rule per path prefix.
  • Document intent in comments (not all crawlers read them).

Use our tool

Test HTTP GET