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X-Robots-Tag Generator

Build the HTTP header that controls indexing for PDFs, images, and any non-HTML file — with ready-to-paste config for 8 server platforms, plus a live checker for any URL.

Generator
Checker
Meta Robots vs X-Robots-Tag
Applies to
Indexing directives
Advanced
Resulting header X-Robots-Tag: (select at least one directive)

          

Why this X-Robots-Tag tool is different

Every other free tool just checks the header. This one writes the config for you.

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8 platform config snippets

Apache, Nginx, IIS, Node.js, PHP, Netlify, Vercel, and Cloudflare Workers — copy-paste ready, not just the header value.

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Live header checker

Paste any URL to see its current X-Robots-Tag header, fetched directly from your browser.

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Conflict warnings

Flags redundant combinations like selecting 'none' alongside 'noindex', and catches invalid numeric values before you deploy.

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Meta Robots vs X-Robots-Tag guide

A clear side-by-side comparison so you use the right mechanism for the job, not just whichever one you found first.

🎯

Bot-specific targeting

Scope directives to a specific crawler like Googlebot instead of all bots, matching real-world server configs.

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100% client-side

Header generation happens entirely in your browser. The checker fetches the URL directly — nothing routes through our servers.

How it compares

A side-by-side look at popular X-Robots-Tag tools.

Feature SEOTriggers Toolsaday Pr-cy.io Chrome extensions
Generates config, not just checks✓ 8 platforms
Live URL header checker
Conflict/error warnings
No install requiredExtension only
Free, no signup

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between X-Robots-Tag and the meta robots tag?
The meta robots tag only works inside the <head> of an HTML page, so it can't control PDFs, images, or other non-HTML files. X-Robots-Tag is an HTTP response header set by the server, so it works on any file type and can also be applied to entire URL paths at once through server config.
When should I use X-Robots-Tag instead of robots.txt?
Robots.txt controls whether a crawler can request a URL at all. X-Robots-Tag controls whether a URL that was already crawled gets indexed. If you need to keep a file crawlable but out of search results — a common case for PDFs and internal tools — X-Robots-Tag is the right layer, not robots.txt.
Does this tool actually set the header on my server?
No. It generates the exact configuration snippet for your platform (Apache, Nginx, IIS, Node.js, PHP, Netlify, Vercel, or Cloudflare Workers); you paste that into your own server config or code and deploy it yourself.
Can I check the current X-Robots-Tag on a live URL?
Yes. The Checker tab fetches the URL directly from your browser and reads the X-Robots-Tag response header. If the server blocks cross-origin requests, it automatically retries through a chain of public CORS proxies before reporting that it couldn't be read.
What does unavailable_after actually do?
It tells Google to treat the page as noindex automatically after the date and time you specify, which is useful for time-limited content like event pages or promotions without needing a second deployment to add noindex later.

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