# How to create an llms.txt file: step-by-step guide > How to create llms.txt by the second edition of the proposal: pick the main pages, write the file, place it at the site root, check the server response, keep it current Page: https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/guides/getting-started/ Site index: https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/llms.txt To create `llms.txt`, pick the main pages of the site, write them down as a list of links with notes, and put the file at the site root. By hand it takes half an hour. For a site on a content management system, an extension usually assembles the file. The hard part is not the format but the selection: the file is useful when it holds what matters, not everything. If you have not decided whether you need the file at all: [What is llms.txt](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/guides/what-is-llms-txt/). ## The manual path 1. **Pick the main pages.** Picture a person who arrives at the site for the first time with a question. Which five to twenty pages answer most questions? That is the content of the file. Leave out: login and cart pages, search results, service and private sections, duplicates. 2. **Group them by meaning.** Two to five sections are enough for almost any site: documentation and examples, catalog and terms, articles and help. 3. **Write the file.** The site name, one or two sentences about it, then sections with links. Each link gets a note saying what is behind it. 4. **Put the file at the site root.** It has to open at `https://your-site/llms.txt` and be served as text. 5. **Check the server response.** Status `200`, a text content type, the first line starts with a hash sign. A common mistake: the site serves an HTML page instead of the file. 6. **Decide how the file will be refreshed.** A file that does not change together with the site points to missing pages half a year later. ## What the file looks like - llms.txt - The file of a small documentation site - Name ``` # Kolos API ``` - A first-level heading. The only required part - Summary ``` > A delivery service for online stores: rate calculation, order creation, tracking. ``` - What the site is, in one or two sentences - Details ``` Every request needs a key. Test environment: sandbox.kolos.example ``` - Optional text without headings: what is worth knowing in advance - Section ``` ## Documentation - [Quick start](https://kolos.example/docs/start.md): the key, the first request, the first order - [API reference](https://kolos.example/docs/api.md): methods, parameters, error codes ``` - A second-level heading and a list of links with notes - Secondary ``` ## Optional - [Changelog](https://kolos.example/changelog.md): versions and dates ``` - By convention, what can be skipped goes here The same file as a whole: ```markdown # Kolos API > A delivery service for online stores: rate calculation, order creation, tracking. Every request needs a key. Test environment: sandbox.kolos.example ## Documentation - [Quick start](https://kolos.example/docs/start.md): the key, the first request, the first order - [API reference](https://kolos.example/docs/api.md): methods, parameters, error codes ## Optional - [Changelog](https://kolos.example/changelog.md): versions and dates ``` Exact rules: [the file format](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/specification/format/), [sections](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/specification/sections/). More samples: [basic examples](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/examples/basic/). ## Where to put it The file goes to the site root, next to `robots.txt`. For a static site that is the folder with public files. For a site on a content management system an extension usually serves the file, and it does not exist on disk. The [second edition of the proposal](https://llmstxt.org/) also allows a file in a section of the site. It then describes only the addresses inside that section: ```text /llms.txt the whole site /docs/llms.txt the /docs/ section only ``` ## Checking ```bash curl -sI https://example.com/llms.txt curl -s https://example.com/llms.txt | head -n 3 ``` 1. The status code is `200`. 2. The content type is `text/plain` or `text/markdown`. 3. The first line starts with `# `. 4. Links are absolute and open. 5. `robots.txt` does not block the file. The full list of checks: [Validating files and markup](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/guides/validation/). ## Helping an agent find the file The second edition added a relation through which a page says which `llms.txt` describes it: ```html ``` This step is optional. More: [Discovery of the file and Markdown versions](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/specification/discovery/). ## The ready-made path When the site runs on a content management system, there is no reason to write the file by hand: an extension assembles it from existing pages. | The site runs on | What to read | |---|---| | WordPress | [llms.txt in WordPress](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/guides/wordpress/) | | Webasyst, Shop-Script | [llms.txt and JSON-LD in Webasyst](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/guides/webasyst/), ready-made extensions | | Starlight, Docusaurus, MkDocs, VitePress | [Setup in documentation generators](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/reference/configuration/) | | Something else | [Generators and tools](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/tools/generators/) | An automatically assembled file is checked the same way as one written by hand. It is also worth reading through: an extension knows the structure of the site but not what matters on it. ## What not to do - **Do not copy the sitemap.** The full list of addresses is already in `sitemap.xml`. This file needs selection. - **Do not write prohibitions.** The file blocks nothing. Robot access is configured in `robots.txt`. - **Do not add private things.** The file is public: no admin addresses, no drafts. - **Do not expect better rankings.** Search engines do not use the file for ranking: [Does llms.txt work](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/guides/does-llms-txt-work/). ## What next - [Best practices](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/guides/best-practices/) - how to make the file useful - [An AI-ready site](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/guides/ai-ready-site/) - the other layers: access, markup, content - [What is llms-full.txt](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/guides/llms-full-txt/) - whether a second file is needed - [A prompt for generation](https://llms-full-txt.ru/en/prompts/generate-llms-txt/) - a draft of the file with the help of an AI system