// implementation checklist
llms.txt + RSL Publisher Checklist
Publish a concise machine-readable site guide with llms.txt, then express content rights and payment terms separately with RSL.
Keep the layers separate
llms.txt is a proposal for inference-time site context. It does not grant permission, block crawling, enforce payment, or guarantee that a provider will read it. robots.txt expresses crawl preferences. RSL defines machine-readable usage and licensing terms.
LAYER 1
llms.txt
LAYER 2
RSL
COPY-PASTE STARTER
llms.txt template
Replace every example value. Keep the final file concise and point to canonical, public URLs.
# Example Publisher
> A concise description of the site, its audience, and the information it publishes.
Add any short context an assistant needs to interpret the linked material correctly. State important scope limits and terminology here.
## Essential pages
- [About](https://example.com/about): Who publishes the site and what it covers.
- [Documentation](https://example.com/docs): Primary implementation or product documentation.
- [Editorial policy](https://example.com/editorial-policy): Sourcing, corrections, and review standards.
## Key resources
- [Resource title](https://example.com/resource): One-sentence description of the resource.
- [Data or reference](https://example.com/data): What the data contains and how often it changes.
## Optional
- [Archive](https://example.com/archive): Older material that may be useful when context allows.
- [Contact](https://example.com/contact): How to reach the publisher for corrections or licensing.robots.txt discovery
License: https://example.com/license.xml
User-agent: *
Allow: /RSL requires an absolute license URL. The License directive is global, not tied to the User-agent group.
Pre-publish gate
- • Every claim in llms.txt matches a live canonical page.
- • The RSL license reflects terms you can honor and enforce.
- • robots.txt does not accidentally block the files needed for discovery.
- • Legal review is complete for paid, restrictive, or custom license terms.