Mark Stott
Apr 2, 2026
  411
(5 votes)

Stott Robots Handler v7 for Optimizely CMS 13

Stott Robots Handler version 7 is now available for Optimizely PaaS CMS 13. This is includes updates to support the switch from a Site based architecture to an Application based architecture.

Robots Handler V7 initial interace

How does the change from Sites to Applications impact the user?

The data structure of Applications is subtly different to that of Sites. In CMS 12, sites were uniquely identified using a GUID. In CMS 13, Applications are uniquely identified using a string identifier. This breaks the relationship between existing robots.txt and llms.txt content and the sites they were configured to serve.

Users will have to reconfigure their robots.txt and llms.txt content when moving from CMS 12 to CMS 13. The content for both files is stored in the Dynamic Data Store and is matched to an active application before being displayed to the CMS Administrator or being served to end users.

The Environment Robots and the API Tokens are global configurations and are not bound to a specific site or application. When upgrading to version 7 and CMS 13, these features will retain their existing configuration.

What features does Stott Robots Handler have?

  • 🤖 Manage robots.txt content by Application and specific Host URL
  • 📄 Manage llms.txt content by Application and specific Host URL
  • 🔒 Override robots meta tags and response headers at an environment level to prevent indexing lower environments in search engines.
  • 🌐 APIs to support headless solutions
  • 🌐 APIs to support modification of robots.txt and llms.txt content directly within Optimizely Opal

What does this mean for Optimizely CMS 12?

Support for version 6 of the Stott Robots Handler is not going away. New functionality will be developed directly for version 7 and then backported to version 6 where appropriate. I can review the recent download stats on a version by version basis on nuget and I will use this as an indicator of the current market need.

I expect that it will take a few years for a significant portion of customers to move from CMS 12 to CMS 13. Therefore, I expect to maintain the CMS 12 version for the short to mid term.

Getting Started

Stott Robots Handler v7 is available for Optimizely PaaS CMS 13 on nuget.org and on api.nuget.optimizely.com. You can see the full installation instructions and package information over on the github page, including how to configure the add-on for use with Opti Id.

Getting started can be as simple as:

// Install the nuget package
dotnet add package Stott.Optimizely.RobotsHandler

// Add this to your services
services.AddRobotsHandler();

// Add this to your configure method
services.UseRobotsHandler();

// Add this to your _ViewImports.cshtml if you are running traditional
@addTagHelper *, Stott.Optimizely.RobotsHandler

I am an OMVP and the author and maintainer of Stott Security and Stott Robots Handler for Optimizely CMS 12 & 13. You can find all of my content collated on https://www.stott.pro/ 

Apr 02, 2026

Comments

Please login to comment.
Latest blogs
Optimizely migration from CMS 12 to CMS 13

Upgrading from Optimizely CMS 12 to CMS 13 alongside moving the runtime from .NET 8.0 to .NET 10.0 is far more than a routine version upgrade. It i...

Sanjay Kumar | Apr 24, 2026

Optimizely CMS 13 host(s) management

One of the features I found most impressive is the way Optimizely CMS 13 handles hosts with clear definition and intent. It may sound low level...

Harish Yadav | Apr 23, 2026

Building Opal tools on Optimizely Connect Platform: a Mailchimp walkthrough

About the Mailchimp Opal Tool The  Mailchimp Opal Tool  is an Optimizely Connect Platform app that brings Mailchimp audience operations directly in...

Sanjay Kumar | Apr 22, 2026

📣 Build, Automate, and Scale Content Operations with CMS REST API v1 - now live!

Now available for both CMS13 and CMS SaaS We are excited to announce the  v1 release of our CMS REST API —a major milestone in delivering a stable,...

Kathy Copeland | Apr 21, 2026

Introducing AI Assistant v4 for Optimizely CMS 12 and 13

Epicweb AI Assistant v4.0 adds full support for Optimizely CMS 13 on .NET 10 while staying compatible with CMS 12 on .NET 8, plus new AI Chat tools...

Luc Gosso (MVP) | Apr 20, 2026 |