---
title: "Agent discovery"
description: "Every file and header Nimbus publishes so agents can find your docs, with its path, contents and when it ships."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://nimbus-docs.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Agent discovery

An agent that lands on your domain looks in a few well-known places before it reads any page. Nimbus publishes all of them by default. For everything an agent can read once it has found the site, see [Docs for agents](/ai/docs-for-agents).

| Path | What it is | Ships when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `/.well-known/ard.json` | Discovery manifest | Always, unless discovery is off |
| `/.well-known/ai-catalog.json` | The same manifest, under a second name | Always, unless discovery is off |
| `/.well-known/api-catalog` | API catalog (RFC 9727) | The site has an OpenAPI reference, unless discovery is off |
| `/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json` | Agent Skills index | The project has a `skills/` folder |
| Homepage `Link` header | Pointers to the files above | Always, unless discovery is off |
| `/robots.txt` | Crawler rules and Content Signals | `site` is set |
| `/llms.txt` | Index of the docs' Markdown versions | Always |

## Discovery manifest

**Paths:** `/.well-known/ard.json` and `/.well-known/ai-catalog.json` · **Type:** `application/json` · **CORS:** `Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *`

Lists `/llms.txt`, the homepage Markdown at `/index.md`, each visible published API spec, the Agent Skills index, and the [remote MCP server](/ai/remote-mcp)'s card when the site runs one. The two files have the same content. If your project already has a file or route at either path, the build fails until you move it, unless discovery is off.

## API catalog

**Path:** `/.well-known/api-catalog` · **Type:** `application/linkset+json` · **Standard:** [RFC 9727](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9727)

One entry per visible API reference and version. Each entry links the reference page, its Markdown and its published spec, for example `/api/openapi.json`. The file has no extension, so a host that ignores `_headers` needs its own rule for the media type. See [Published spec](/api-reference/openapi/options#published-spec) to keep a spec unpublished.

## Agent Skills index

**Path:** `/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json` · **Type:** `application/json`

Lists each skill in the project's `skills/` folder, with a SHA-256 digest per file. See [Publish Agent Skills](/ai/agent-skills).

## Homepage `Link` header

**Applies to:** request-rendered homepages, and static builds on hosts that read `_headers`, including Cloudflare

Advertises the discovery manifest (`rel="ard"`), the API catalog (`rel="api-catalog"`), and each API family's default reference and spec. Your own `_headers` rules win: a header they already set for a path is left out of the generated rule. On hosts without `_headers`, set the same headers in the host's own configuration.

## Content Signals

**File:** `src/pages/robots.txt.ts` · **Default:** `Content-Signal: ai-train=yes, search=yes, ai-input=yes`

Tells crawlers how they may use your content: training, search indexing, and answering questions. Edit the values in the starter's route to match your policy, and if you set one to `no`, add the policy text from [contentsignals.org](https://contentsignals.org/) above it. Signals are requests, not access control; private docs need authentication.

## `agents.discovery`

**Type:** `boolean` · **Default:** `true`

Set to `false` when another site owns the domain, such as docs at `example.com/docs` beside a main site at `example.com`:

```ts title="astro.config.ts"
const nimbusConfig = defineNimbusConfig({
  // …
  agents: { discovery: false },
});
```

- Removes the discovery manifest, the API catalog, their `Link` header entries, and their `_headers` rules.
- Keeps `llms.txt`, Markdown versions, Markdown negotiation, the remote MCP server, and Agent Skills.
- Keeps your own files in `public/.well-known/`.

After switching, purge the cached homepage, since its `Link` header still lists the old files.

## Under a base path

Discovery files belong at the origin root. With a `base` such as `/docs`, the Cloudflare adapter puts them there for you. On other hosts, deploy the emitted `.well-known` folder at the root beside the site:

```text
host-root/
├── .well-known/   # discovery and Skills files
├── docs/          # the site
└── _headers       # when the host supports it
```

Source: https://nimbus-docs.com/ai/agent-discovery/index.mdx