Sitemaps and indexing Manage sitemaps and indexing with Claude Code
Managing sitemaps and indexing with Claude Code means asking Anthropic's terminal agent to read the sitemap, noindex and nofollow flags StoreSEO holds for your Shopify resources, change them one resource at a time after your yes, and walk you through the HTML sitemap setup without leaving the folder you are working in.
Last updated: October 2026
Set up Claude Code for StoreSEO
Skip this if Claude Code is already connected. The full guide, with the alternatives, is on the Claude Code page.
- 1
Add StoreSEO to Claude Code
Run this in any terminal. The user scope makes StoreSEO available in every project on your machine.
Terminalclaude mcp add --transport http --scope user storeseo https://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp
- 2
Sign in to your store
Start Claude Code, run /mcp, choose storeseo and follow the browser window: pick your Shopify store and approve access.
Prompt/mcp
How does this work in Claude Code?
You run Claude Code from your theme repository or any folder and type a request such as show me every product with noindex set, and tell me if any of them are live in the storefront. Claude Code calls storeseo_start, then storeseo_list_resource_sitemaps with filter_on set to noindex and filter_value set to 1, and prints each call in the terminal as it runs. Because it works in your repository, it can also read your theme files, so a robots meta tag in a Liquid template or a hard-coded noindex in the layout shows up next to the StoreSEO flags rather than as a mystery later.
To change a flag, tell it which resource and which flag. Claude Code names the resource, says that noindex takes the page out of search results, and waits for your yes in the terminal before calling storeseo_update_resource_sitemap. The tool takes any subset of sitemap_disabled, no_index and no_follow and writes the matching Shopify metafields. Claude Code then lists the resource again before it tells you the state, which matters when someone is also editing flags in the StoreSEO app. If you want a record, ask it to write the before and after flags to a Markdown file in the folder.
The HTML sitemap is a short sequence. Claude Code reads storeseo_get_html_sitemap_settings, calls storeseo_update_html_sitemap with setup_step 1 to generate and enable the page, then storeseo_list_sitemap_menus for the menu edit links and the sitemap URL. You add the link in Shopify admin and tell it so, and a last update marks setup complete. When you customize the settings, ask it to show the full object it will send, because settings are replaced wholesale rather than merged.
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You: Which pages are noindex, and is Old Shipping Policy one of them?
- storeseo_start read-only
- storeseo_list_resource_sitemaps read-only
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Claude Code: Two pages are noindex and Old Shipping Policy is not one of them. It is still in the sitemap. Do you want me to set it to noindex and exclude it from the sitemap?
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You: Yes, both flags, that page only.
- storeseo_update_resource_sitemap needs approval
- storeseo_list_resource_sitemaps read-only
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Claude Code: Old Shipping Policy is now noindex and excluded from the sitemap. The other two noindex pages are unchanged.
What to ask Claude Code
Use StoreSEO to list every product with noindex set. Then check my theme for any hard-coded noindex tags and tell me if they conflict.
Set the page Old Shipping Policy to noindex and exclude it from the sitemap. Ask me first, then show the flags after.
Set up the HTML sitemap with StoreSEO, show me my menus and edit links, and write the steps I still have to do by hand to sitemap-setup.md.
- Which of my products are set to noindex or excluded from the sitemap?
- Exclude the product Gift Card Test from the sitemap and set it to noindex.
- Set up an HTML sitemap for my store and tell me which menu to add it to.
- Are any of my blog posts set to nofollow?
- Remove noindex from the page About Us.
What StoreSEO does: sitemaps and indexing
StoreSEO controls two things here: per-resource sitemap flags (left out of the XML sitemap, noindex, nofollow) and an HTML sitemap page. The agent lists flags, changes them one resource at a time and walks you through the HTML sitemap setup.
- 1
List the flags
The agent lists products, collections, pages or articles with their sitemap, noindex and nofollow flags, filtered as you ask.
- 2
Change one resource
After your yes it sets the flags on one resource, which writes the matching Shopify metafields.
- 3
Re-read before reporting
Flags can also change in the StoreSEO app, so the agent re-lists before telling you the current state.
- 4
Create the HTML sitemap
It reads the HTML sitemap settings, then generates and enables the page.
- 5
Add it to a menu
It lists your navigation menus with their edit links; you add the sitemap link to a menu in Shopify admin, then the agent marks setup complete.
Sitemaps and indexing reference
| Flags per resource | Excluded from sitemap, noindex, nofollow |
|---|---|
| Resource types | Products, collections, pages and articles |
| Where flags live | Shopify metafields on the resource |
| HTML sitemap steps | Generate and enable, add the link to a menu yourself, mark complete |
| HTML sitemap settings | Replaced wholesale on update; read first |
| Menus | Listed with edit links; the menu you choose is not stored |
| Plan | Every active plan |
Rules Claude Code follows
- A noindex flag removes a page from search results, so the agent names the resource and waits for your yes.
- The agent re-lists flags in the same turn before telling you their current state.
- Adding the sitemap link to a menu is a step you do in Shopify admin; no tool does it.
- HTML sitemap settings are read before every update, because an update replaces them.
In Claude Code
If you add an allow rule for the StoreSEO tools in Claude Code so the read calls stop prompting, that rule also covers storeseo_update_resource_sitemap and storeseo_update_html_sitemap, and then the confirmation StoreSEO asks for in the chat is the only check on a noindex change. Scope the allow rule to storeseo_start, storeseo_list_resource_sitemaps, storeseo_get_html_sitemap_settings and storeseo_list_sitemap_menus. Also add the server with --scope user, otherwise it exists only in the project folder where you first ran the command.
What runs without asking. Reads such as SEO scores, store listings, settings and Google reports run straight away. Generating a preview spends AI credit but writes nothing, and StoreSEO tells the agent to say what a generation will cost before it runs one. Applying content, optimizing images, changing settings, publishing llms.txt or agents.md, writing a product description and deleting anything wait for your yes in the conversation. That yes is an instruction the agent follows, not a lock on the server, so your client's own tool-approval setting is the hard stop.
Questions
Can Claude Code check my theme for noindex tags as well as the StoreSEO flags?
Yes, because Claude Code reads the folder you start it in. The StoreSEO flags come from storeseo_list_resource_sitemaps, and a robots meta tag in a template is something it finds by reading your theme files.
Does Claude Code change the HTML sitemap settings without reading them first?
It should not. StoreSEO's tool description tells the agent to read storeseo_get_html_sitemap_settings first, because an update replaces the whole settings object. Ask to see the full object before it sends the update.
What is the difference between excluding a page from the sitemap and noindex?
Excluding a resource leaves it out of your XML sitemap, so crawlers are not pointed at it. Noindex tells search engines not to show the page in results even if they find it. StoreSEO sets each flag separately per resource.
Can the agent add the HTML sitemap to my menu?
No. The agent generates the HTML sitemap and lists your menus with their edit links, and you add the sitemap link to a menu in Shopify admin. Then the agent can mark setup complete.
Do sitemap tools need a paid plan?
No. The sitemap tools work on every active StoreSEO plan.
Why does the agent check the flags again before answering?
Sitemap flags can also be changed in the StoreSEO app outside the conversation, so an earlier listing may be stale. Re-reading in the same turn keeps the answer accurate.
Keep going
Sitemaps and indexing with other agents
More Claude Code guides