Publish llms.txt and agents.md with Cursor
Publishing llms.txt and agents.md in Cursor means asking the editor's agent, through the StoreSEO entry in mcp.json, to check what your Shopify store serves to AI crawlers and shopping agents, generate both files and switch llms.txt versions beside your theme code.
Last updated: October 2026
Set up Cursor for StoreSEO
Skip this if Cursor is already connected. The full guide, with the alternatives, is on the Cursor page.
- 1
Add StoreSEO to mcp.json
Put this in ~/.cursor/mcp.json to use StoreSEO in every project, or in .cursor/mcp.json inside one theme project. In the StoreSEO app's setup guide the same JSON goes into Settings, Tools and MCP, New MCP server.
JSON{ "mcpServers": { "storeseo": { "url": "https://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp" } } } - 2
Sign in to your store
Open Cursor's MCP settings (the Customize page in current versions), find storeseo and sign in when Cursor asks. A browser window opens: pick your Shopify store and approve access.
PromptUse StoreSEO to show me my store's SEO score breakdown.
- 3
Switch off four StoreSEO tools
StoreSEO has 44 tools and Cursor stops at about 40 active ones across all servers. In the storeseo entry in Cursor's MCP settings, turn off at least four you do not need. The four rank and competitor lookups are a good first choice if you are not on Pro.
Promptstoreseo_list_rank_locations storeseo_list_rank_languages storeseo_add_competitors storeseo_delete_competitor
How does this work in Cursor?
You are in Cursor's agent chat with the theme project open. Type whether the store has a current llms.txt and agents.md and the agent calls storeseo_start, storeseo_get_llms_txt_status and storeseo_get_agents_md_status. Cursor shows each tool call in the chat and, by default, asks for approval before it uses an MCP tool, so you may click through the reads as well. The answer lists the public URLs, the active version and whether a rebuild is due, and because the theme is open in the editor you can ask the agent to look at your theme's templates folder alongside the status.
The generation tools are the ones to pay attention to. storeseo_generate_llms_txt queues a run that writes a template into the live theme and a copy into Shopify Files, and storeseo_generate_agents_md publishes live and spends AI Content Optimizer credit. StoreSEO tells the agent to name those effects and wait for your yes in the chat, and Cursor's approval prompt is the second gate. After a generation the agent polls storeseo_get_llms_txt_status until it finishes, and you can ask it to open the returned agents.md text in a new editor tab to read before deciding whether to keep it.
Version work is a short exchange: storeseo_list_llms_txt_versions, then storeseo_activate_llms_txt_version to make an older version live. Deleting a version and resetting agents.md cannot be undone, so confirm each by name. Do not confuse the storefront agents.md with an AGENTS.md rules file in your project: one is served to shopping agents at your store's /agents.md, the other is instruction text for coding agents and StoreSEO never touches it.
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You: Show me my llms.txt versions and which one is live.
- storeseo_start read-only
- storeseo_list_llms_txt_versions read-only
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Cursor: Version 4 is active and version 5 is newest, both generated by a manual run. Switching to version 5 republishes it to your storefront. Do you want me to activate version 5?
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You: Yes, activate version 5.
- storeseo_activate_llms_txt_version needs approval
- storeseo_get_llms_txt_status read-only
What to ask Cursor
Use StoreSEO to check my llms.txt and agents.md status and show the active llms.txt version.
Generate llms.txt without blog posts. Say it writes to the live theme, wait for me, then poll until it finishes.
List llms.txt versions and activate the previous one. Tell me which version number you are switching to first.
- Is my llms.txt up to date, and which version is live right now?
- Generate a new llms.txt that includes products and collections but not blog posts. Warn me before it goes live.
- Show me my llms.txt versions and switch back to the one from last week.
- Does my store serve a custom agents.md or Shopify's default?
- Write an agents.md for my store and publish it. Tell me what it costs first.
- Reset agents.md to Shopify's default.
What StoreSEO does: llms.txt and agents.md
llms.txt is a curated map of your store for AI crawlers, and agents.md tells AI shopping agents who you are and how to buy. StoreSEO generates both from your store data and publishes them to your live theme; the agent checks status, generates, switches llms.txt versions and resets agents.md to Shopify's default.
Requires: agents.md generation spends AI Content Optimizer credit and needs at least one published product.
- 1
Check what is live
The agent reads the llms.txt status (settings, latest version, whether a rebuild is due, public URL) and the agents.md status (custom file or Shopify's default, public URL).
- 2
Warn before publishing
Generating llms.txt writes a template to your live theme and uploads a copy to Shopify Files in the same run, with no separate publish step. Generating agents.md publishes it live at once and spends credit. The agent says so and waits for your yes.
- 3
Generate and wait
llms.txt generation takes a minute or two; the agent polls the status until it finishes. agents.md returns the published text and its URL straight away.
- 4
Manage versions
StoreSEO keeps the latest ten llms.txt versions. The live file serves the active version, which is not always the newest, and any version can be made active again.
- 5
Roll back
Deleting a version is permanent. Resetting agents.md drops the custom file so Shopify's default serves again, and there is no history to restore it from.
llms.txt and agents.md reference
| llms.txt | Generated from your products, collections, pages and posts; served at your store's /llms.txt |
|---|---|
| Where it is written | A template in the live theme plus a copy in Shopify Files, in the same run |
| Schedule | llms.txt can regenerate on a saved schedule; settings passed with a run are saved for scheduled runs |
| Versions kept | The latest ten; the live file serves the active one |
| Generation time | About one to two minutes for llms.txt |
| agents.md | AI-written from your brand profile, top products, collections and contact details; served at /agents.md |
| agents.md publish | Live immediately; replaces Shopify's native default |
| agents.md reset | Shopify's default serves again within seconds; the custom text is gone for good |
Rules Cursor follows
- The agent tells you that llms.txt generation writes to your live theme before it starts.
- agents.md generation publishes live and spends credit, so the agent says both and waits for your yes.
- Deleting an llms.txt version and resetting agents.md cannot be undone; the agent confirms each one.
- Deleting the active llms.txt version promotes the next newest automatically, so the agent says which version will go live.
In Cursor
StoreSEO has 44 tools and Cursor allows about 40 active tools across all your servers, so you have to switch off at least four. If you turned off storeseo_activate_llms_txt_version, storeseo_delete_llms_txt_version or storeseo_reset_agents_md to make room, Cursor will report that the tool is missing when you ask for a rollback, so turn it back on for that session instead of assuming the version cannot be changed.
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
Which StoreSEO tools should I switch off in Cursor to stay under the limit?
Pick tools for jobs you do not run in Cursor, such as image or Google report tools. For this job you need the llms.txt and agents.md status and generate tools, and the version and reset tools if you plan to roll back. Cursor's own limit is about 40 active tools across servers.
Does Cursor ask before generating llms.txt?
By default Cursor asks for approval before it uses MCP tools, and StoreSEO tells the agent to warn you that generation writes to your live theme. If you set the tool to run without asking, only the confirmation in the chat is left, so keep generate tools on ask.
What is the difference between llms.txt and agents.md?
llms.txt is a curated map of your store for AI crawlers and answer engines, served at /llms.txt. agents.md is the file AI shopping agents read to understand your brand and how to shop with you, served at /agents.md. StoreSEO can generate both.
Does generating llms.txt change my theme?
Yes. The same run writes an llms.txt template into your live theme and uploads a copy to Shopify Files. There is no separate publish step, which is why the agent should warn you before it starts.
Can I go back to an older llms.txt?
Yes. StoreSEO keeps the latest ten versions, and any of them can be made the active one, which republishes it to your storefront. Deleting a version is permanent.
Can I undo a generated agents.md?
You can reset it, which makes Shopify's native default serve again within seconds. The custom text is discarded with no history, so keep a copy if you might want it back.
Keep going
llms.txt and agents.md with other agents
More Cursor guides