AI Preferences L. Peiyuan
Internet-Draft Condé Nast
Intended status: Experimental 8 April 2025
Expires: 10 October 2025
Protocol for Basic Automation Control
draft-liao-aipref-autoctl-core-00
Abstract
This document specifies the core automation-preferences.txt protocol,
a machine-readable document that defines server-side automation
permissions with a focus on essential controls for AI and automation
use cases. Unlike the traditional robots.txt, which governs
crawling, this protocol addresses a broader range of automation
activities while maintaining simplicity for initial implementation.
It defines the fundamental file format, policy declarations, HTTP
method restrictions, and purpose requirements. Advanced features are
addressed in a separate extension specification.
About This Document
This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.
The latest revision of this draft can be found at
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-liao-aipref-autoctl-core/.
Status information for this document may be found at
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-liao-aipref-autoctl-core/.
Discussion of this document takes place on the AI Preferences Working
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1. Applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2. Relationship to Extension Specification . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Conventions and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Protocol Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. File Location and Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2. Automation Policy Declaration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.3. HTTP Method Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.4. Purpose Declaration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.5. Scope and Applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. Extension Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Implementation and Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
8. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
8.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
8.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Sample automation-preferences.txt File . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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1. Introduction
The evolution of web automation has outpaced the capabilities of
existing standards such as robots.txt, which only provides for
crawler permissions. This document introduces the core automation-
preferences.txt protocol that enables server operators to explicitly
define basic policies governing automated interactions. These core
policies cover fundamental aspects of automation control, including
HTTP method restrictions and automation purpose declarations.
The automation-preferences.txt protocol is designed with
extensibility in mind, allowing future enhancements while maintaining
backward compatibility. This specification focuses on essential
controls to facilitate initial adoption and implementation, with more
advanced features defined in a separate extension document.
1.1. Applicability
The automation-preferences.txt protocol applies to automated systems
interacting with web servers, especially those driven by foundation
models or other types of advanced AI models. It is designed to
benefit both content owners-by allowing them to specify acceptable
automation behaviors-and developers of automated systems, who can use
these directives to ensure compliance.
1.2. Relationship to Extension Specification
This document defines the core functionality of the automation-
preferences.txt protocol. A separate document, "Protocol Extension
for Advanced AI Automation Control," extends this core specification
with additional directives and capabilities. The extension
specification builds upon this core document without modifying its
requirements, providing a path for progressive implementation.
Implementations conforming to only this core specification are
considered compliant with the automation-preferences.txt protocol.
The extension specification defines optional enhancements that may be
implemented once the core functionality is established.
2. Conventions and Definitions
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
"OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
capitals, as shown here.
The following terms are used in this document:
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* Automation: Programmatic interactions with a web server.
* State-changing requests: HTTP methods that alter server state
(e.g., POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH).
* Automation policy: A set of rules defining permitted and
prohibited automated behaviors for a specific scope.
* Automation purpose: The declared intent or use case for which
automation is being performed.
All terminology defined in this core specification applies to the
extension specification without redefinition. The extension
specification may introduce additional terms for concepts not covered
in this document.
3. Protocol Specification
3.1. File Location and Format
The automation-preferences.txt file MUST be hosted at the root of the
domain, in the same manner as robots.txt. The file is structured as
a series of key-value pairs that specify automation permissions.
The file MUST be served with the text/plain MIME type. Lines
beginning with the hash symbol (#) are considered comments and MUST
be ignored by parsers. Each directive consists of a field name,
followed by a colon, followed by a value. Multiple values MAY be
separated by commas.
Parsers MUST silently ignore any directives they do not recognize.
This enables future extensions to add new capabilities without
breaking compatibility with existing implementations.
3.2. Automation Policy Declaration
A top-level directive, AutomationPolicy, indicates the overall stance
of the server regarding automated interactions and state-changing
requests. The following values are defined:
* *open*: Automation is generally permitted with few restrictions.
* *limited*: Automation is permitted with specific restrictions.
* *strict*: Automation is heavily restricted or prohibited except in
specific circumstances.
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If the AutomationPolicy directive is not present, clients SHOULD
assume a default value of "limited".
Example:
AutomationPolicy: limited
Figure 1
3.3. HTTP Method Restrictions
The protocol MUST explicitly list allowed and disallowed HTTP methods
using the AllowedMethods and DisallowedMethods directives.
Typically, GET and HEAD are permitted while methods such as POST,
PUT, DELETE, and PATCH are disallowed for automated processing.
If no HTTP method directives are specified, clients SHOULD assume
that only GET and HEAD methods are permitted.
Example:
AllowedMethods: GET, HEAD
DisallowedMethods: POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH
Figure 2
3.4. Purpose Declaration
The protocol enables automation clients to declare their intended
usage purposes. This is managed using the following directives:
* RequireAutomationPurpose: Boolean value indicating whether clients
must declare a purpose for automation.
* AllowedPurposes: Comma-separated list of permitted purposes using
standardized vocabulary terms.
* DisallowedPurposes: Comma-separated list of prohibited purposes.
The specific vocabulary terms for automation purposes are
intentionally not defined in this protocol specification. Instead,
this protocol provides a mechanism for expressing allowed and
disallowed purposes, which can be populated with terms from any
widely accepted vocabulary standard. This approach ensures that the
protocol remains flexible and can adapt to evolving vocabulary
standards while maintaining the essential structure for purpose
declarations.
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Example:
RequireAutomationPurpose: true
AllowedPurposes: [PLACEHOLDER_PURPOSE1], [PLACEHOLDER_PURPOSE2]
DisallowedPurposes: [PLACEHOLDER_PURPOSE3]
Figure 3
3.5. Scope and Applicability
In a manner similar to robots.txt, the automation-preferences.txt
file is divided into groups, each of which applies to a specific
subset of content. Each group begins with one or more scope
directives that define the target of the preferences. The following
directives MAY be used within a group:
* Scope: Specifies the URL pattern (e.g., /admin/) to which the
group applies. Wildcards MAY be used to indicate variable
components of the URL.
* Host: Specifies a subdomain or host. If present, the group
applies only to the indicated subdomain; if omitted, the group is
assumed to apply to the entire host.
Groups are processed in order of specificity. When multiple groups
match a given request, the group with the longest matching Scope
directive SHALL take precedence.
Example:
# Group 1: Applies to the entire site
Host: example.com
Scope: /
AutomationPolicy: limited
AllowedMethods: GET, HEAD
DisallowedMethods: POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH
# Group 2: Specific preferences for the /admin/ path
Host: example.com
Scope: /admin/
AutomationPolicy: strict
AllowedMethods: GET
DisallowedMethods: POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH
Figure 4
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4. Extension Mechanism
The automation-preferences.txt protocol is designed for
extensibility. The protocol defines a forward-compatible approach
where implementations:
* MUST process all recognized directives according to this
specification
* MUST silently ignore any unrecognized directives
* MUST NOT fail or produce errors when encountering extended
directives
This enables future extensions to add new capabilities while
maintaining compatibility with implementations of this core
specification. Extended directives may include:
* Rate limiting controls
* Automation technology restrictions
* API and XHR permissions
* Session requirements
* Asset-level annotation methods
5. Implementation and Enforcement
Servers implementing this protocol SHOULD:
* Verify incoming requests against the rules specified in
automation-preferences.txt.
* Respond with appropriate HTTP status codes (e.g., 403 Forbidden)
for non-compliant requests.
* Include HTTP headers that reference the applicable automation
policy for transparency.
Clients consuming this protocol SHOULD:
* Fetch and parse the automation-preferences.txt file before
performing automated operations.
* Honor the HTTP method restrictions specified in the file.
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* Declare their automation purpose when required.
* Respect the scope directives when performing operations on
different paths.
Implementations SHOULD cache the automation-preferences.txt file to
reduce server load, but SHOULD NOT cache it for longer than 24 hours
to ensure timely policy updates.
6. Security Considerations
The use of machine-readable automation policies introduces security
considerations that must be addressed by implementations:
* Parsing of automation-preferences.txt MUST be performed securely
to prevent vulnerabilities such as buffer overruns and denial-of-
service attacks.
* Care SHOULD be taken to avoid exposing sensitive policy details
that could be exploited by adversaries.
* The protocol does not provide authentication or cryptographic
verification mechanisms for the file content. Servers SHOULD
ensure the file is served via secure connections to prevent
tampering.
* The protocol does not enforce client compliance; it relies on
good-faith adherence by automation providers. Servers SHOULD
implement additional detection and enforcement mechanisms as
needed.
7. IANA Considerations
This document has no IANA actions.
8. References
8.1. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.
[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174>.
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8.2. Informative References
[RFC9309] Koster, M., Illyes, G., Zeller, H., and L. Sassman,
"Robots Exclusion Protocol", RFC 9309,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9309, September 2022,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9309>.
Sample automation-preferences.txt File
The following is an example of a automation-preferences.txt file that
adheres to this specification:
# Automation preferences for example.com
# Version: 1.0
# Last updated: 2025-04-08
# Group 1: Applies to the entire site
Host: example.com
Scope: /
AutomationPolicy: limited
AllowedMethods: GET, HEAD
DisallowedMethods: POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH
RequireAutomationPurpose: true
AllowedPurposes: [PLACEHOLDER_PURPOSE1], [PLACEHOLDER_PURPOSE2]
DisallowedPurposes: [PLACEHOLDER_PURPOSE3]
ContactEmail: automation-policy@example.com
# Group 2: Specific preferences for the /admin/ path
Host: example.com
Scope: /admin/
AutomationPolicy: strict
AllowedMethods: GET
DisallowedMethods: POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH
AllowedPurposes: [PLACEHOLDER_PURPOSE1]
DisallowedPurposes: [PLACEHOLDER_PURPOSE2], [PLACEHOLDER_PURPOSE3]
Figure 5
Author's Address
Liao Peiyuan
Condé Nast
United States of America
Email: peiyuan_liao@condenast.com
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