Help Centre

How to use Sitemapaudit

Everything you need to get started, answers to common questions, and an honest look at what the tool can and cannot do yet.

Getting started

1. Go to the scan page

Navigate to the App page. You'll see a single text input and a "Run scan" button. That's the entire interface.

2. Paste your sitemap URL

Enter the full URL of your sitemap or sitemap index — for example, https://example.com/sitemap.xml. It must be a public HTTPS URL. The tool does not support http:// or local files.

3. Read the report

The tool fetches every URL in the sitemap and returns a colour-coded list: green for 200 OK, red for errors, amber for redirects. It also flags lastmod anomalies (future dates or identical timestamps across all entries) and any URLs that end up on a different host than the sitemap.

4. The results are ephemeral

Nothing is saved. Refresh the page or close the tab and the report is gone. If you need to audit the same sitemap again later, paste the URL and run a fresh scan.

Run a scan →

Frequently asked questions

What exactly does Sitemapaudit check?

Four things, all derived from the sitemap you submit:

HTTP status of every listed URL — 200 OK, 4xx client errors, 5xx server errors.
Redirect chains — where a URL redirects, the tool shows the path and the final destination.
Off-host detection — any URL whose final destination lives on a different host than the sitemap itself.
lastmod integrity — future-dated timestamps and identical values across every entry (the signature of a generator stamping "now" on everything).

How many URLs can I scan?

The Free plan checks up to 500 URLs per scan. It follows up to 50 child sitemaps from a sitemap index, and tracks up to 10 redirect hops per URL. Requests time out after 30 seconds.

If your sitemap exceeds these limits the report will note the truncation. The Pro plan (coming soon, not yet available) will increase the limit to 10,000 URLs.

What does "off-host" mean, and why should I care?

An "off-host" URL is one whose final destination (after following all redirects) lives on a different domain or hostname than the sitemap itself. For example, a sitemap on example.com that lists a URL redirecting to cdn.example.org.

Search engines generally prefer that sitemap entries point to URLs on the same host. Off-host entries can cause warnings in Search Console or be ignored entirely.

The tool says some URLs are "unreachable" — does that mean they're broken?

Not necessarily. The tool makes HTTP requests from its own network location (a Cloudflare Worker). A URL may appear unreachable because:

It is behind a firewall, VPN, or IP allowlist
It requires authentication or a session cookie
It blocks requests from certain user agents or IP ranges
It is genuinely down or has a DNS resolution issue

The tool reports what it receives — it cannot know whether a URL is reachable from your own browser or network. Test URLs marked "unreachable" from your own environment.

Does Sitemapaudit store my sitemap or scan results?

No. The tool stores nothing. There are no user accounts, no database, no logs of submitted URLs, and no persistent storage of scan results. The sitemap URL you supply is used only for that single scan and discarded when the response is sent.

Refresh the page and the report is gone. There is no history, no watchlist, and no way to retrieve a previous scan. This is by design — the tool answers one question about one sitemap, on request, and then forgets.

What's the difference between Free and Pro? Can I buy Pro now?

Free is available now — paste a sitemap URL and get a full audit for up to 500 URLs. No sign-up, no payment, no account.

Pro ($9/month) will increase the scan limit to 10,000 URLs, add CSV export, and introduce scheduled re-scanning. It is not yet available for purchase — no payment processor is connected and the checkout form on the pricing page is a visual demonstration only.

When Pro launches, existing users will not need to migrate: scans are one-off and stateless, and your Free access continues unchanged. See the pricing page for details.

Known limitations

The following are not bugs — they are deliberate gaps or planned features that are not yet built.

No email notifications. The tool cannot send email, nor does it promise to. There is no "alert me when my sitemap breaks" feature.
No scheduled or recurring scans. Every scan runs once, when you click the button. No background jobs, no watchlists, no cron.
No user accounts or saved history. Scans are stateless by design. You cannot log in, save a scan, or compare two scans side by side.
No API access yet. The tool's scan endpoint is used by the frontend only. A public API for programmatic access is planned for a future release.
500 URL limit (Free). Sitemaps larger than 500 entries are truncated and noted. Pro will raise this limit.
No CSV or PDF export. Results are displayed in the browser only. Export is planned for the Pro tier.
Cannot scan private or internal URLs. The tool runs on public infrastructure and can only reach public HTTPS URLs. It cannot scan sites behind a VPN, firewall, or authentication.
Mock checkout only. The subscription form on the pricing page is a visual demo. No payment processor is connected — no real charges are made and no subscriptions are created.

How to contact us

A support mailbox has not been set up for this service yet. The operator has not registered a legal entity or established a point of contact for support inquiries.

For now, this Help Centre page is the support resource. Most questions are answered in the FAQ above. If your issue is not covered, try the following:

Run a scan again — the tool is stateless and always available at /app.
Check the Terms of service for legal and billing questions.
If you have a feature request or bug report — the owner will need to set up a contact method. This gap is tracked and will be resolved when the business is registered.

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