Agent Readiness: the 27 signals
Understand what helps an agent find, read and use your site, then locate its maturity tier.
This analysis works on any domain, store or otherwise. It passively observes what the site publishes: it signs into no customer account and changes nothing.
Four categories, one tier
| Category | Question asked |
|---|---|
| Discoverability | Does the site give agents clear entry points? |
| Technical connection | Can an agent find an API and request authorization? |
| Content accessibility | Does content remain readable in simple formats? |
| Access control | Are rules for bots explicit and usable? |
The first 14 rows below determine the tier. The 13 diagnostics explain the result without adding or removing points.
| Group | Signal | What is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Discoverability | llms.txt | An agent-readable site summary is published at the root. |
| Discoverability | Skills index | The site lists instructions an agent can use. |
| Discoverability | Agent card | A software agent publicly describes its capabilities. |
| Discoverability | MCP server card | An agent connection endpoint describes its service. |
| Connection | Authorization server | The service that grants authorization is advertised. |
| Connection | Protected resource | A protected API explains how to obtain authorization. |
| Connection | API catalog | Programmatic interfaces are listed. |
| Connection | Authentication guide | A guide explains how an agent identifies itself. |
| Connection | Catalog link | The site response points to its API catalog. |
| Connection | Dedicated network address | The domain publishes an address reserved for agent discovery. |
| Content | Markdown version | The server can return a page as simple text. |
| Content | WebMCP interactions | The browser page exposes structured actions to an agent. |
| Bot access | Content use policy | The site states how its content may be used. |
| Bot access | Bot authentication | The site can recognize a bot that proves its identity. |
| Diagnostic | Sitemap | An XML map helps locate important pages. |
| Diagnostic | AI bot rules | robots.txt says which AI bots are allowed. |
| Diagnostic | Access by declared identity | The site responds consistently to the bots tested. |
| Diagnostic | agents.md guide | A working guide for agents is published. |
| Diagnostic | General structured data | Pages describe their content in a structured form. |
| Diagnostic | Markup breadth | Markup covers several useful resource types. |
| Diagnostic | Accessible prices | Prices remain readable without complex interaction. |
| Diagnostic | Essential metadata | Pages provide usable titles and descriptions. |
| Diagnostic | Documentation link | The homepage clearly leads to technical resources. |
| Diagnostic | OpenAPI description | A standard API description can be found. |
| Diagnostic | Content without JavaScript | Primary content exists before scripts run. |
| Diagnostic | Agent instructions | The site advertises a dedicated instruction. |
| Diagnostic | Public software package | A package matching the brand is found and flagged for review. |
The four tiers
| Tier | Reading |
|---|---|
| Not ready | Essential foundations are missing. |
| Almost ready | The basics exist, with significant obstacles remaining. |
| Agent Ready | An agent has the main entry points it needs. |
| Fully optimized | Expected capabilities are present across all four categories. |
From finding to fix
Open a signal to see what was observed, why it matters and how to fix it. Free provides this detail for the five most influential signals; Growth opens it for the other nine scored signals. All 13 diagnostics remain readable on both plans.