I understand the theoretical argument.

We follow the precedent of robots.txt, ads.txt, and llms.txt.

The reason is friction. Platforms like Shopify and Wix make .well-known folders difficult or impossible for merchants to configure. Root files work everywhere.

Adoption matters more than namespace hygiene.

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robotstxtwasbad 38 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

RFC 8820 section 2.3, also known as BCP 190, is not a theoretical argument. That's why we call it a "best current practice".

You, nor any other standard like you, are not entitled to declare what a root URI means in my Web namespace, and you are up against an IETF MUST NOT by fighting for this. This is a _very_ philosophical argument, not a practical one, and it's why I'm firmly against your standard out of the gate (and would work to reject it as, say, an RFC).

The same paragraph takes you to RFC 8615, which is the .well-known you are being told to use. That is not your "secondary location" for v1.1. That is the only path you are permitted to consider as someone with intent to standardize a portion of the HTTP URI namespace. The decades-old precedent you are citing here, and leaning on as foundational, was rejected at the philosophical level by the IETF, and it is completely rejected as appropriate precedent for the writing of standards going forward.

You are being told how the Web works. It's not about you, the magical universe of agentic, or your community. You are attempting to standardize a part of the technical commons. If you want the public to obey your standard, this isn't the way to engage while selling it -- despite it being CC0, you're phasing in and out of "my" standard and "our" standard a little oddly, and you're a little standoffish to (correct) feedback, feedback that in this case is existential to your project making it to a dozen stars and a discussion.

Wix and Shopify have zero bearing on the standardization of the Web. Companies in general shouldn't, in fact (har har), which is useful background for an aspiring standards writer.

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tsazan 11 minutes ago | parent [-]

I appreciate the detailed feedback (and the edits).

You are technically correct regarding IETF norms.

But you say: "Wix and Shopify have zero bearing on the standardization of the Web."

I fundamentally disagree. The Web is not just a namespace for engineers; it is an economy for millions of small businesses. If a standard is technically "pure" but unusable by 80% of merchants on hosted platforms, it fails the Web.

However, to respect the namespace: We will mandate checking /.well-known/commerce.txt first.

But we will keep the root location as a fallback. We prioritize accessibility for the "aspiring" shop owner over strict purity for the standards writer.

	▲	robotstxtwasbad 5 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		If you fundamentally disagree with that, you are simply never going to deliver a workable standard via the IETF process. Yeah, yeah, SPDY, QUIC, elephants in rooms, I realize what I'm saying, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong about this. Commerce is a _subset_ of what happens on the Web, standards for which must consider all users. Thankfully, you've licensed your work CC0, so someone who wants to see this standardized could simply fork your work, fix the offending parts, and move for successful standardization without you. You really gotta stop saying "we," too, like, it's a nit, but it speaks to your long-term intentions. You're here to build a community around an effort you've singlehandedly spearheaded over the last few weeks (I can read GitHub). Claiming you have one already, and there's Big Discussion on these points, is pretty transparent. You and I both know where you're at in the lifecycle, and that you definitely have room to consider the feedback being offered.

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JimDabell 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

How about following the precedent of all of these users of /.well-known/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well-known_URI#List_of_well-kn...

robots.txt was created three decades ago, when we didn’t know any better.

Moving llms.txt to /.well-known/ is literally issue #2 for llms.txt

https://github.com/AnswerDotAI/llms-txt/issues/2

Please stop polluting the web.

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tsazan 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I prioritize simplicity and adoption for non-technical users over strict IETF compliance right now. My goal is to make this work for a shop owner on Shopify and Wix, not just for sysadmins.

That said, I am open to supporting .well-known as a secondary location in v1.1 if the community wants it.

	▲	hrimfaxi 15 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		How are comments handled on proposals? Are you the final authority on the standard or is there some community consensus?
	▲	xemdetia 41 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		How is using a standard path 'just for sysadmins' again? You are introducing something new today.