indexnow

kostja94/marketing-skills · updated Apr 8, 2026

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$npx skills add https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills --skill indexnow
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summary

Guides IndexNow protocol integration for faster search engine indexing (primarily Bing).

skill.md

SEO Technical: IndexNow

Guides IndexNow protocol integration for faster search engine indexing (primarily Bing).

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Scope (Technical SEO)

  • IndexNow: Submit URLs to Bing/Yandex for faster indexing
  • URL notification: Notify search engines of new or updated URLs

Initial Assessment

Check for project context first: If .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md exists, read it for site URL.

Identify:

  1. Site URL: Base domain
  2. URL source: Config file, sitemap, CMS, etc.
  3. Deployment: CI/CD, manual, or both

Overview

IndexNow notifies search engines (mainly Bing) of new or updated URLs to speed up indexing.

Implementation Steps

1. API Key and Verification

  • Generate API key (e.g., UUID)
  • Create verification file: https://example.com/{key}.txt
  • File content: the API key string
  • Configure key and URL in your IndexNow client

2. Submission Methods

Method When to use
Single URL New or updated page
Batch Many URLs at once (e.g., after deploy)
Relative paths Convert to full URLs before submitting

3. Best Practices

Practice Note
When to submit New pages, major content updates, meta changes
When not to Minor edits; let natural crawling handle
Frequency Once per deploy; avoid excessive submissions
Priority Submit high-value commercial pages first

4. CI/CD Integration

npm run build
npm run indexnow:all

5. Single Source of Truth (URL List)

  • Use same config as sitemap: Import URL list from central config (e.g., site-pages-config.ts) or sitemap generation logic.
  • Avoid: Separate hardcoded URL lists for IndexNow—leads to inconsistency and missed URLs.
  • Feed: If you have RSS/feed, it can also consume from the same config to stay in sync.

Supported Search Engines

  • Bing: Primary support
  • Yandex: Supports IndexNow
  • Google: Does not use IndexNow; use Sitemap + Search Console

Verification

Common Issues

Issue Fix
Domain verification fails Ensure URL uses correct domain
API key error Verify key and verification file match
Network errors Retry; API can be intermittent

Output Format

  • Setup steps: Key generation, verification file
  • Submission flow: Single vs. batch
  • Integration: CI/CD or manual script
  • References: IndexNow docs

Related Skills

  • xml-sitemap: Share same URL list from central config
  • indexing: Broader indexing strategy
how to use indexnow

How to use indexnow on Cursor

AI-first code editor with Composer

1

Prerequisites

Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:

  • Cursor installed and configured on your development machine
  • Node.js version 16.0+ with npm package manager (verify with node --version)
  • Active project directory or workspace where you want to add indexnow
2

Execute installation command

Execute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:

$npx skills add https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills --skill indexnow

The skills CLI fetches indexnow from GitHub repository kostja94/marketing-skills and configures it for Cursor.

3

Select Cursor when prompted

The CLI will show a list of available agents. Use arrow keys to navigate and space to select Cursor:

◆ Which agents do you want to install to?
│ ── Universal (.agents/skills) ── always included ────
│ • Amp
│ • Antigravity
│ • Cline
│ • Codex
│ ●Cursor(selected)
│ • Cursor
│ • Windsurf
4

Verify installation

Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:

.cursor/skills/indexnow

Reload or restart Cursor to activate indexnow. Access the skill through slash commands (e.g., /indexnow) or your agent's skill management interface.

Security & Verification Notice

We perform automated surface-level scans (Gen AI Scanner, Socket, Snyk) during installation. These checks detect common vulnerabilities but do not guarantee complete security. Always review skill source code and verify the publisher's reputation before production use.

Skills execute code in your development environment. Always verify the publisher's identity, review recent commits, and test in isolated environments before production deployment.

List & Monetize Your Skill

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Use Cases

User Story & Requirements Generation

Create detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and feature specs

Example

Generate user stories for 'password reset feature' with acceptance criteria, edge cases, and test scenarios

Reduce spec writing time by 50%, ensure comprehensive coverage

Competitive Analysis

Research competitors, compare features, identify gaps

Example

Analyze 5 competitor products, create feature comparison matrix, suggest differentiation opportunities

Complete competitive research in 2 hours instead of 2 days

Roadmap Prioritization

Evaluate features using frameworks (RICE, ICE, Kano) and create prioritized backlogs

Example

Score 20 feature ideas using RICE framework, generate prioritized roadmap with rationale

Make data-driven prioritization decisions faster

Stakeholder Communication

Draft PRDs, status updates, and stakeholder presentations

Example

Create executive summary of Q3 roadmap, monthly progress report, feature launch announcement

Save 3-5 hours/week on communication overhead

Implementation Guide

Prerequisites

  • Claude Desktop or compatible AI client
  • Access to product documentation and roadmap tools (Jira, Notion, etc.)
  • Understanding of product management frameworks (RICE, Jobs-to-be-Done, etc.)
  • Stakeholder contact information and communication channels

Time Estimate

30-60 minutes to see productivity improvements

Installation Steps

  1. 1.Install product management skill
  2. 2.Start with user story generation for known feature
  3. 3.Progress to competitive analysis: research 2-3 competitors
  4. 4.Use for roadmap prioritization: apply RICE/ICE scoring
  5. 5.Draft stakeholder communications and refine based on feedback
  6. 6.Build template library for recurring PM tasks
  7. 7.Share effective prompts with product team

Common Pitfalls

  • Not validating competitive research—verify facts before sharing
  • Accepting user stories without involving engineering team
  • Over-relying on frameworks without qualitative judgment
  • Not customizing outputs to company culture and communication style
  • Skipping stakeholder validation of generated requirements

Best Practices

✓ Do

  • +Validate research and competitive analysis with real data
  • +Collaborate with engineering when generating technical requirements
  • +Customize frameworks and templates to your company context
  • +Use skill for first drafts, refine with stakeholder input
  • +Document successful prompt patterns for PM tasks
  • +Combine AI efficiency with human judgment and intuition

✗ Don't

  • Don't publish competitive analysis without fact-checking
  • Don't finalize user stories without engineering review
  • Don't make prioritization decisions solely on AI scoring
  • Don't skip customer validation of generated requirements
  • Don't ignore company-specific context and culture

💡 Pro Tips

  • Provide context: company goals, constraints, customer feedback
  • Ask for alternatives: 'Show 3 ways to prioritize this roadmap'
  • Request stakeholder-specific formatting: 'Executive summary vs. engineering spec'
  • Use skill for 70% generation + 30% customization to company needs

When to Use This

✓ Use When

Use for user story writing, competitive research, roadmap prioritization, stakeholder communication, and PRD drafting. Best for reducing repetitive documentation and research work.

✗ Avoid When

Avoid for strategic product vision (requires deep customer empathy), pricing decisions (needs market and financial expertise), or when face-to-face customer discovery is more valuable than speed.

Learning Path

  1. 1Basic: user stories, feature specs, status updates
  2. 2Intermediate: competitive analysis, prioritization frameworks, PRDs
  3. 3Advanced: product strategy, go-to-market planning, OKR setting
  4. 4Expert: product vision, market positioning, business model innovation

Discussion

Product Hunt–style comments (not star reviews)
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general reviews

Ratings

4.841 reviews
  • Meera Dixit· Dec 24, 2024

    Useful defaults in indexnow — fewer surprises than typical one-off scripts, and it plays nicely with `npx skills` flows.

  • Shikha Mishra· Dec 16, 2024

    We added indexnow from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.

  • Ganesh Mohane· Dec 12, 2024

    indexnow is among the better-maintained entries we tried; worth keeping pinned for repeat workflows.

  • Sofia Torres· Dec 4, 2024

    indexnow reduced setup friction for our internal harness; good balance of opinion and flexibility.

  • Sakura Yang· Nov 23, 2024

    Registry listing for indexnow matched our evaluation — installs cleanly and behaves as described in the markdown.

  • Arjun Perez· Nov 15, 2024

    Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: indexnow is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.

  • Diego Jain· Nov 15, 2024

    indexnow has been reliable in day-to-day use. Documentation quality is above average for community skills.

  • Sakshi Patil· Nov 3, 2024

    Keeps context tight: indexnow is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.

  • Chaitanya Patil· Oct 22, 2024

    indexnow has been reliable in day-to-day use. Documentation quality is above average for community skills.

  • Arjun Sanchez· Oct 14, 2024

    indexnow fits our agent workflows well — practical, well scoped, and easy to wire into existing repos.

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