robots.txt gives 404 error Adobe Commerce on cloud infrastructure

This article provides a fix for when the robots.txt file throws a 404 error in Adobe Commerce on cloud infrastructure.

Affected products and versions

Adobe Commerce on cloud infrastructure (all versions)

Issue

The robots.txt file is not working and throws a Nginx exception. The robots.txt file is generated dynamically “on the fly.” The robots.txt file is not accessible by the /robots.txt URL because Nginx has a rewrite rule which forcibly redirects all /robots.txt requests to the /media/robots.txt file that does not exist.

Cause

This typically happens when Nginx is not configured properly.

Solution

The solution is to disable the Nginx rule which redirects /robots.txt requests to the /media/robots.txt file. Merchants with enabled self-service can do it on their own, and merchants without self-service enabled need to create a support ticket.

If you do not have the self-service enabled (or not sure if it enabled), submit a Magento Support ticket requesting removal of the Nginx redirect rule from /robots.txt requests to /media/robots.txt.

If you do have the self-service enabled, please upgrade ECE-Tools to at least 2002.0.12 and remove the Nginx redirect rule in your .magento.app.yaml file. You can refer to Add site map and search engine robots in our developer documentation for more information.