Verification key

The IndexNow key proves you control the site. You generate it, place a file containing it on the site, and Yandex checks it on every API request. The contents and location should be known only to you and the search engine.

Key requirements

• UTF-8 only.
• 8 to 128 characters.
• Characters a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and -.
• A TXT file, or another plain-text format — no HTML markup in it.

No special tool is needed: create one manually or copy a randomly generated key from the IndexNow site, which produces a fresh one on every reload.

Where to put it

• Site root (recommended). The filename must match the key exactly — key EdD8dkm… in file EdD8dkm….txt.
• Any directory, with the location sent in keyLocation on every request. The scope restriction matters: a key in /catalog/ is valid only for URLs under /catalog/ and invalid for /help/. This is a useful property when delegating submission rights for one section to a separate system.

Multiple keys and multiple sites

• Subdomains need their own keys.
• Several keys are allowed on one site — the recommended arrangement when different systems submit independently, each with its own key in the root.
• One key may be reused across several domains.

Verifying the key

Submit a few URLs and read the response code. 202 Accepted means the key is awaiting verification; wait and submit a few more. When it becomes 200 OK, the key is verified and the addresses were accepted. If it stays at 202, keep waiting. A 4xx code points at a specific fault in the reference table.

This two-stage behaviour is the part that causes false alarms: an integration tested once, immediately after setup, will see 202 and look broken when it is merely new.