Astro sitemap setup: generate, filter, and check the deployed XML

Install the integration and set the public origin

Use the official @astrojs/sitemap integration and set site to your canonical production origin in Astro's configuration. The integration creates a sitemap index and numbered sitemap files during the build. Start with the generated index rather than assuming your endpoint is named /sitemap.xml.

The configuration below follows the official integration documentation checked on October 7, 2026. The customSitemaps option later in this guide requires @astrojs/sitemap 3.5.0 or later. Adapt it to your existing config and installed version; keep the production domain consistent with canonical tags and links.

npx astro add sitemap

// astro.config.mjs
import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
import sitemap from '@astrojs/sitemap';

export default defineConfig({
  site: 'https://example.com',
  integrations: [sitemap()],
});

• Official Astro sitemap integration

Know which file contains page URLs

The index can load correctly while a child file returns HTML or a 404. Check both levels. A browser's XML display is not enough to show that every listed route resolves to the right page.

Filter pages that should not be listed

Make the filter match your route rules. A path-based filter handles the account route without depending on a trailing slash or a particular host string. Do not rely on a sitemap filter to protect account data; authentication still belongs on the application route.

For a blog, ensure unpublished content is excluded in the route-generation logic as well as the sitemap. Omitting a page from a sitemap does not make an otherwise public URL private or unindexable.

// Merge into your existing Astro configuration.
sitemap({
  filter: (page) => {
    const path = new URL(page).pathname;
    return path !== '/account' && !path.startsWith('/account/');
  },
})

Handle missing server-rendered or external routes deliberately

Compare the generated output with an inventory of your important public routes. Build-time generation cannot discover every runtime-only URL from a database. Astro's integration provides customPages for additional page URLs and customSitemaps for external sitemap files; verify support in your installed version.

Only include routes you intend to be public and canonical. For a large runtime catalogue, a separately maintained sitemap endpoint may be a better source than manually listing every item in configuration. Keep its publication and deletion rules aligned with the actual pages.

sitemap({
  customPages: ['https://example.com/runtime-public-page'],
  // Where supported by your installed integration:
  customSitemaps: ['https://example.com/catalog/sitemap.xml'],
})

Make the sitemap discoverable

Point the declaration to the index that your production deployment actually serves. You can also submit that URL in Search Console. A successful sitemap submission establishes that Google read the file; it does not establish that every listed page is indexed.

# public/robots.txt
User-agent: *
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap-index.xml

• Google Sitemaps report

Check the deployment before submitting

• Open /sitemap-index.xml on the production domain while signed out.
• Inspect the HTTP status, final URL, and XML body, then open every relevant child sitemap.
• Confirm there are no localhost, preview-domain, private, deleted, or duplicate parameter URLs in the page entries.
• Compare important routes with the exported URL list and investigate missing sections.
• If a child returns HTML, inspect hosting rewrites and the deployed build artifacts before resubmitting.

• Extract sitemap URLs to CSV
• Diagnose sitemap fetch errors
• Pages still not indexed