IndexNow

IndexNow is an open protocol for notifying participating search engines when a URL is added, updated, or deleted. A notification can help engines discover a meaningful change, but it is not a request that guarantees crawling or indexing.

Cavuno generates the board key, serves the key-file route, and handles the submission format. New boards have IndexNow enabled by default; existing boards can enable it under Settings → Indexing.

For Google-specific indexing, see the Google Indexing API guide.

Before you begin

The board must be public and not password-protected. Open https://yourboard.com/indexnow-key.txt before testing submissions. If it returns 404, enable IndexNow—or turn it off and on again—under Settings → Indexing so Cavuno generates the missing key.

How it works

1. Cavuno serves the board's configured key at https://yourboard.com/indexnow-key.txt
2. When a job is published, updated, or removed, Cavuno sends the URL to the IndexNow endpoint
3. The IndexNow endpoint acknowledges the notification, then each participating engine decides whether and when to crawl the URL

The entire process happens automatically in the background.

Participating search engines

The participant registry changes over time. It currently includes engines and crawlers such as:

• Bing (Microsoft)
• Yandex
• Naver
• Seznam
• Yep
• Amazonbot
• Internet Archive

Check the live IndexNow participant registry for the current list. Google does not participate in IndexNow; use the Google Indexing API for eligible Google job-page notifications.

Configuration

New boards have IndexNow enabled by default. To enable it on an existing board or after disabling it:

1. Go to Settings → Indexing
2. Toggle IndexNow on

The setting saves immediately. Enabling IndexNow generates a key when the board does not already have one, while preserving an existing key. Use the same toggle to disable future submissions.

When IndexNow is skipped

Cavuno skips IndexNow pings in two cases:

• Password-protected boards: pages are not publicly accessible
• Boards temporarily offline due to billing issues

After the board is accessible again, make a meaningful content change and verify the resulting submission.

Verify a submission

1. Confirm IndexNow is on in Settings → Indexing
2. Publish a test job or make a meaningful update to a public job
3. Open the More options menu beside IndexNow
4. Select View submissions
5. Find the changed URL and review its state and any error

A successful submission means the IndexNow endpoint received the URL. It does not confirm that every participant crawled or indexed it.

If a submission is missing or fails

• Confirm the board is public and password protection is off
• Confirm IndexNow is still enabled
• Open the changed URL in a signed-out browser to make sure it is publicly available
• Open https://yourboard.com/indexnow-key.txt; if it returns 404, turn IndexNow off and on again to generate the missing key, then reload the file
• Avoid repeated submissions when the page has not changed; IndexNow says unnecessary requests consume crawl quota
• If the key file still returns 404 or a submission still shows an error after a meaningful update, keep the URL and error message when contacting Cavuno support

Tips

• Use each protocol for its participants. Pair IndexNow with the Google Indexing API when you also want to notify Google about eligible job pages.
• Submit your sitemap too. IndexNow handles real-time changes, but a sitemap gives search engines a complete picture of your board. See Sitemap submission.
• Submit meaningful changes. IndexNow advises against repeatedly submitting an unchanged URL because submissions count toward crawl quota. See the IndexNow FAQ.