For the Bots

A WordPress plugin that provides markdown versions of posts and pages for LLMs and users who prefer clean, structured content over HTML.

Fork of Markdown Alternate by Joost de Valk.

Why For the Bots?

This fork improves on the original Markdown Alternate with better performance, stability, and security.

• Performance & caching — Rendered markdown is cached using the WordPress object cache and transients. A singleton converter avoids redundant HTML-to-markdown work. Configurable via for_the_bots_cache_ttl, for_the_bots_dual_cache_write, and for_the_bots_use_cache filters. Password-protected posts are never cached.
• Stability — HTML-to-Markdown conversion is wrapped in try/catch with a wp_strip_all_tags fallback. Use the for_the_bots_conversion_error_fallback filter to customize fallback output. Hierarchical pages use get_page_by_path() with a for_the_bots_resolve_post_by_path filter when url_to_postid fails. Accept-header handling is limited to singular content to avoid 404s on feeds and archives.
• Security — Uses wp_safe_redirect instead of wp_redirect, and esc_url_raw for safer URL handling. Path validation helps prevent edge-case redirect issues.
• Extensibility — Support for custom post types and post resolution via filters, plus cache context and conversion-fallback hooks for advanced control.

Features

• Access any post at /post-slug.md
• Access any page at /page-slug.md
• Nested pages work: /parent/child.md
• Date-based permalinks supported: /2024/01/my-post.md
• Content negotiation: Use Accept: text/markdown header on any post/page URL
• Zero configuration required

Installation

For Users

1. Download the plugin ZIP file
2. Upload to /wp-content/plugins/for-the-bots/
3. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' screen in WordPress
4. Visit any post or page URL with .md extension

For Developers

git clone https://github.com/mathetos/for-the-bots.git
cd for-the-bots
composer install

Usage

Append .md to any post or page URL, or use ?format=markdown. See the original Markdown Alternate README for full documentation.

Custom Post Type Support

add_filter('for_the_bots_supported_post_types', function($types) {
    $types[] = 'book';
    return $types;
});

License

GPL-2.0-or-later