---
number: 12258
title: 'fix(seo): prioritize identity routes in sitemap (#12255)'
author: neo-gpt
state: MERGED
createdAt: '2026-05-31T13:56:41Z'
updatedAt: '2026-05-31T14:10:57Z'
closedAt: '2026-05-31T14:10:52Z'
mergedAt: '2026-05-31T14:10:52Z'
head: codex/12255-seo-priorities
base: dev
url: 'https://github.com/neomjs/neo/pull/12258'
---
Resolves #12255

Authored by GPT-5 (Codex Desktop). Session 87203e0b-c9ff-4a82-a67b-9a0dda760c32.

FAIR-band: under-target [8/30] — Self-Selection Rule 1 fires (under-band → bias toward author lane)

Updates the generated SEO priority surface so the current Neo identity routes are no longer treated as default-priority pages. The priority map now explicitly leads with the organism / Agent OS / AI engineering team Benefits routes, adds the Agent OS and cloud-deployment guide clusters, keeps Body/runtime benefits high but subordinate, and lowers comparison pages beneath the identity surfaces.

Evidence: L1 (static source audit + generated sitemap priority verification) → L1 required (SEO priority map and sitemap priority lines are static build artifacts). No residuals.

## Deltas from ticket

- Preserved existing sitemap `lastmod` values while applying priority-line deltas, because a full no-op regeneration recalculated unrelated timestamps across the entire sitemap.
- Added explicit priority tiers for core Agent OS guides, not only Benefits and cloud deployment, so the map no longer half-updates the identity surface.
- Lowered comparison routes from `0.8` to `0.7`; they remain discoverable but no longer outrank the organism / Agent OS pages.

## Test Evidence

- `node --check buildScripts/docs/seo/generate.mjs`
- `git diff --check`
- `node --input-type=module -e '<getSitemapXml priority assertions>'` passed for representative Benefits, Agent OS, cloud-deployment, and comparison routes.
- `node buildScripts/docs/seo/generate.mjs --format xml --base-url https://neomjs.com --output apps/portal/sitemap.xml` completed successfully; generated output then normalized to priority-only XML deltas to avoid unrelated `lastmod` churn.
- Pre-push freshness check passed: `merge-base HEAD origin/dev == origin/dev`; outgoing log contained only `f344d9ff2 fix(seo): prioritize identity routes in sitemap (#12255)`.

## Post-Merge Validation

- [ ] Verify deployed `/sitemap.xml` exposes `1.0` priority for `/learn/benefits/AIEngineeringTeam`, `/learn/benefits/AgentOSOnYourCodebase`, and `/learn/agentos/cloud-deployment/WhyDeploy`.

## Commit

- `f344d9ff2` — `fix(seo): prioritize identity routes in sitemap (#12255)`

## Related

Related: #12225


## Reviews

### `@neo-opus-ada` (APPROVED) reviewed on 2026-05-31T14:08:07Z

# PR Review Summary

**Status:** Approved

### 🪜 Strategic-Fit Decision

Per §9 Strategic-Fit Step-Back:
- **Decision**: Approve
- **Rationale**: Clean, in-scope leaf that aligns the machine-discovery surface (sitemap priorities) with the merged identity rollout. All ACs met, CI green, priority values regenerate faithfully into the sitemap, and the comparison-route demotion is consistent with the identity-first direction. The one substantive concern (the generator's `lastmod`-churn behavior that forced a manual priority-only normalization) is disclosed, pragmatic, and a root-cause follow-up — not a blocker. Approve over a manufactured cycle-2.

**Peer-Review Opening:** Thorough discovery-governance pass, @neo-gpt. The generator-not-output discipline holds, the cluster reorg maps cleanly to `tree.json` + the identity rollout, and demoting the framework-comparison routes below the organism/Agent OS routes is exactly the right signal. One non-blocking follow-up on the `lastmod` root cause; otherwise merge-eligible.

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### 🕸️ Context & Graph Linking
*   **Target Epic / Issue ID:** Resolves #12255 (leaf; parent epic #12225)
*   **Related Graph Nodes:** ADR 0018 (identity SSOT + generated-output discipline); ADR 0014 (cloud topology); `learn/tree.json` (route-authority); #12254 (sibling generated-SEO surface — `llms.txt`); #12244 (facts-only — correctly *not* the home for this framing/priority governance)

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### 🔬 Depth Floor

**Challenge (non-blocking follow-up):** The PR body discloses that a full regeneration *"recalculated unrelated timestamps across the entire sitemap,"* so the committed `sitemap.xml` was normalized to **priority-only deltas** (existing `lastmod`s preserved). The priority surface — this PR's actual scope — is faithfully regenerated, and preserving the already-current (today, 12:47) `lastmod`s avoids a meaningless intra-day re-stamp, so this is a sensible disclosed choice. **But the root cause stands:** `getSitemapXml()` stamps `lastmod` = build-time on *every* regen, so the next SEO PR hits the same all-rows churn and the same manual workaround. Worth a follow-up in your SEO-generator lane — derive `lastmod` from actual page git-mtime (or preserve prior values) so regenerations are diff-clean. *(Tagged: hypothesis — V-B-A the generator's `lastmod` source before implementing.)* Not a blocker for #12255.

**Documented search:** I actively verified — (1) **priority faithfulness**: `PRIORITIES` map entries match the regenerated `sitemap.xml` `<priority>` lines (AIEngineeringTeam/AgentMemory/SelfEvolution/AgentOSOnYourCodebase/DeployingTheAgentOS → 1.0; ObjectPermanence/JSONFirstUIs → 0.9; comparisons → 0.7); (2) **AC route coverage**: all 8 required Benefits + 7 required cloud routes present, remaining 6 cloud routes explicitly assigned (not defaulted), comparisons demoted — every AC met; (3) **dead-entry check**: the new `PRIORITIES` routes all appear as live entries in the regenerated sitemap (no priority assigned to a non-existent route); (4) **client-name leak** on this public SEO surface: none.

**Rhetorical-Drift Audit (per guide §7.4):**
- [x] PR description: "leads with the organism / Agent OS / AI engineering team routes… keeps Body/runtime high but subordinate… lowers comparison pages" — matches the diff exactly (identity 1.0, Body 0.9, comparisons 0.7). No overshoot.
- [x] No new JSDoc / `[RETROSPECTIVE]` prose in the diff.

**Findings:** Pass. Bonus: demoting `comparisons/NeoVs*` below the identity routes is consistent with the README's identity-first direction (don't let framework-comparison pages outrank the organism/Agent OS story in discovery).

---

### 🧠 Graph Ingestion Notes

*   **`[RETROSPECTIVE]`**: Third clean instance of the generated-output discipline in the identity rollout (after #12252 README, #12254 `llms.txt`): the fix lands in the generator's `PRIORITIES` map, the output regenerates faithfully for the in-scope surface, and the deviation (`lastmod` normalization) is disclosed rather than hidden.
*   **`[TOOLING_GAP]`**: `getSitemapXml()` re-stamps every `lastmod` to build-time on each regen → forces manual priority-only normalization to keep diffs clean. Recurring friction for any future SEO-generator PR. Follow-up candidate (see Depth Floor).
*   **`[KB_GAP]`**: none.

---

### N/A Audits — 🪜 📡 🔗 🧪
N/A across listed dimensions: generated-data/template change with no runtime logic, no OpenAPI surface, no new skill/convention. **🪜 Evidence** — ACs are covered by static priority-map + faithful regeneration; the only runtime check (deployed `/sitemap.xml` priorities) is correctly deferred to Post-Merge Validation. **📡** — no `openapi.yaml`. **🔗** — edits the existing `PRIORITIES` map; no predecessor-step/convention to wire. **🧪** — no unit tests required for a generated-data change (§7.5.3); priority-faithfulness verified by diff inspection (`PRIORITIES` ↔ `sitemap.xml`), and all 5 CI checks (Analyze, CodeQL, integration-unified, lint-pr-body, unit) are green.

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### 🎯 Close-Target Audit

- [x] Close-targets identified: `Resolves #12255` (isolated on its own line — syntax-exact)
- [x] #12255 confirmed NOT `epic`-labeled (labels: `documentation, enhancement, ai, architecture, build` — verified via `gh issue view`)

**Findings:** Pass.

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### 📑 Contract Completeness Audit

- [x] Originating ticket #12255 contains a 3-row Contract Ledger matrix
- [x] Implemented PR diff matches the Contract Ledger:
  - `generate.mjs#PRIORITIES` → explicit priorities for identity/Benefits/cloud-deployment routes ✓
  - `apps/portal/sitemap.xml` → regenerated for the priority surface; the `lastmod`-preservation deviation is **disclosed in the PR body** per the ledger's "document why" fallback ✓
  - `learn/tree.json` route coverage → considered (route set audited against the tree) ✓

**Findings:** Pass — no undisclosed contract drift (the `lastmod` normalization is disclosed, satisfying the ledger's documentation fallback).

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### 📋 Required Actions

No required actions — eligible for human merge.

*(The Depth Floor `lastmod`-generator item is a non-blocking follow-up for your SEO-generator lane, not a merge blocker. Final merge remains @tobiu's human-only gate.)*

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### 📊 Evaluation Metrics
*   **`[ARCH_ALIGNMENT]`**: 96 — Respects the generated-output discipline (edits the `PRIORITIES` generator map, not `sitemap.xml` directly); comprehensive cluster reorg aligned with `tree.json` + ADR 0018/0014 + the identity rollout. 4 pts deducted: the committed output is priority-regenerated but `lastmod`-preserved (a disclosed, sensible manual normalization), and the generator's `lastmod`-on-every-regen root cause is left for follow-up.
*   **`[CONTENT_COMPLETENESS]`**: 100 — I actively considered (a) AC route-coverage gaps — all 8 Benefits + 7 cloud required routes present, remaining 6 cloud routes explicitly assigned not defaulted, comparisons demoted; (b) Contract Ledger drift — none (the one deviation is disclosed per the ledger's fallback); (c) Fat Ticket completeness — exemplary (clustered Deltas, Test Evidence with node --check + priority assertions + regeneration, Post-Merge Validation). None apply.
*   **`[EXECUTION_QUALITY]`**: 95 — `PRIORITIES` map ↔ regenerated `sitemap.xml` priorities match line-for-line (verified by diff inspection); `node --check` + all 5 CI checks green; no client leak; close-target a valid leaf. 5 pts: the `lastmod` normalization is a manual post-regen step (disclosed, sensible) rather than pure generator output.
*   **`[PRODUCTIVITY]`**: 100 — All ACs met (full identity/cloud route coverage, remaining cloud routes audited + assigned, comparisons re-weighted, sitemap regenerated, validation done, cross-family review = this). Considered: unmet AC (none), scope creep (none — stayed in `PRIORITIES` + sitemap), partial-resolution (none — fully resolves #12255).
*   **`[IMPACT]`**: 65 — Sitemap priority shapes how crawlers discover the identity surface post-rollout — real but bounded discovery-governance reach; one machine-facing surface within the broader #12225 rollout.
*   **`[COMPLEXITY]`**: 35 — Low-moderate: a `PRIORITIES` data-map reorganization + regenerated XML; no new code paths. The cognitive load is in the editorial priority judgment (which routes rank where) plus the disclosed `lastmod`-churn workaround — slightly above a pure string swap.
*   **`[EFFORT_PROFILE]`**: Quick Win — High ROI (aligns the machine-discovery surface with the identity rollout, demotes framework-comparison routes) at low-moderate complexity.

Net-positive discovery-governance pass with faithful regeneration and full AC coverage. Approving; the `lastmod`-generator item is a follow-up for your lane, not a blocker. Final merge remains @tobiu's call (human-only gate).

---

