AI Pulse

A sleek desktop widget that displays trending AI news, auto-starts with Windows, and floats above other windows.

Features

• Auto-start on Windows - Automatically launches when you log in
• Live AI News Feed - Fetches from 6+ trusted AI news sources via RSS
• Draggable - Click and drag the header to reposition anywhere on your desktop
• Category Filters - Filter by LLMs, Robotics, Startups, Big Tech, Research, Generative AI, and more
• Bookmark Articles - Save articles for later reading
• 5 Color Themes - Gold/Black, Blue/Silver, Green/Dark, Red/Charcoal, Purple/Midnight
• System Tray - Right-click tray icon for quick access
• Keyboard Shortcut - Ctrl+Shift+A to show/hide the widget
• Auto-refresh - Fetches new articles on startup and on manual refresh
• Custom RSS Feeds - Add your own RSS feeds via Settings
• Pulsating Status Indicator - Visual connectivity status at a glance

Screenshots

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• Windows 10/11

Setup

1. Clone or download this repository
2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Launch the widget:

   npm start

Build (Optional)

To create a standalone installer:

npm run dist

This will generate an installer in the dist/ folder.

Usage

Daily News

The widget fetches the latest AI news from these sources:

• TechCrunch AI
• Google AI Blog
• OpenAI Blog
• VentureBeat AI
• MIT Technology Review AI
• Ars Technica

Navigation

• Drag: Click and drag the header bar to move the widget
• Refresh: Click the Refresh button to fetch new articles
• Filter: Click category tabs to filter news by topic
• Bookmark: Click the bookmark icon on any article to save it
• Hide: Click the minimize button or press Ctrl+Shift+A
• Theme: Click the palette icon to switch between 5 color themes
• Settings: Click the gear icon to manage RSS feeds, refresh interval, and more

System Tray

Right-click the system tray icon to:

• Show/Hide the widget
• Refresh news manually
• Open bookmarks
• Exit (also removes auto-start registration)

Configuration

Data Storage

User data (bookmarks, last fetch time, settings) is stored in:

%APPDATA%/ai-news-widget/widget-store.json

Auto-start Registration

The widget registers itself in Windows Registry at:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\AIPulse

To disable auto-start, use the tray menu Exit option or run:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v "AIPulse" /f

Tech Stack

• Electron - Desktop application framework
• Node.js - RSS feed fetching and processing
• fast-xml-parser - RSS XML parsing
• HTML/CSS/JS - Widget UI

RSS Sources

The widget fetches from these RSS feeds:

Source	URL
TechCrunch AI	https://techcrunch.com/category/artificial-intelligence/feed/
Google AI	https://blog.google/technology/ai/rss/
OpenAI Blog	https://openai.com/blog/rss.xml
VentureBeat AI	https://venturebeat.com/category/ai/feed/
MIT Tech Review AI	https://www.technologyreview.com/topic/artificial-intelligence/feed/
Ars Technica	https://feeds.arstechnica.com/arstechnica/technology-lab

Themes

Name	Primary	Background
Gold & Black	#FFD700	#0a0a0a
Blue & Silver	#4A90D9	#1a1f2e
Green & Dark	#2ecc71	#0d1117
Red & Charcoal	#e74c3c	#1a1a2e
Purple & Midnight	#9b59b6	#0f0f23

License

MIT