RSS Reader

A modern RSS feed reader built with Node.js, EJS templating, SQLite database, and Tailwind CSS.

Features

• Feed Management: Add, edit, and delete RSS feeds via a settings modal
• Aggregated View: View all items from all feeds in one place via the "All" feed
• Feed Sidebar: Browse individual feeds with unread counts
• Visual Indicators:
  • Colored left border on cards indicates the source feed
  • Gray border for read items
  • Feed icons displayed in sidebar and on cards
• Item Cards:
  • Display article title, description, and images
  • Clickable to open in new tab
  • Mark as read/unread functionality
• Full Content Fetching: Option to fetch and read full article content directly within the feed reader
• Mobile Responsive: Sidebar with hamburger menu toggle for mobile devices
• Progressive Web App (PWA): Installable web app
• Mark as Read by Scroll: Articles are automatically marked as read when scrolled out of view
• Auto Image Extraction: Automatically extracts images from RSS feeds
• Favicon Support: Auto-fetches feed icons or use custom icon URLs
• Auto Color Detection: Automatically extracts dominant color from feed icon (server-side, no CORS issues)
• Smart Icon Detection: Automatically detects icon when you enter feed URL
• Auto-Refresh: Feeds automatically refresh every 30 minutes via cron job. Articles older than 3 days are automatically removed.
• Keyword Filtering: RSS entries containing these keywords in their title or url will be filtered out and not added to the database.
• Dark Mode: Toggle between light and dark themes with persistent preference

Screenshots

Mobile view of RSS Reader	Desktop view of RSS Reader
	Expanded article
	Light desktop view of RSS Reader

Tech Stack

• Backend: Node.js + Express
• Templating: EJS
• Database: SQLite (better-sqlite3)
• RSS Parsing: rss-parser
• Full Content Fetching: article-extractor
• Image Processing: Jimp (for color extraction) + icojs (for .ico conversion)
• HTTP Client: Axios (for fetching icons)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS (with dark mode)
• Scheduling: node-cron (for auto-refresh)
• Development: Nodemon + Concurrently

Installation

Using Docker Compose (Recommended)

docker-compose up -d

The application will be available at http://localhost:6789

Development Mode (Manual)

npm run dev

Production Mode (Manual)

# Build CSS
npm run build:css

# Start server
npm start

The application will be available at http://localhost:3000

API Endpoints

• GET / - Main page (all items or filtered by feed)
• GET /api/feeds - Get all feeds
• POST /api/feeds/detect-icon - Detect icon and color from feed URL
• POST /api/feeds - Create a new feed
• PUT /api/feeds/:id - Update a feed
• DELETE /api/feeds/:id - Delete a feed
• POST /api/feeds/:id/refresh - Refresh a specific feed
• POST /api/feeds/refresh-all - Refresh all feeds
• POST /api/items/:id/read - Mark item as read
• POST /api/items/:id/unread - Mark item as unread

How to Use

1. Add a Feed: Click the "Add Feed" button in the sidebar
2. Configure Feed:
   • Enter the feed title
   • Enter the RSS/Atom feed URL and tab out - the icon and color will be auto-detected
   • The icon URL and color fields will be automatically filled
   • Manually adjust if desired
3. Refresh Feeds:
   • Click "Refresh All" to fetch latest items manually
   • Feeds automatically refresh every 30 minutes in the background
4. Browse Items:
   • Click "All" to see items from all feeds
   • Click individual feeds to filter by source
5. Read Items: Click any card to open the article in a new tab
6. Manage Read Status: Use "Mark Read/Unread" buttons to track reading progress
7. Dark Mode: Click the sun/moon icon in the sidebar header to toggle dark mode
8. Mobile: Use the hamburger menu (☰) to show/hide the sidebar on mobile devices

License

MIT