# RSS Feed Reader: RSS, Atom & JSON Feed to Dataset (`jakob_jerich/rss-feed-reader`) Actor

Read many RSS, Atom and JSON feeds in one run and get one clean, normalized list of items. Paste a website URL and the feed is found for you. Keyword and date filters, and a new-items-only mode for monitoring.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/jakob_jerich/rss-feed-reader.md
- **Developed by:** [Jakob Jerič](https://apify.com/jakob_jerich) (community)
- **Categories:** News, Automation, Developer tools
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.50 / 1,000 feed reads

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## RSS Feed Reader: RSS, Atom & JSON Feed to Dataset

Read any number of RSS, Atom, RSS 1.0 (RDF) and JSON Feed feeds in one run. Every item comes out in the same format, whatever the feed type: title, link, date, plain-text summary, categories, image and attachments. Export it as JSON, CSV or Excel, or use it from the API, schedules, Make, Zapier, n8n or MCP clients.

### What it does

- **Many feeds, one dataset.** Mix RSS 2.0, Atom, RSS 1.0 and JSON Feed in one run. All dates are converted to ISO 8601 UTC and all links to absolute URLs.
- **Website URL in, feed out.** Enter `https://github.blog` instead of the feed URL. The Actor reads the `<link rel="alternate">` feed tags on the page, then tries common paths (`/feed`, `/rss`, `/feed.xml`, `/rss.xml`, `/atom.xml`, `/index.xml`).
- **Filters.** Keywords (whole words or phrases, case-insensitive, matched in title, summary and categories) and "published within the last N days".
- **New items only.** For scheduled runs: the Actor remembers which items it already returned and saves only new ones.
- **A broken feed doesn't break the run.** Timeouts, connection errors, HTTP 429 and 5xx answers are retried (3 attempts in total). If a feed still fails, the run continues with the other feeds and the reason is saved in `FEED_STATUS`. The run fails only on invalid input.
- **Podcasts.** Enclosures (audio URL, MIME type, size) and `itunes:image` / `media:content` images are included.

### Input

| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `feeds` | (required) | Feed URLs or website URLs |
| `maxItemsPerFeed` | 50 | Items saved per feed after filters, 0 = all |
| `keywords` | empty | Keep only items that mention one of these words |
| `publishedWithinDays` | 0 | Keep only items from the last N days, 0 = off |
| `onlyNewItems` | false | Save only items not seen in earlier runs |
| `monitorId` | `default` | Separate memory for each monitor (used with `onlyNewItems`) |
| `includeContent` | false | Add the full item text (`content:encoded`, Atom `content`, JSON `content_html`) as plain text |

Example:

```json
{
  "feeds": [
    "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml",
    "https://github.blog",
    "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json"
  ],
  "keywords": ["ai", "security"],
  "publishedWithinDays": 7,
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 50
}
```

### Output

One dataset item per feed entry. This example is copied from a real run:

```json
{
  "title": "Why North Korea's 'elite' hackers are the prime suspect in major Binance hack",
  "url": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck9dz3v7z7v3o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-31T02:12:19.000Z",
  "updatedAt": null,
  "summary": "If the accusations are true, the record-making heist shows how powerful suspected North Korean hackers have become.",
  "content": null,
  "categories": [],
  "imageUrl": "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/240/cpsprodpb/7b98/live/c9241530-d4aa-11f1-b441-2b33b063138f.jpg",
  "enclosures": [],
  "itemId": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck9dz3v7z7v3o#0",
  "feedTitle": "BBC News",
  "feedUrl": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml",
  "feedType": "rss",
  "feedLanguage": "en-gb",
  "sourceUrl": "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-31T23:48:22.882Z"
}
```

Every item has the same fields. A field is `null` (or `[]`) when the feed doesn't provide it. `content` is `null` unless `includeContent` is on.

The key-value store record `FEED_STATUS` lists each input URL with the feed URL that was used, the number of items in the feed, the number saved, and the error message if the feed failed:

```json
{ "sourceUrl": "https://github.blog/", "feedUrl": "https://github.blog/feed/", "ok": true, "itemsInFeed": 10, "itemsSaved": 10, "error": null }
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.0015 per feed read** ($1.50 per 1,000 feeds). One feed read covers up to 200 saved items from that feed; a feed that saves more counts as one read per started 200 items (e.g. 450 items = 3 reads = $0.0045). With the default `maxItemsPerFeed` of 50 this never applies. There is no start fee. Feeds that fail are not charged.

Examples: 3 feeds = $0.0045. 20 feeds checked every hour for a month (14,400 feed reads) = $21.60.

### Use cases

- News and brand monitoring: schedule hourly runs with `onlyNewItems` and keywords, and send new items to Slack, email or a webhook.
- Content aggregation: merge many blogs or news sources into one table.
- Podcast catalogs: episode titles, dates and audio file URLs.
- Data for AI agents and RAG pipelines: clean plain text without HTML.

### FAQ

**How does "only new items" work?** Item IDs (the feed's `guid`/`id`, or the link) are stored per feed in a named key-value store called `rss-feed-reader-state` on your Apify account. The first run saves everything that passes your filters. Later runs save only unseen items. Items that were cut off by `maxItemsPerFeed` are not marked as seen, so they come in the next run. Use a different `monitorId` for each scheduled task that reads the same feed.

**Why is there no author field?** Author names are personal data, so the Actor leaves them out on purpose.

**A site says "robots.txt does not allow fetching".** The Actor follows each site's robots.txt and doesn't fetch URLs it disallows (for example GitHub's `releases.atom` and Reddit's `.rss`). It doesn't use proxies or browser disguises to get around blocks.

**A feed returns HTTP 403.** Some publishers block data-center IP addresses. The Actor reports this in `FEED_STATUS` and doesn't charge for that feed.

**Does it get the full article from the publisher's website?** No. It returns what the feed contains. Many feeds include the full text (turn on `includeContent`). Others only include a short summary.

### Limits

- Feeds larger than 15 MB are skipped.
- Items are returned in the order of the feed. Most feeds only contain their latest 10–100 items, so this is not an archive tool.
- With "published within N days" on, items without a date are dropped.
- Up to 5 feeds are read in parallel. Each request times out after 20 seconds.

# Actor input Schema

## `feeds` (type: `array`):

RSS, Atom or JSON Feed URLs. You can also enter a website URL (e.g. https://github.blog): the Actor looks for the feed linked on the page and at common paths such as /feed and /rss.xml.

## `maxItemsPerFeed` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of items saved from each feed, after filters. 0 means all items in the feed. One feed read is charged per started 200 saved items, so the default of 50 is always one read.

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Keep only items whose title, summary or categories contain at least one of these words (case-insensitive, whole words or phrases: 'ai' does not match 'said'). Leave empty to keep all items.

## `publishedWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

Keep only items published in the last N days. Items without a date are dropped when this is set. 0 means no date filter.

## `onlyNewItems` (type: `boolean`):

For scheduled monitoring: remembers item IDs per feed (in a named key-value store 'rss-feed-reader-state' on your account) and saves only items not seen in earlier runs. The first run saves everything that passes the filters.

## `monitorId` (type: `string`):

Only used with 'Only new items'. Give each scheduled task its own ID (letters, numbers, dashes) so two monitors of the same feed don't share memory.

## `includeContent` (type: `boolean`):

Also save the full item text from content:encoded / Atom content / JSON content_html, as plain text. Off keeps the dataset small; 'summary' is always included.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "feeds": [
    "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml",
    "https://github.blog",
    "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 50,
  "keywords": [],
  "publishedWithinDays": 0,
  "onlyNewItems": false,
  "monitorId": "default",
  "includeContent": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `items` (type: `string`):

One item per feed entry, all feeds combined

## `feedStatus` (type: `string`):

Per-feed result: feed URL found, items read and saved, error message

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "feeds": [
        "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml",
        "https://github.blog",
        "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json"
    ],
    "maxItemsPerFeed": 50,
    "keywords": [],
    "publishedWithinDays": 0,
    "monitorId": "default"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("jakob_jerich/rss-feed-reader").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "feeds": [
        "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml",
        "https://github.blog",
        "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json",
    ],
    "maxItemsPerFeed": 50,
    "keywords": [],
    "publishedWithinDays": 0,
    "monitorId": "default",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("jakob_jerich/rss-feed-reader").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "feeds": [
    "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml",
    "https://github.blog",
    "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 50,
  "keywords": [],
  "publishedWithinDays": 0,
  "monitorId": "default"
}' |
apify call jakob_jerich/rss-feed-reader --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,jakob_jerich/rss-feed-reader"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/hEGx6zgAli13dJjEH/builds/J605hBarteQecvXUK/openapi.json