# RSS Feed Monitor: New Items Only, Keyword Alerts (`jobdata_labs/rss-feed-monitor`) Actor

Read RSS and Atom feeds in bulk and get only the items you have not seen before. Filter by keyword or date, run on a schedule, send new items to Slack, Sheets or your own API.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/jobdata_labs/rss-feed-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Momi](https://apify.com/jobdata_labs) (community)
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.05 / 1,000 feed items

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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 Monitor: New Items Only, Keyword Alerts

Read any number of RSS and Atom feeds and get back **only the items you have not seen yet**. Filter by keyword or date, run it on a schedule, and push new items to Slack, Google Sheets, email or your own API through Apify integrations.

### What it does

- **Reads RSS 2.0, RSS 1.0 (RDF) and Atom** and returns one clean row per item: title, link, publication date, summary, categories and enclosure (podcast audio, images).
- **"Only new items" mode** remembers what each feed has already returned, so a scheduled run delivers just the fresh items.
- **Keyword filters**: keep items that mention any of your keywords, drop items with excluded words.
- **Date filter**: ignore anything published before a given date.
- **Polite by default**: identifies itself with its own user agent, respects robots.txt and reports skipped feeds in the run summary.
- **No personal data by default**: author names are only included when you switch them on.

### Typical uses

- Brand and competitor monitoring across news sites and blogs.
- Keyword alerts ("pricing", "acquisition", your product name) delivered to Slack every hour.
- Release and changelog tracking for the tools you depend on.
- Feeding new articles into an LLM, RAG index or newsletter pipeline.
- Podcast episode tracking through enclosure URLs.

### How "Only new items" works

1. The first run with a given **State name** returns every item currently in each feed and remembers them.
2. Every later run returns only items whose ID (the feed's `guid`/`id`, or the link) was not returned before.
3. Different monitors can use different state names, so they never interfere.

Schedule the Actor (for example every hour) from the **Schedules** tab and connect an integration to receive the new items.

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `feedUrls` | Array | RSS or Atom feed URLs. Required. |
| `onlyNew` | Boolean | Return only items not seen in previous runs. Default `false`. |
| `stateKey` | String | Name of the memory used by `onlyNew`. Default `default`. |
| `keywords` | Array | Keep items whose title, summary or categories contain any of these. |
| `excludeKeywords` | Array | Drop items that contain any of these. |
| `publishedAfter` | String | Keep items published on or after this date (`2026-01-31`). |
| `maxItemsPerFeed` | Integer | Maximum items saved per feed per run. `0` = no limit. Default `50`. |
| `includeContent` | Boolean | Add the full item text as plain text. Default `false`. |
| `includeAuthor` | Boolean | Add the author name. Default `false`. |
| `respectRobotsTxt` | Boolean | Skip feeds disallowed by robots.txt. Default `true`. |

#### Example

```json
{
  "feedUrls": [
    "https://blog.apify.com/rss/",
    "https://crawlee.dev/blog/atom.xml"
  ],
  "onlyNew": true,
  "stateKey": "dev-tools-news",
  "keywords": ["release", "pricing"],
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 20
}
```

### Output

One dataset row per item:

```json
{
  "feedUrl": "https://crawlee.dev/blog/atom.xml",
  "feedTitle": "Crawlee Blog",
  "title": "Crawlee 3.x released",
  "link": "https://crawlee.dev/blog/crawlee-3-x",
  "guid": "https://crawlee.dev/blog/crawlee-3-x",
  "publishedAt": "2026-11-05T16:00:00.000Z",
  "summary": "Plain-text summary of the item, up to 1,000 characters.",
  "categories": ["release"],
  "enclosureUrl": null,
  "matchedKeywords": ["release"],
  "isNew": true,
  "fetchedAt": "2026-11-12T14:33:01.996Z"
}
```

A run summary (feeds read, failed, skipped by robots.txt, items found and saved) is stored in the key-value store under `SUMMARY` and printed in the log.

### Pricing

You pay per item saved to the dataset; the current rate is on the pricing tab. Items filtered out, already seen, or from feeds that failed or were skipped are not charged. Use `maxItemsPerFeed` to cap the cost of a run.

### FAQ

**Where do I find a site's feed URL?**
Most blogs and news sites publish one at `/feed`, `/rss`, `/rss.xml` or `/atom.xml`. WordPress sites use `/feed/`. Look for an RSS icon or a `<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">` tag in the page source.

**A feed shows "Disallowed by robots.txt". Why?**
The website asks automated clients not to fetch that URL, and this Actor respects that by default. Use another source for that site, or turn the option off only if you have the site owner's permission.

**Why did the first "only new" run return everything?**
Nothing had been seen yet. From the second run on you get only fresh items.

**Does it scrape full articles?**
No. It returns what the publisher puts in the feed. Turn on `includeContent` to get the full text when the feed includes it.

# Actor input Schema

## `feedUrls` (type: `array`):

RSS or Atom feed URLs to read, one per line. Use the feed address itself (it usually ends in /feed, /rss or .xml), not the website's home page.

## `onlyNew` (type: `boolean`):

Return only items that were not returned by a previous run with the same state name. The first run returns everything and remembers it. Turn this on for scheduled monitoring.

## `stateKey` (type: `string`):

Name under which seen items are remembered. Runs that share a state name share their memory; use different names for independent monitors.

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

Keep only items whose title, summary or categories contain at least one of these words or phrases. Case-insensitive. Leave empty to keep everything.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Drop items whose title, summary or categories contain any of these words or phrases. Case-insensitive.

## `publishedAfter` (type: `string`):

Keep only items published on or after this date, for example 2026-01-31. Items without a date are dropped when this is set.

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

Maximum number of items saved per feed in one run. Set to 0 for no limit. With 'Only new items' on, items beyond the limit stay unseen and are returned by the next run.

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

Add the full item text from the feed (content:encoded or Atom content) as plain text in a 'content' field. The summary is always included, trimmed to 1,000 characters.

## `includeAuthor` (type: `boolean`):

Add the author or byline from the feed in an 'author' field. Off by default so that personal names are not collected unless you need them.

## `respectRobotsTxt` (type: `boolean`):

Skip feeds whose website disallows automated access to the feed URL in robots.txt. Skipped feeds are listed in the run summary and are not charged.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "feedUrls": [
    "https://blog.apify.com/rss/",
    "https://crawlee.dev/blog/atom.xml"
  ],
  "onlyNew": false,
  "stateKey": "default",
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 50,
  "includeContent": false,
  "includeAuthor": false,
  "respectRobotsTxt": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "feedUrls": [
        "https://blog.apify.com/rss/",
        "https://crawlee.dev/blog/atom.xml"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("jobdata_labs/rss-feed-monitor").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 = { "feedUrls": [
        "https://blog.apify.com/rss/",
        "https://crawlee.dev/blog/atom.xml",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("jobdata_labs/rss-feed-monitor").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 '{
  "feedUrls": [
    "https://blog.apify.com/rss/",
    "https://crawlee.dev/blog/atom.xml"
  ]
}' |
apify call jobdata_labs/rss-feed-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/JT0TFDNSvbs7lkyhS/builds/7joTriDTtEGVJagjL/openapi.json