# RSS Feed Reader: Only New Items, Atom & JSON Feed (`jp-data-lab/rss-feed-reader`) Actor

Read RSS, Atom and JSON Feed URLs into clean JSON. Schedule it with onlyNew and get just the items you have not seen yet, across runs, with keyword filters. Pay per item, so a quiet feed costs nothing. Finds the feed from a website URL.

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

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 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.

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: Only New Items, Atom & JSON Feed

Turn any RSS, Atom, RDF or JSON Feed into clean JSON. Run it once, or schedule it and get only the items you have not seen yet. No API key, no browser and no proxy.

Most feed readers on the Store either return every item on every run or leave it to you to remove duplicates. Here `onlyNew` keeps the record for you, across runs, in your own account. You pay per item delivered, so a feed with nothing new costs nothing beyond the small run start.

Use it to feed news into a Slack channel or a spreadsheet, watch competitors' blogs and regulators' press releases, collect podcast episodes, or give an AI agent fresh articles to summarize.

### Quick start

Read a few feeds:

```json
{ "feedUrls": ["https://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/press_all.xml", "https://www.nasa.gov/feed/"] }
```

Daily alerts on a topic: schedule this and connect the run to Slack, email or a webhook.

```json
{
  "feedUrls": ["https://www.who.int/rss-feeds/news-english.xml"],
  "onlyNew": true,
  "keywords": ["vaccine", "vaccines"],
  "excludeKeywords": ["webinar"]
}
```

You can paste a website address instead of a feed. If the page links to a feed with `<link rel="alternate">`, that feed is read, and the result is listed under `feedsDiscovered` in `RUN_SUMMARY`.

### How onlyNew works

- **First run:** outputs the latest items, up to `maxItemsPerFeed`, and marks the rest of the feed as read. You are not charged for old items.
- **Later runs:** outputs only items not seen before. If a feed has more new items than `maxItemsPerFeed`, the rest wait for the next run, so a burst of posts is not lost.
- **Nothing new:** the reader asks the server whether the feed changed (`ETag`, `If-Modified-Since`). If not, the feed is not downloaded again.
- **Changing `keywords` or `excludeKeywords`** starts a fresh record for that feed. Items are matched by `guid`, then by link, then by title, date and text.
- An item whose text changes keeps its `guid`, so it does not count as new.

The record is saved in a key-value store named `rss-feed-reader-seen` in your Apify account. Delete it to start again.

### Output

One item per article or episode:

```json
{
  "id": "rss:4f1c2a9d0b7e6c3a81d5e2f0",
  "feedUrl": "https://www.who.int/rss-feeds/news-english.xml",
  "feedTitle": "News (English) - World Health Organization",
  "feedType": "rss",
  "feedLanguage": "en",
  "title": "New technical package on air quality",
  "link": "https://www.who.int/news/item/01-11-2026-example",
  "guid": "https://www.who.int/news/item/01-11-2026-example",
  "publishedAt": "2026-11-01T12:00:00Z",
  "updatedAt": null,
  "summary": "First 2,000 characters of the text.",
  "content": "Full text as plain text, up to 50,000 characters.",
  "contentHtml": "<p>The same text as HTML, up to 100,000 characters.</p>",
  "categories": ["Air pollution"],
  "imageUrl": "https://example.org/photo.jpg",
  "enclosures": [{ "url": "https://example.org/episode.mp3", "type": "audio/mpeg", "length": 12345678 }],
  "discoveredFrom": null,
  "fetchedAt": "2026-11-02T00:00:00Z"
}
```

Dates are UTC. `feedType` is `rss`, `atom`, `rdf` or `json`. Fields the feed does not provide are `null`.

Author names are not included. Bylines are personal data and most uses do not need them. Text in the title and body is passed on as the feed publishes it.

### Input

| Field | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `feedUrls` | 3 public feeds | Feed or website URLs, up to 2,000 |
| `onlyNew` | `false` | Output only items not seen in earlier runs |
| `keywords` | none | Keep items containing any of these words |
| `excludeKeywords` | none | Leave out items containing any of these words |
| `publishedWithinDays` | `0` | Only items from the last N days. Items with no date are kept |
| `publishedAfter` | none | Only items after this date or time. Overrides the days |
| `includeContent` | `true` | Add `content` and `contentHtml` |
| `maxItemsPerFeed` | `20` | Newest items first |
| `maxItems` | `1000` | Total for the run |

Keywords ignore case and accents and look in the title, text and categories. English words match whole words, so `ai` does not match `said`, and `bank` does not match `banks`: add both forms. Japanese and other text without spaces matches anywhere.

### When a feed fails

One bad feed does not stop the run, and it costs nothing. `RUN_SUMMARY` lists each one under `feedsFailed` with the reason. The run fails only if no feed could be read.

```json
{
  "feedsRequested": 3,
  "feedsRead": 2,
  "feedsUnchanged": 0,
  "feedsFailed": [{ "url": "https://example.org/old.xml", "reason": "HTTP 404" }],
  "feedsNotReached": 0,
  "firstReadFeeds": 2,
  "itemsRead": 40,
  "pushed": 20,
  "seenBefore": 0,
  "filteredOut": 12,
  "overLimit": 8
}
```

`feedsNotReached` counts feeds left unread because the run hit `maxItems` or your spending limit. `overLimit` counts matching items left out by the limits.

### What it respects

- **robots.txt.** A feed the site disallows is skipped and reported as `disallowed by robots.txt`. This includes feeds on sites that forbid robots altogether, such as Reddit. There is no switch to override it.
- **Server load.** At least one second between requests to the same site, longer if the site's `Crawl-delay` asks for it, up to 5 seconds. Failed requests are retried twice at most.
- **Honest identification.** Requests carry a descriptive User-Agent with a link to this page. There is no proxy and no browser disguise, so a feed that blocks cloud servers will fail with `HTTP 403` and be reported.

### Limits

- A feed holds only what the publisher puts in it, usually the latest 10 to 100 items. This Actor cannot reach older history. Run it on a schedule to build your own archive.
- Feeds behind a login are not supported.
- Feeds over 20 MB are skipped.
- Only public addresses can be read, not internal ones.

The content belongs to its publishers. You are responsible for how you use it.

### Pricing

Pay per item delivered, plus a small charge per run. Failed feeds, items already seen and unchanged feeds are free. Set `maxItems` or a spending limit in the run options to control the cost.

# Actor input Schema

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

RSS, Atom, RDF or JSON Feed URLs, up to 2,000. You can also paste a website address: if the page links to a feed, that feed is read.

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

Remember what this account has received and output only items not seen before. Use it with a schedule. The first run outputs the latest items and marks the rest of the feed as read. Changing the keywords starts a fresh record.

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

Keep items whose title, text or categories contain any of these words. Case and accents are ignored. English words match whole words, so add plurals. Empty keeps everything.

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

Leave out items containing any of these words.

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

Only items published in the last N days. Items with no date are kept. 0 = no limit.

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

Only items published after this date or time, e.g. 2026-11-01 or 2026-11-01T09:00:00Z. Overrides the number of days above.

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

Add the full text and HTML the feed provides. Turn it off for titles, links and short summaries only.

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

Newest items first. Feeds usually carry only their latest 10 to 100 items, so this cannot reach older history.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Total for the whole run. You are charged per result.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "feedUrls": [
    "https://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/press_all.xml",
    "https://www.nasa.gov/feed/",
    "https://www.who.int/rss-feeds/news-english.xml"
  ],
  "onlyNew": false,
  "publishedWithinDays": 0,
  "includeContent": true,
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 20,
  "maxItems": 1000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One item per article or episode: feed, title, link, dates, summary, full content, categories, image and enclosures.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Feeds read, unchanged and failed with the reason, items already seen, and items left out by the filters or limits.

# 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://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/press_all.xml",
        "https://www.nasa.gov/feed/",
        "https://www.who.int/rss-feeds/news-english.xml"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("jp-data-lab/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 = { "feedUrls": [
        "https://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/press_all.xml",
        "https://www.nasa.gov/feed/",
        "https://www.who.int/rss-feeds/news-english.xml",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("jp-data-lab/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 '{
  "feedUrls": [
    "https://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/press_all.xml",
    "https://www.nasa.gov/feed/",
    "https://www.who.int/rss-feeds/news-english.xml"
  ]
}' |
apify call jp-data-lab/rss-feed-reader --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,jp-data-lab/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/p8QPzdhVvyoDXeG5M/builds/vA5I0V95gbg7SoEM5/openapi.json