# RSS, Atom & JSON Feed Reader (`webintel/rss-feed-parser`) Actor

Read RSS, RDF, Atom and JSON Feed URLs, or discover feeds from website URLs. Outputs one dataset item per feed entry.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/webintel/rss-feed-parser.md
- **Developed by:** [Deepak Ganesh](https://apify.com/webintel) (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

from $0.30 / 1,000 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, Atom & JSON Feed Reader

![RSS, Atom & JSON Feed Reader](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/21SBwDwdNtlnapIdO/records/rss-feed-parser.png?v=23ad7010)

Turn feed URLs or ordinary website URLs into clean structured feed items. The Actor reads RSS 0.9x/2.0, RSS 1.0/RDF, Atom 1.0 and JSON Feed 1.x. For website URLs it first discovers feeds from `<link rel="alternate">` tags and then tries common feed paths such as `/feed`, `/rss.xml`, `/atom.xml`, `/feed.xml` and `/index.xml`.

It uses plain HTTP requests only, never a browser, and it skips failed feeds without charging for them.

### Use cases

- Monitor news, changelogs, blogs and podcasts from one API call.
- Convert mixed RSS, Atom and JSON Feed sources to a single dataset shape.
- Feed AI agents with recent articles filtered by `sinceDate`.
- Discover a site's feed URL before ingesting its entries.
- Extract podcast media fields, enclosures, images, authors and categories in bulk.

### Input

| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---:|---|
| `urls` | – | Feed URLs or website URLs, one per line. Plain domains are accepted. |
| `maxItemsPerFeed` | `50` | Maximum number of entries returned from each resolved feed. |
| `sinceDate` | – | Optional ISO date. Only entries published after this date are returned. |
| `includeContent` | `false` | Include full HTML/content fields such as `content:encoded`. |
| `stripHtml` | `true` | Strip HTML into text. Summaries are text; when content is included, `contentText` is added. |
| `maxConcurrency` | `10` | Number of input URLs processed in parallel. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | off | Optional Apify Proxy configuration. Most public feeds work without a proxy. |

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://hnrss.org/frontpage",
    "https://www.theverge.com",
    "https://github.blog/feed/",
    "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 5,
  "sinceDate": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"
}
```

### Output

One dataset item is produced for each feed entry. The Actor also stores a run summary in the default key-value store under `SUMMARY` with resolved feeds, item counts and per-feed errors.

```json
{
  "feedUrl": "https://github.blog/feed/",
  "feedTitle": "The GitHub Blog",
  "feedLink": "https://github.blog/",
  "title": "ReviewBench: An open benchmark for AI code review",
  "link": "https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/reviewbench-an-open-benchmark-for-ai-code-review/",
  "guid": "https://github.blog/?p=99258",
  "author": "Michelle Zhou",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-05T15:59:40.000Z",
  "updatedAt": null,
  "summary": "We’re launching ReviewBench, a benchmark for code review agents built on representative GitHub pull requests, multi-source ground truth, calibrated evaluation, and production-aligned metrics. The post ReviewBench: An open benchmark for AI code review appeared first on The GitHub Blog.",
  "categories": ["AI & ML", "GitHub Copilot", "AI", "benchmarking", "code review"],
  "image": null,
  "enclosures": [],
  "duration": null,
  "episode": null,
  "language": "en-US"
}
```

Fields include feed metadata (`feedUrl`, `feedTitle`, `feedLink`, `language`), item metadata (`title`, `link`, `guid`, `author`, `publishedAt`, `updatedAt`), normalized text summary, optional full content, categories, best image, enclosures (`url`, `type`, `length`) and podcast fields (`duration`, `episode`).

### Pricing

Pay per event: you pay only for successfully pushed feed items.

| Event | Price | When |
|---|---:|---|
| Item (`feed-item`) | **$0.0003** ($0.30 per 1,000 items) | Each feed entry written to the dataset. Failed feeds are free. |
| Actor start | $0.00005 | Charged when the Actor starts, according to Actor memory. |

The Actor respects your maximum cost per run. When the item budget is reached, it stops cleanly and does not push uncharged items.

### FAQ

**Can I pass website URLs instead of feed URLs?**\
Yes. The Actor discovers RSS, Atom and JSON Feed links from HTML and common feed paths.

**Which feed formats are supported?**\
RSS 0.9x/2.0, RSS 1.0/RDF, Atom 1.0 and JSON Feed 1.x, including common extensions such as `dc:creator`, `content:encoded`, `media:content`, `media:thumbnail`, `enclosure` and `itunes:*`.

**Are failed feeds charged?**\
No. DNS errors, HTTP errors and unparseable feeds are listed in `SUMMARY` but are not pushed as paid dataset items.

**Does it run JavaScript?**\
No. It performs polite HTTP-only requests with a 20 MB response cap per feed/page.

### Changelog

- **0.1**: Initial release. Supports RSS, RDF, Atom, JSON Feed, HTML autodiscovery, date filtering, deduplication, media extraction and pay-per-item charging.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Feed URLs or website URLs. Website pages are scanned for RSS/Atom/JSON Feed alternates and common feed paths.

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

Maximum number of entries to output from each resolved feed.

## `sinceDate` (type: `string`):

Optional ISO date. Only entries published after this date are returned.

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

Include full HTML/content:encoded when available.

## `stripHtml` (type: `boolean`):

Create text-only summary/contentText values by stripping HTML.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of input URLs processed in parallel.

## `requestTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

How long to wait for a feed or website to respond.

## `maxRetries` (type: `integer`):

How many times to retry transient fetch failures.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional. Most feeds work without a proxy.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://hnrss.org/frontpage",
    "https://github.blog/feed/",
    "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 50,
  "includeContent": false,
  "stripHtml": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 10,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 30,
  "maxRetries": 2,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One dataset row per feed item/entry. Includes feed metadata, normalized dates, categories, images and enclosures.

## `media` (type: `string`):

Dataset media view with enclosures plus podcast duration and episode fields.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Per-feed summary stored in the default key-value store under the SUMMARY key.

# 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 = {
    "urls": [
        "https://hnrss.org/frontpage",
        "https://github.blog/feed/",
        "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("webintel/rss-feed-parser").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 = {
    "urls": [
        "https://hnrss.org/frontpage",
        "https://github.blog/feed/",
        "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json",
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("webintel/rss-feed-parser").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 '{
  "urls": [
    "https://hnrss.org/frontpage",
    "https://github.blog/feed/",
    "https://www.jsonfeed.org/feed.json"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call webintel/rss-feed-parser --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/ovGhtQTffvaWZQMnv/builds/Z5wzBcBRQBrycfQ7b/openapi.json