# RSS, Atom & JSON Feed Monitor (`zsb1978/rss-atom-json-feed-monitor`) Actor

Discover, parse, filter, and deduplicate RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds, with persistent only-new monitoring for scheduled runs.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/zsb1978/rss-atom-json-feed-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [sky zhong](https://apify.com/zsb1978) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, News
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 1,000 feed item emitteds

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## RSS, Atom & JSON Feed Monitor

Discover and parse RSS 2.0, Atom, and JSON Feed sources into one consistent dataset. Use it once as a feed scraper, or schedule it with **Output only unseen items** enabled to build news alerts, content pipelines, competitor monitors, newsletters, and automation triggers.

### Why use this Actor?

- Accepts direct feed URLs **and website homepages**.
- Discovers RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed links from HTML metadata and page links.
- Normalizes different feed formats into one predictable output schema.
- Filters entries with include and exclude keywords using `any` or `all` matching.
- Removes duplicate articles across multiple feeds.
- Persists seen-item history by `monitorId`, so scheduled runs can emit only new entries.
- Does not visit article pages, use cookies, require account credentials, or call a paid external API.
- Charges only for successfully emitted feed items. Source errors are saved as uncharged diagnostics.

### Quick start

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://blog.apify.com/" },
    { "url": "https://example.com/blog" }
  ],
  "onlyNew": true,
  "monitorId": "daily-tech-news",
  "includeKeywords": ["AI", "automation"],
  "excludeKeywords": ["sponsored"],
  "matchMode": "any",
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 50,
  "maxTotalItems": 500
}
```

The first run treats all matching items as new. Later runs using the same `monitorId` skip entries that were already emitted. Change the monitor ID when you want a separate history.

### Input options

| Field | Default | Purpose |
|---|---:|---|
| `startUrls` | required | Up to 100 public feed or website URLs |
| `discoverFeeds` | `true` | Discover feed links when an input is HTML |
| `onlyNew` | `true` | Skip items emitted by earlier runs with the same monitor ID |
| `monitorId` | `default` | Names the persistent seen-item history |
| `includeKeywords` | `[]` | Keep entries matching these terms |
| `excludeKeywords` | `[]` | Reject entries matching any of these terms |
| `matchMode` | `any` | Require any or all include keywords |
| `caseSensitive` | `false` | Control keyword case sensitivity |
| `deduplicateAcrossFeeds` | `true` | Emit the same article once per run |
| `includeFeedContent` | `true` | Include content supplied by the feed |
| `maxItemsPerFeed` | `50` | Per-feed parsing limit, up to 500 |
| `maxTotalItems` | `500` | Run-level paid-output limit, up to 5,000 |
| `respectRobotsTxt` | `true` | Check robots.txt before requests |
| `maxConcurrency` | `5` | Concurrent input URLs, up to 20 |
| `delayMs` | `100` | Minimum delay between same-origin requests |
| `requestTimeoutSecs` | `20` | Per-request timeout, 5–60 seconds |

### Output

Every successful item has `recordType: "item"` and includes:

- feed metadata: `sourceUrl`, `feedUrl`, `feedType`, `feedTitle`, `feedLanguage`
- article identity: `id`, `url`, `contentHash`
- content: `title`, `summary`, `contentHtml`, `contentText`
- publishing data: `author`, `authors`, `publishedAt`, `updatedAt`, `categories`
- media: `imageUrl`, `enclosures`
- monitoring data: `matchedKeywords`, `isNew`, `firstSeenAt`, `collectedAt`

Failed sources have `recordType: "error"`, `errorCode`, and `errorMessage`. They are useful for monitoring and are **not** charged as feed-item events.

Example item:

```json
{
  "recordType": "item",
  "sourceUrl": "https://hnrss.org/frontpage",
  "feedUrl": "https://hnrss.org/frontpage",
  "feedType": "rss",
  "feedTitle": "Hacker News: Front Page",
  "id": "https://example.com/article",
  "url": "https://example.com/article",
  "title": "Example article",
  "summary": "A normalized feed summary.",
  "authors": ["Example Author"],
  "categories": ["technology"],
  "matchedKeywords": ["AI"],
  "isNew": true,
  "firstSeenAt": "2026-08-26T08:00:00Z",
  "collectedAt": "2026-08-26T08:00:00Z",
  "status": "ok"
}
```

The default key-value store record `OUTPUT` contains the run summary, including parsed, matched, emitted, duplicate, previously seen, and failed totals.

### Scheduling a monitor

1. Run the Actor once with your chosen inputs.
2. Save the configuration as an Apify task.
3. Create a schedule for the task.
4. Keep the same `monitorId` for that task.
5. Connect the dataset to a webhook, Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, or your own API.

Because old entries are remembered, later scheduled runs output only newly discovered matching items. Seen-item history is stored in the Actor user's private storage and is capped to the 50,000 most recent identities per monitor.

### Pricing

The Actor uses pay per event:

- **$1.50 per 1,000 emitted feed items** (`$0.0015` each)
- the standard small Actor-start event
- platform usage included

Parsing failures, blocked URLs, pages with no feed, filtered items, duplicates, and previously seen entries do not trigger the feed-item charge.

### Responsible use and limits

Use only public URLs that you are allowed to access. The Actor blocks local/private networks and embedded credentials, revalidates redirects, limits responses to 5 MB, and respects robots.txt by default. Feed-provided HTML can contain third-party markup; sanitize it before displaying it in a browser. The Actor does not bypass logins, anti-bot controls, or paywalls.

### Support

For bugs, include the run URL, a public example feed, and the relevant error code. Do not include passwords, cookies, API tokens, or private feed URLs in public issue reports.

### License

MIT

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Public RSS, Atom, JSON Feed, or website homepage URLs. Up to 100 unique URLs per run.

## `discoverFeeds` (type: `boolean`):

When an input is an HTML page, find RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed links in the page metadata and links.

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

On the first run all matching items are new. Later runs with the same monitor ID output only items not emitted before.

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

Stable ID used to keep seen-item history across scheduled runs. Use a different ID for an independent monitor.

## `includeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Keep items containing these terms in the title, summary, content, or categories. Leave empty to keep all items.

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

Remove items containing any of these terms. Exclusions take priority over inclusions.

## `matchMode` (type: `string`):

Require any include keyword or require all include keywords.

## `caseSensitive` (type: `boolean`):

Treat uppercase and lowercase characters as different in keyword filters.

## `deduplicateAcrossFeeds` (type: `boolean`):

Emit the same article only once when it appears in multiple input feeds.

## `includeFeedContent` (type: `boolean`):

Include contentHtml and contentText supplied by the feed. The Actor does not visit article pages.

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

Parse at most this many newest entries from each discovered feed.

## `maxTotalItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard run-level cap on paid item outputs. Error diagnostics are not charged and do not count toward this limit.

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

Check robots.txt before requesting website pages and feeds.

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

Number of input URLs processed at the same time.

## `delayMs` (type: `integer`):

Minimum spacing between requests to the same origin. A longer robots.txt crawl-delay takes precedence.

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

Maximum time allowed for one HTTP request.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://blog.apify.com/"
    }
  ],
  "discoverFeeds": true,
  "onlyNew": true,
  "monitorId": "default",
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": [],
  "matchMode": "any",
  "caseSensitive": false,
  "deduplicateAcrossFeeds": true,
  "includeFeedContent": true,
  "maxItemsPerFeed": 50,
  "maxTotalItems": 500,
  "respectRobotsTxt": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "delayMs": 100,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Normalized RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed items plus source-level errors.

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

Processed feeds, parsed items, filters, deduplication, new-item, and failure totals.

# 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 = {
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://blog.apify.com/"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("zsb1978/rss-atom-json-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 = { "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://blog.apify.com/" }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("zsb1978/rss-atom-json-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 '{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://blog.apify.com/"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call zsb1978/rss-atom-json-feed-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,zsb1978/rss-atom-json-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/Hff7mUscEIjRqrGi9/builds/ebp4LEKYgnDuoI38K/openapi.json