kantord / blogtato

blogtato A CLI RSS/Atom feed reader inspired by Taskwarrior. Features • Subscribe to RSS and Atom feeds • Simple query language for filtering by feed, read status, and date, with grouping and export • Git-based sync across machines with conflict-free merge (why git?) • No accounts, no servers, no continuous network dependency • Mark content as read • Designed to be distraction free, minimalistic and work out of the box Install Git sync based synchronization is entire optional. can work entirely offline on a single device. To set up git synchronization, create a private repo on your git host, then: On your device(s), run the same to pull down your feeds and posts. Don't worry about setting git sync up if you are just trying out: you can run later and your existing feeds will be merged with the remote automatically. Quick start Once you set up your -based sync, or if you decided to skip it, subscribe to your favorite feeds using : You can import your subscriptions from other RSS readers (Feedly, Inoreader, NetNewsWire, FreshRSS, Feeder, Tiny Tiny RSS, Outlook, and others) using an OPML file: Fetch and list latest posts: Read whatever you found interesting by referring to its shorthand You can subscribe to releases to know when new features or fixes are available: Usage examples Design philosophy I built around the idea of subscription detox and simplicity. I just wanted to use a simple and RSS reader that is not distracting, but can be synced between different devices seamlessly without having to set up another user account and paying another monthly subscription fee. uses a simple database that stores data in JSONL files and syncs them using . From a performance standpoint, this is admittedly sub-optimal, and an quite esoteric design. At the same time, if you are comfortable with CLI tools you likely have access to a remote host such as GitHub, GitLab or a Forgejo instance: and that's all needs to be able to keep data up to date on all of your devices. From a user perspective, this just works with effectively zero configuration. 's database uses a conflict-free design: even if you have diverging changes between different devices, you will never have to manually resolve conflicts. You can forget about being there. Network operations are always initiated by the user. There is no need for a continuously running server. And all operations that don't strictly need network access work offline. It is my goal to keep the feature-set and the complexity of this project down, so that it can be maintained with minimal effort and can be considered to be "done". Naming The naming is meant to symbolize simplicity and pragmatic silliness: I just mashed the word "blog" together with the first word I could think of: potato. Comparison with alternatives is relatively new and there are several good, and more mature alternatives. This section attempts to summarize how they differ from and why some users might still prefer to use instead. Newsboat Newsboat is a very mature TUI RSS client with a wide range of features that does *not* have. Just like , it supports local-only workflows. It can also act as a client to remote servers, so if you are ok with having to self-host a server or signing up to a hosted server, then 's sync feature is not a relevant differentiator for you. Another reason why might be relevant to you is that it has a Taskwarrior-like interface that is even more minimalistic than Newsboat. Newsraft Newsraft is a more minimalistic alternative to Newsboat. The Newsboat breakdown mostly applies. FreshRSS, Miniflux & Tiny Tiny RSS These are mature, self-hostable web-based RSS readers/aggregators. What offers in comparison is a minimalistic CLI interface and effectively zero-setup sync between different machines using , without the need for an additional, continuously running server. Feedly, Inoreader These are full-featured web-based services. If you are a heavy RSS-user and like the user interfaces and features they offer (such as GUI apps for iOS and Android, content recommendations) you will likely prefer one of these options. You could find interesting if you'd prefer a more minimalistic, distraction-free CLI interface and do not need their advanced features.