Bring Back RSS: Build a Calm News Feed With a Bot's Help

GuideBy Bot Tutorials · Published Nov 4, 2026 · Facts last verified Nov 1, 2026 · Label: Documented, not yet tested by Bottutorials

Next in this series: Tomorrow: Turn Boxes of Paper Into Searchable PDFs With OCR and a Bot · The day after: Make Sense of Old Cron Jobs and Shell Scripts With a Bot · Series hub

RSS still powers podcasts and blogs. Let a bot find feeds, write an OPML file and set up a reader, so you control your own news.

Difficulty: Beginner · Bot used: any general chatbot · Time: 30 to 60 minutes What we tested vs. what's documented: Based on the RSS 2.0 and Atom specifications and the official reader projects linked below. Bottutorials hasn't recorded this setup yet.

What the old tech is

RSS is a simple XML format a website publishes to list its newest items. The RSS 2.0 specification is maintained by the RSS Advisory Board (rssboard.org). Atom is a related format, standardized as RFC 4287 (IETF RFC 4287). A feed reader checks these files and shows you new posts in order, with no algorithm deciding what you see.

Why it still matters

Podcasts are distributed through RSS feeds, and many blogs, news sites, and government agencies still publish feeds. RSS gives you a chronological, ad-light reading list you control. It's the "old" fix for feeds ranked by an algorithm.

What a bot can automate

Finding feed URLs for sites you name. It can suggest common locations like /feed or /rss.xml, but you open each one to confirm it exists.
Writing an OPML file, the standard import list most readers accept, from your list of feeds.
Explaining reader choices: a terminal reader like Newsboat or a self-hosted web reader like FreshRSS.
Writing filter rules (for example, hiding items that mention a topic) in your reader's own syntax, checked against its documentation.
Making a feed for your own site if you have one, following the RSS 2.0 spec.

What it can't do: guarantee a feed URL is live, or know which sites removed their feeds. Bots sometimes produce plausible-looking feed URLs that don't exist.

Step by step

1. List your sources

Write down 10 to 30 sites you actually read: blogs, local news, an agency, a few podcasts.

2. Ask the bot for candidates

For each site below, suggest the most likely RSS or Atom feed URL and how to find it on the page (e.g., a <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"> tag). Mark each one "UNVERIFIED". Don't claim a feed exists.

3. Verify every feed

Open each URL in a browser. A real feed shows XML or a feed preview. Remove the ones that don't load.

4. Generate OPML

Make an OPML 2.0 file with these verified feeds grouped into folders: News, Tech, Podcasts, Local. Use the site name as the title.

Save it as feeds.opml and import it into your reader.

5. Pick a reader

Newsboat: runs in a terminal, works on very old hardware, and is a good fit for a retro machine or a Raspberry Pi.
FreshRSS: self-hosted in a browser, syncs across devices, and suits someone with a small server.

Follow each project's own installation documentation.

6. Add filters (optional)

Ask the bot to write a filter in the reader's syntax, then compare it with the reader's documentation before you save it.

Worked example

You give the bot "my city's news site, a woodworking blog, and a podcast." It answers with three likely URLs, all marked UNVERIFIED. You open them: the blog's /feed works, the news site's guess returns a 404, and the podcast's feed is listed on its own website. You view the news site's page source and search for application/rss+xml. If a feed exists, you find it there. If none exists, you drop that site or check whether the publisher offers an email newsletter instead. The final OPML has two verified feeds and one you found yourself, with no made-up ones.

Make the bot check itself

Before you trust any answer in this guide, ask one follow-up:

Go back through your last answer. List every factual claim, mark each one VERIFIED (I gave you the source text), DOCUMENTED (you believe the official documentation says this; give the doc page), or GUESS. Rewrite anything marked GUESS as a question for me.

This takes thirty seconds and catches most invented details: made-up command flags, nonexistent options, confident dates. Then open the linked documentation for anything marked DOCUMENTED and confirm it yourself. Bots are good at structure and wording and unreliable at specifics, and this whole series is built around that difference.

Keep a revival log

Write a short log as you work: date, what you did, the prompt you used, what the bot got right, what it got wrong, and how you checked. It's useful for three reasons. You can repeat the job next year without starting over. Someone else can pick up the project. And you'll see which kinds of mistakes your bot tends to make, which makes you faster the next time. If you share your results, include the log. That openness is what makes a revival project trustworthy.

Glossary

Feed: an XML file listing a site's newest items.
OPML: an outline file format readers use to import and export lists of feeds.
Aggregator / reader: the app that checks feeds and shows new items.

What to verify

Each feed opens and shows recent items.
The OPML imports without errors.
Filters don't hide things you wanted to see. Test with a known item.

Risks, safety and legal

Reading public feeds is what feeds are for. Republishing full articles from other people's feeds on your own site may infringe copyright, so link instead.
Self-hosting a reader means keeping it updated. Follow the project's security guidance.

FAQ

Is RSS dead?

No. Podcasts depend on RSS feeds and many sites still publish them.

RSS or Atom?

Feed readers handle both.

Can a bot find feed URLs?

It can suggest likely ones, but you must open each to confirm it exists.

Sources

Video outline (coming)

What RSS is
Listing your sources
Verifying every feed
Bot-written OPML
Newsboat vs FreshRSS

The narrated video for this piece is in production; this outline is what it will cover.