RSS-Bridge

RSS-Bridge is an open-source PHP web application that generates web feeds for websites that do not provide their own. It allows users to track updates from various platforms by converting website content into standardized formats like RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds. This functionality enables the use of a standard feed reader to monitor sites that otherwise lack native syndication support.

The software is deployed as a self-hosted server application. It can be installed by unzipping files into a web folder on traditional shared hosting, using Composer for dependency management, or deploying via Docker and Docker Compose. The application requires a minimum of PHP 7.4 to operate and can be configured to run behind web servers such as Nginx or Caddy.

Key features

• Generates RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds from non-feed websites
• Scrapes content using CSS selectors via the CssSelectorBridge
• Extracts data using XPath expressions via the XPathBridge
• Combines multiple feeds into a single stream with FeedMergeBridge
• Filters feed items by keyword using the FilterBridge
• Reduces feed noise by a specific percentage with FeedReducerBridge
• Supports a wide array of pre-built bridges for platforms like YouTube, Mastodon, and Reddit
• Provides multiple cache backend options including file, sqlite, and memcached

The application is designed for users who want to centralize their information consumption. It includes a bridge API that allows developers to create new bridges by extending the BridgeAbstract class, requiring the use of strict types in PHP. For security and access control, administrators can password-protect a public instance using a token defined in the configuration file. The system also includes dedicated command line tools for clearing the cache and pruning expired items to maintain server performance.

RSS-Bridge serves as a middleware tool for converting static or dynamic web content into syndication feeds for use in external news aggregators.