RSSMonster

Copyright (c) 2024 Piethein Strengholt, piethein@strengholt-online.nl

Background

RSSMonster is a user-friendly, web-based RSS aggregator developed as an alternative to one of my favorite tools, Google Reader. Motivated by the need to replace Google Reader for tracking RSS feeds, RSSMonster aims to replicate its functionality while offering modern enhancements.

Features

• Lightweight and Responsive Design: Built using Vue.js 3 for the frontend and Express for the backend, RSSMonster leverages Bootstrap to ensure a fluid and responsive user experience.
• Google Reader-like Behavior: Mimics the behavior of Google Reader, such as marking items as read when you start scrolling and identifying trending content.
• Progressive Web App Support: Install RSSMonster as a PWA for a seamless experience across devices.
• Drag and Drop: Easily manage your feeds with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
• Dark Mode: Switch to dark mode for a comfortable reading experience in low-light environments.
• Fever API Compatibility: Fully compatible with the Fever API, allowing for integration with other RSS tools.

Prerequisites

• NodeJS 16.x or higher
• Git
• A Mysql installation (other databases will as well with some configuration)

How to get everything installed

• Clone this repository git clone https://github.com/pietheinstrengholt/rssmonster.git .
• Run npm install in both the client and server folder
• Find the .env.example file in the root of both the client and server folder. Copy and rename the files to .env
• Edit .env inside the server folder and enter your Mysql or Database server login data (at least fill DB_DATABASE, DB_USERNAME and DB_PASSWORD).
• Edit .env inside the client folder. Change the VITE_APP_HOSTNAME, so it points to the back-end.
• Run ./node_modules/.bin/sequelize db:migrate && ./node_modules/.bin/sequelize db:seed:all in side the server folder. this will add all needed database tables and content to your mysql database. Alternatively you can also uncomment the //force: true in the app.js inside the server folder to create the schema structure.
• Optional: Add a cronjob to crawl http://localhost/api/crawl every 5 minutes.

Development

If you would like to run RSSMonster in development mode I recommend to run:

• Inside the client folder: npm run dev.
• Inside the server folder: npm run debug.

Production

If you would like to run RSSMonster in production mode I recommend to run:

• Update the VITE_APP_HOSTNAME and VITE_NODE_ENV inside the file client/.env. Most likely you want to remove port 3000 and point to the url where the backend will be running. For production, make sure you set the VITE_NODE_ENV to production.
• Update the NODE_ENV inside the file server/.env. For production, make sure you set the NODE_ENV to production.
• Inside the client folder build all the static files with: npm run build.
• Move the dist output folder created inside the client folder to the server folder. The NodeJS server is also capable of serving out static content.
• Inside the server folder: npm run start.

Docker for development

• Run the following command to build all the images: docker-compose build
• Run the following command to start the containers: docker-compose up
• The client will be running on port 8080 and communication with the backend takes place via 3000. Make sure these ports aren't being used. The mysql database is accessible via port 3306.

Docker for production

The production version has the server and client combined into a single container. The VueJS is also compiled into an optimized version. To build this single image, run the following command: docker build -t rssmonster . Lastly you need to run the docker container. You need to provide the correct environment variables for the database server to connect to. Here's is an example: docker run -d -t -i -e NODE_ENV=production -e DB_HOSTNAME=localhost -e DB_DATABASE=rssmonster -e DB_USERNAME=rssmonser -e DB_PASSWORD=password -p 3000:3000 rssmonster

AWS Beanstalk

• Setup your AWS Security credentials: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-sec-cred-types.html
• Download and install the Beanstalk CLI: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticbeanstalk/latest/dg/eb-cli3.html
• Run the following command: eb init
• Select your region and use the aws-access-id & aws-secret-key from step 1.
• Provision a new environment: eb create rssmonster-app --envvars "NODE_ENV=production" --database --database.engine mysql --database.username rssmonster --database.password "fvX2Ht8jXxXEYlZ6"
• SSH into the new environment: eb ssh rssmonster-app
• Migrate the database content: /app/server/node_modules/.bin/sequelize db:migrate && /app/server/node_modules/.bin/sequelize db:seed:all

Reeder (iOS) integration support (via Fever API)

RSSMonster is compatible with the Fever API. Apps like Reeder (iOS) will support this. To use the Reeder API (http://feedafever.com/api), point to the following url:

http://yourRSSMonsterurl/api/fever

Any username and password will work.

Contributions

I welcome contributions and new features from the community. Feel free to fork the repository and submit pull requests.

Credits

The following scripts and plug-ins are used within RSSMonster

• NodeJS https://nodejs.org/en/
• Twitter bootstrap: https://twitter.github.io/bootstrap/
• feed-parser: https://github.com/rowanmanning/feed-parser
• VueJS: https://vuejs.org/