How RSS Works

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It’s an open, standardized format that websites use to publish lists of their newest content.

Think of it like a newspaper subscription. Instead of visiting the website, the website delivers new content directly to your reader.

An RSS feed is just an XML file that a website publishes at a fixed URL. For example:

https://css-tricks.com/feed/
https://hnrss.org/frontpage
https://blog.samaltman.com/feed

Each feed contains a list of items (articles, posts, episodes), each with a title, description, link, and publication date.

Atom is the same idea

Atom is a similar standard that serves the same purpose as RSS. SparkFeed supports both RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 feeds seamlessly.

The RSS XML Format

Here’s what an RSS feed actually looks like under the hood:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>My Tech Blog</title>
    <link>https://myblog.com</link>
    <description>Posts about software development</description>

    <item>
      <title>Understanding React Server Components</title>
      <link>https://myblog.com/posts/rsc</link>
      <description>A deep dive into RSC...</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 14 Apr 2026 09:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://myblog.com/posts/rsc</guid>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Why SQLite is Underrated</title>
      <link>https://myblog.com/posts/sqlite</link>
      <description>SQLite isn't just for small apps...</description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 12 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://myblog.com/posts/sqlite</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

Why RSS Matters

RSS solves a fundamental problem: the web has too much information published in too many places.

Without RSS, staying current means:

• Manually checking each website
• Relying on social media algorithms to surface content
• Using email newsletters (mixed with promotions)

With RSS:

• You choose which sources to follow
• No algorithm decides what you see. You see everything, in chronological order
• No account required on the websites you follow

How SparkFeed Uses RSS

When you add a feed to SparkFeed:

1. Fetch: SparkFeed makes an HTTP GET request to the feed URL
2. Parse: The XML response is parsed into structured article objects
3. Deduplicate: Articles already in the database are skipped (using the guid field)
4. Store: New articles are saved to the local SQLite database
5. Display: The React frontend reads from the database and renders the articles

Feed URL → HTTP GET → XML Response → Parse → SQLite → React UI

All of this happens locally. SparkFeed never relays your requests through any external service.

Common Questions

Can I follow a YouTube channel via RSS?
Yes! YouTube publishes RSS feeds for every channel: https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=YOUR_CHANNEL_ID

Can I follow a newsletter?
If the newsletter publishes an RSS feed (many do), yes. Services like Kill the Newsletter can also convert email newsletters into RSS feeds.

What about podcasts?
Podcast feeds are RSS feeds. SparkFeed can ingest them as articles, though a dedicated podcast player is better for audio streaming.