BlogNerd.app

A semantic search engine for blog posts and RSS feeds, powered by vector embeddings and AI.

Features

• 🔍 Semantic Search: Find blog posts and RSS feeds using natural language queries
• 📱 Mobile Responsive: Optimized for all screen sizes
• 🏷️ Content Filtering: Filter by content type (blogs, academic, news) and time periods
• 🔗 RSS Feed Discovery: Search and discover RSS feeds with export functionality
• 📊 Export Options: Export RSS feeds as OPML or CSV files
• ⚡ Fast Search: Powered by Pinecone vector database and Voyage AI embeddings

Technology Stack

• Backend: Go 1.21 with Gorilla Mux router
• Frontend: Vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Vector Database: Pinecone
• Embeddings: Voyage AI
• Deployment: Docker support included

Prerequisites

• Go 1.21 or later
• Pinecone account and API key
• Voyage AI account and API key

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/alastairrushworth/blognerd.app.git
   cd blognerd.app

2. Install Go dependencies

   go mod download

3. Set up environment variables

   cp .env.example .env

   Edit .env and add your API keys:

   PINECONE_API_KEY=your-pinecone-api-key
   PINECONE_V2_ENVIRONMENT=your-pinecone-environment
   PINECONE_V2_INDEX=your-pinecone-index-name
   PINECONE_V2_HOST=your-pinecone-host-url
   VOYAGE_API_KEY=your-voyage-ai-api-key
   

4. Run the application

   go run .

   Or build and run:

   go build -o blognerd-server
   ./blognerd-server

5. Open in browser

   http://localhost:8000
   

Docker Deployment

Build and run with Docker:

docker build -t blognerd-app .
docker run -p 8000:8000 --env-file .env blognerd-app

API Endpoints

Search API

• GET /api/search?qry=<query>&type=<pages|sites>&content=<content_type>&time=<time_filter>
• Returns JSON with search results

Export APIs

• GET /api/export/opml?qry=<query>&type=sites - Export RSS feeds as OPML
• GET /api/export/csv?qry=<query>&type=sites - Export RSS feeds as CSV

Search Syntax

Basic Search

ai machine learning

Site-specific Search

site:openai.com

Similar Posts/Blogs

like:https://example.com/blog-post
like:example.com

Content Type Filters

• type:blogs - Blog posts only
• type:academic - Academic papers
• type:news - News articles
• type:feeds - RSS feeds only

Time Filters

• since:last_week - Past week
• since:last_month - Past month
• since:last_year - Past year

Project Structure

The codebase is organized into focused modules for maintainability:

blognerd.app/
├── main.go           # Application bootstrap and routing (74 lines)
├── types.go          # Data structures and type definitions
├── handlers.go       # HTTP request handlers (home, search, API)
├── search.go         # Search functionality and query processing
├── rss.go            # RSS feed generation and caching
├── export.go         # OPML and CSV export functionality
├── custom_rss.go     # Custom RSS workflow processing
├── utils.go          # Utility functions (parsing, formatting, etc.)
├── pinecone.go       # Pinecone vector database client
├── voyage.go         # Voyage AI embeddings client
├── templates/        # HTML templates
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── head.html
│   ├── styles.html
│   ├── scripts.html
│   ├── rss-builder.html
│   ├── search-state.html
│   ├── initial-state.html
│   └── footer.html
├── static/           # Static assets (CSS, images)
├── .env.example      # Environment variables template
├── Dockerfile        # Docker configuration
├── go.mod           # Go module definition
└── README.md        # This file

Module Responsibilities

• main.go: Minimal bootstrap code - initializes clients, templates, routes
• types.go: All struct definitions (SearchResult, App, CustomRSSConfig, etc.)
• handlers.go: HTTP handlers for web pages and API endpoints
• search.go: Core search logic, Pinecone queries, result processing
• rss.go: RSS feed generation with caching and cleanup
• export.go: OPML and CSV export for RSS feeds
• custom_rss.go: Advanced RSS workflow builder functionality
• utils.go: Shared utilities for date parsing, URL cleaning, XML escaping
• pinecone.go: Vector database client and operations
• voyage.go: Embedding generation client

Development

Adding New Features

1. Backend changes: Modify the appropriate Go files
2. Frontend changes: Edit templates/index.html
3. Static assets: Add to static/ directory

Code Style

• Follow standard Go conventions
• Use gofmt for formatting
• Add comments for public functions
• Keep functions focused and small

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature-name
3. Make your changes and test thoroughly
4. Commit with descriptive messages: git commit -m "Add feature description"
5. Push to your fork: git push origin feature-name
6. Create a pull request

License

This project is open source. See the repository for license details.

Support

For issues and questions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Check existing issues for similar problems

Acknowledgments

• Powered by Pinecone vector database
• Embeddings by Voyage AI
• Built with Go and Gorilla Mux