RSS Feed Detector

A lightweight browser extension for Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Brave, Edge, etc.) that automatically detects RSS and Atom feeds on web pages and allows quick subscription via multiple RSS readers.

Features

• Automatically detects RSS and Atom feeds on any webpage
• Visual indicator: icon changes color when feeds are found
• Badge shows the number of detected feeds
• Multiple RSS reader support: NewsBlur, Feedly, Inoreader, The Old Reader
• Custom reader support: Add your own RSS reader with a custom URL pattern
• Feed URL display: See the actual feed URL for each detected feed
• Copy to clipboard: One-click copy of feed URLs for easy sharing
• Remembers your preferred RSS reader choice
• Clean, minimal interface with no popup clutter
• Works with all Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Brave, Edge, etc.) using Manifest V3

Installation

From Source (Developer Mode)

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/lqdev/rss-browser-extension.git
   cd rss-browser-extension

2. Open your Chromium-based browser (Chrome, Brave, Edge, etc.) and navigate to chrome://extensions/

3. Enable "Developer mode" using the toggle in the top right corner

4. Click "Load unpacked" and select the rss-browser-extension directory

5. The RSS Feed Detector icon should now appear in your browser toolbar

Usage

1. Browse the web - Visit any website that has RSS or Atom feeds

2. Watch for the indicator - When feeds are detected:

   • The extension icon turns orange
   • A badge appears showing the number of feeds found

3. View feeds - Click the extension icon to open a new tab listing all discovered feeds

4. Choose your reader - Select your preferred RSS reader from the dropdown:

   • NewsBlur (default)
   • Feedly
   • Inoreader
   • The Old Reader
   • Custom Reader (enter your own URL pattern using %s as placeholder)

5. Subscribe - Click any feed link to open your chosen RSS reader with that feed pre-filled

6. Copy feed URL - Click the "Copy URL" button to copy the feed URL to your clipboard for manual subscription or sharing

How It Works

The extension uses three main components:

• Content Script (content.js) - Scans web pages for RSS/Atom feed links
• Background Worker (background.js) - Manages feed cache and icon states
• Feeds Page (feeds.html + feeds.js) - Displays detected feeds with multi-reader support and copy functionality

Feed Detection

The extension looks for feeds in two ways:

1. <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"> or type="application/atom+xml"
2. <a type="application/rss+xml"> or type="application/atom+xml"

Testing

Try visiting these sites known to have RSS feeds:

• TechCrunch
• The Verge
• Ars Technica
• Hacker News
• Any WordPress blog (most have RSS feeds)

Project Structure

rss-browser-extension/
├── manifest.json          # Chrome extension manifest (MV3)
├── background.js          # Service worker for feed management
├── content.js             # Feed detection script
├── feeds.html             # Feed list UI
├── feeds.js               # Feed list renderer
├── icons/
│   ├── icon.svg          # Default icon (gray)
│   ├── icon-active.svg   # Active icon (orange)
│   ├── icon.png          # Default icon PNG
│   └── icon-active.png   # Active icon PNG
├── docs/
│   └── prd.md            # Product Requirements Document
└── README.md

Permissions

This extension requires the following permissions:

• scripting - To inject the content script that detects feeds
• tabs - To get information about the current tab
• storage - To store detected feeds and save your reader preference
• clipboardWrite - To enable copying feed URLs to clipboard
• <all_urls> - To detect feeds on any website

Development

Building Icons

The icons are generated from SVG files:

cd icons
rsvg-convert -w 128 -h 128 icon.svg -o icon.png
rsvg-convert -w 128 -h 128 icon-active.svg -o icon-active.png

Testing Changes

After making changes:

1. Go to chrome://extensions/ (works in all Chromium browsers: Chrome, Brave, Edge, etc.)
2. Click the refresh icon on the RSS Feed Detector card
3. Test on a website with RSS feeds

Future Enhancements

• Firefox support
• Feed preview before subscribing
• Keyboard shortcuts
• OPML export of discovered feeds
• Feed validation and health checks

License

See LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.