freshrss-reader

freshrss-reader pulls headlines and articles from a self hosted freshrss instance through the google reader compatible api, with filters for category, time window, and count, plus commands to list feeds and categories. Setup is the main cost: three environment values are needed, the instance url, a user name, and a separate api password generated in the profile settings, which is not the same as the login password. The skill reads only. It does not mark items as read, subscribe to new feeds, or write anything back.

Use case: checking the morning feeds from chat

This skill queries a self hosted feed reader and returns headlines. It can filter by category, by a recent time window, by whether an item has been read, and by how many results to return, which makes it a compact news check from a conversation. ## What it does - Returns the latest headlines with a chosen count. - Filters to a recent window measured in hours. - Filters by category and can exclude items already read. - Lists categories so the exact names can be found. - Lists the configured feeds. ## When it is the wrong choice It reads a service you host, so it fails whenever that instance is unreachable, and it needs three values configured before anything works: the instance address, a user name and a separate api password. That password is not the login password and is issued from the reader's own settings, which catches people out on first setup. Category filters are matched exactly and are case sensitive, so a near miss returns an empty list rather than an error, which reads like silence instead of a mistake. The output is a headline with a link and its categories, so anything wanting the article text has to fetch it separately. Unread state is whatever the reader last recorded, so clearing items elsewhere quietly changes what a query here returns. ```bash scripts/freshrss.sh categories scripts/freshrss.sh headlines ``` ## Working notes - The api password is separate from the account password. - Category matching is case sensitive and exact. - The default number of headlines is twenty.