RSS-Bridge

RSS‑Bridge is a lightweight, self‑hosted PHP web application that fabricates RSS/Atom feeds for sites lacking native syndication. It operates by executing a set of bridges—modular scripts that scrape or consume content from third‑party APIs and output a standardized feed format. From a developer standpoint, RSS‑Bridge is essentially an extensible scraper framework that can be dropped into any PHP‑capable web server (Apache, Nginx, or even a simple CGI environment) with minimal prerequisites: PHP 7.4+ and the standard extensions that ship with a typical LAMP stack.

The core of RSS‑Bridge is written in pure PHP and follows a straightforward MVC‑like pattern. Incoming HTTP requests are routed through index.php, which parses query parameters (?bridge=YouTubeBridge&author=xyz) and delegates to the corresponding bridge class. Bridges themselves inherit from an abstract BridgeAbstract base, which defines methods for data fetching (getItems()), caching (setCacheDuration()), and feed rendering. The application does not rely on a database; instead, it uses file‑based caching (via PHP’s APCu or filesystem) to reduce load on target sites. This stateless design makes it trivial to deploy behind a reverse proxy or within a Docker container, as the only persistent requirement is a writable cache directory.

• Bridge API: Each bridge exposes a clean interface (getName(), collectData()) that can be invoked programmatically. Developers can instantiate a bridge, call getItems(), and receive an array of feed items without needing to parse HTML themselves.
• Parameterization: Bridges accept a wide range of query parameters (e.g., search, category, maxitems) that are validated against a bridge‑specific schema. This allows fine‑grained control over the content pulled from external sources.
• Feed Generation: RSS‑Bridge supports multiple output formats—RSS 2.0, Atom 1.0, JSON‑Feed—selected via the output query parameter. The rendering engine is extensible; adding a new format requires implementing the corresponding FeedRenderer interface.
• Caching & Rate‑Limiting: Built‑in cache policies prevent overloading target sites. Developers can override cache durations per bridge or globally via configuration files.
• Error Handling & Logging: The framework logs errors to a configurable log file, enabling monitoring and debugging in production.

Because RSS‑Bridge is a pure PHP application with no external dependencies, it scales horizontally by simply adding more web workers behind a load balancer. Docker images are available on Docker Hub (rssbridge/rss-bridge), making it trivial to spin up instances in Kubernetes or serverless environments. The only infrastructure requirement is a writable cache directory; all other state is stored in memory or files, allowing stateless scaling. For high‑traffic deployments, developers can integrate a CDN or reverse proxy to cache the generated feeds at edge locations.

The bridge system is designed for extensibility. Adding a new source involves creating a PHP class that extends BridgeAbstract, implementing the data extraction logic (via cURL, Guzzle, or API clients). The bridge is then automatically discoverable by the router. Developers can also hook into pre‑ or post‑processing stages via event listeners, enabling custom transformations (e.g., filtering, content sanitization). RSS‑Bridge exposes a small HTTP API that can be consumed by other services: you can programmatically request ?bridge=RedditBridge&subreddit=r/programming and receive a ready‑to‑use feed. Webhooks are not built‑in, but the stateless nature of the application makes it easy to wrap RSS‑Bridge endpoints with external webhook services if needed.

• Configuration: A single config.php file allows toggling caching, logging, and default output formats. Advanced users can override settings per bridge via a bridges/bridgeName.php configuration file.
• Documentation: The project hosts comprehensive docs on GitHub Pages, including a bridge reference, API usage guide, and troubleshooting section. Inline PHPDoc comments aid IDE autocompletion.
• Community: The IRC channel (#rssbridge) and GitHub issue tracker foster active collaboration. Many community‑written bridges exist, covering a wide array of platforms (YouTube, Reddit, Mastodon, TikTok, etc.), demonstrating the framework’s versatility.
• Licensing: Distributed under the UNLICENSE (public domain), RSS‑Bridge imposes no restrictions on commercial use, making it attractive for enterprise deployments.

• Custom News Aggregators: Build a niche feed that pulls content from multiple non‑RSS sites (e.g., a sports blog aggregator) and serves it to readers via standard RSS clients.
• Micro‑services: Expose a lightweight feed endpoint from an existing PHP application without adding heavy dependencies.
• Testing & Development: Simulate RSS feeds for third‑party services that lack native support, enabling integration testing of feed consumers.
• Self‑Hosted Content Delivery: Deploy on a private server to avoid reliance on external bridge services, ensuring data privacy and compliance with internal policies.

RSS‑Bridge offers unparalleled flexibility for developers who need to expose feeds from arbitrary web sources. Its stateless PHP architecture, combined with a plugin‑style bridge system, eliminates the need for complex scraping frameworks or database layers. The open‑source nature and permiss