Getting Started with RSS Bot

How to install and start using RSS Bot to follow RSS and Atom feeds from your Mac menu bar

What is RSS Bot?

RSS Bot is a lightweight RSS and Atom feed reader that lives in your Mac's menu bar. It monitors your subscribed feeds in the background and notifies you the moment new articles are posted. You can read headlines, open articles in your browser, filter by keyword, and organise feeds into folders -- all without a full app window getting in the way.

Supported Feed Formats

RSS Bot supports both RSS 2.0 and Atom feed formats.

When you first launch RSS Bot, an icon appears in your Mac's menu bar. Click the icon to open the feed panel, which displays your subscribed feeds and their latest articles. A badge count on the menu bar icon shows how many unread articles you have.

Reading Articles

Click the RSS Bot menu bar icon to see your feed list. Each feed displays the source name, the latest article headline, and a badge showing the number of unread articles.

  • Click on an article to open it in your default web browser.
  • Articles can be marked as read or unread manually.
  • If you prefer, you can enable Auto Mark as Read in Settings so articles are automatically marked as read when they appear.

Feed Management

Folders

Organise your feeds into folders to keep related subscriptions grouped together. This is especially helpful if you follow a large number of feeds across different topics.

Mark as Read

You can mark individual articles or entire feeds as read to clear your unread count. The badge on the menu bar icon updates automatically to reflect the current number of unread articles.

Removing Feeds

To remove a feed you no longer want to follow, right-click the feed in your list and select the option to delete it. The feed and its cached articles will be removed.

Default RSS Reader

You can set RSS Bot as your default reader for feed:// URLs. Once configured, clicking any RSS link in your web browser will open it directly in RSS Bot, making it easy to subscribe to new feeds as you discover them.

Tips

  • Set RSS Bot to launch at login so it is always running in the background and ready to notify you of new articles.
  • Organise feeds into folders by category (for example: Tech News, Design, Development) to keep your feed list tidy as it grows.
  • Adjust the update interval in Settings to balance between staying current and conserving system resources. A 15-minute interval works well for most users.