rssss

A native macOS RSS reader built with SwiftUI + Core Data.

Requirements

• macOS 14+
• Xcode 17+ (includes Swift 6.2 toolchain used by Package.swift)

Quick Start

1. Open the project in Xcode:
   • open /Users/hans/Documents/programming/swift/rssss/rssss.xcodeproj
2. Select scheme rssss.
3. Run (Cmd+R).

Command-line Test Run

From the repo root:

xcodebuild -scheme rssss -destination 'platform=macOS' test

This is the most reliable command here; swift test can fail in restricted environments because SwiftPM writes outside the workspace cache.

Project Layout

• Package.swift: SwiftPM package definition (app target + tests + FeedKit dependency).
• project.yml: XcodeGen spec for generating rssss.xcodeproj.
• rssss.xcodeproj: checked-in Xcode project.
• rssss/Info.plist: app metadata.
• Sources/rssss/: application source code.
• Tests/rssssTests/: unit tests.

Architecture Overview

App entry and dependency wiring

• Sources/rssss/rssss.swift
  • App entry point (@main).
  • Creates and injects:
    • PersistenceController (Core Data stack)
    • FeedStore (network + parsing + persistence mutations)
    • RefreshSettingsStore (UserDefaults-backed settings)
    • AutoRefreshController (foreground timer + background scheduler)

Data layer

• Sources/rssss/Models.swift

  • Programmatic Core Data model (no .xcdatamodeld).
  • Entities:
    • Feed: URL, title, favicon URL, last refresh timestamp, ordering index.
    • FeedItem: guid/link/title/summary/pubDate/read state/createdAt.
  • Uniqueness: Feed.url is constrained unique.

• Sources/rssss/Persistence.swift

  • Builds NSPersistentContainer using the programmatic model.
  • Enables automatic lightweight migration.
  • Exposes markItemsRead(objectIDs:) for batched background updates.

Feed ingestion and refresh

• Sources/rssss/FeedStore.swift
  • Adds/deletes feeds.
  • Enforces HTTPS-only feed URLs.
  • Fetches feed XML/JSON with retry/backoff for transient URL errors.
  • Parses RSS/Atom/JSON feed formats via FeedKit.
  • Deduplicates new items (Deduper) and writes updates in a background context.
  • Supports markAllRead through NSBatchUpdateRequest.

Scheduling and settings

• Sources/rssss/AutoRefreshController.swift

  • Foreground refresh: Timer.
  • Background refresh: NSBackgroundActivityScheduler.
  • Both use the same interval from settings.

• Sources/rssss/RefreshSettings.swift

  • User defaults keys:
    • refreshIntervalMinutes (clamped 1...60, default 5)
    • showLastRefresh (default true)

UI layer

• Sources/rssss/Views/ContentView.swift

  • Main split layout: sidebar + detail pane.
  • Handles feed selection, add/delete actions, refresh, and mark-all-read.

• Sources/rssss/FetchedControllers.swift

  • NSFetchedResultsController wrappers that publish:
    • feed list
    • per-feed unread counts
    • items for selected feed

• Sources/rssss/Views/FeedItemsView.swift

  • Item list rendering.
  • Keyboard navigation (j/k, arrow keys, o to open in in-app preview).
  • Read-tracking integration as items scroll past.

• Sources/rssss/Views/WebPreviewPaneView.swift

  • Embedded webpage preview pane (WKWebView) for item links.
  • Includes explicit Open in Browser action in the preview header.

• Sources/rssss/ReadTracking.swift

  • Determines which item rows are past viewport top.
  • Batches delayed mark-read updates.

Dependencies

• FeedKit (declared in Package.swift and project.yml)

Re-generating Xcode Project (Optional)

If you use XcodeGen, regenerate the project from project.yml:

xcodegen generate

Then reopen rssss.xcodeproj.

Notes for Contributors

• Tests are in Tests/rssssTests/rssssTests.swift and cover data model behavior, refresh/settings logic, and view logic helpers.
• The Core Data schema is code-defined in Sources/rssss/Models.swift; schema changes should be made there.