gator

Gator

An RSS feed aggreGATOR in Go! A CLI tool that allows users to:

• Add RSS feeds from across the internet to be collected
• Store the collected posts in a PostgreSQL database
• Follow and unfollow RSS feeds that other users have added
• View summaries of the aggregated posts in the terminal, with a link to the full post

Prerequisites

To use Gator, you need to have the following installed:

• Go (version 1.24 or later): Download and install from golang.org
• PostgreSQL (version 17 or later): Download and install from postgresql.org

Installation

Using go install

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/AlexTLDR/gator.git

# Navigate to the project directory
cd gator

# Install the CLI
go install

After installation, make sure your Go bin directory is in your system PATH. You should now be able to run the gator command from anywhere.

Configuration

Before using Gator, you need to set up a configuration file. Create a file named .gatorconfig.json in your home directory with the following content:

{
  "db_url": "postgres://username:password@localhost:5432/gator?sslmode=disable",
  "current_user_name": ""
}

Replace username and password with your PostgreSQL credentials. You'll need to create a database named gator in PostgreSQL:

CREATE DATABASE gator;

Usage

User Management

# Register a new user
gator register <username>

# Login as an existing user
gator login <username>

# View all registered users
gator users

# Reset (delete all users and their data)
gator reset

Feed Management

# Add a new feed (automatically follows it)
gator addfeed "<feed_name>" "<feed_url>"

# List all feeds in the system
gator feeds

# Follow a feed by URL
gator follow <feed_url>

# Unfollow a feed
gator unfollow <feed_url>

# Show feeds you're following
gator following

Content Aggregation and Browsing

# Start the aggregator (runs continuously)
# Collects posts every 30 seconds
gator agg 30s

# Browse posts from feeds you follow
gator browse       # Show default number of posts
gator browse 10    # Show up to 10 posts

Tips for Using Gator

1. The aggregator (gator agg) runs as a continuous process. You can leave it running in one terminal while using other commands in another terminal.

2. Press Ctrl+C to stop the aggregator.

3. Try these example RSS feeds:

   • TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/feed/
   • Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/rss
   • Boot.dev Blog: https://blog.boot.dev/index.xml

4. The browse command shows the most recent posts from feeds you follow. Use a higher limit to see more posts.

5. If you encounter any issues, check your PostgreSQL connection and make sure the database exists.