Newsboat

Overview

Newsboat is an RSS/Atom feed reader designed for text terminals on Unix-like systems. It serves users preferring keyboard-driven, lightweight console applications for managing news feeds, offering filtering, customization, and integration with external services as a fork of the unmaintained Newsbeuter.¹²³

Key Features

• Keyboard-driven interface - Navigates feeds and articles using keybindings like R for reload, / for search, and Enter for article lists.
• Powerful filter language - Filters feeds and articles by attributes such as age, unread status, or keywords using queries like age < "2" and unread = "yes".
• Customizable configuration - Supports macros, regular expression filters, colorschemes, and keybindings via config files.
• Multiple instances - Runs simultaneous instances with different settings and feeds.
• Shell script execution - Executes shell scripts from within the reader for custom actions.
• Dynamic feeds - Creates virtual feeds combining filters, e.g., unread articles with specific title keywords.
• Feed reloading - Downloads updates for all feeds (Shift+R) or selected feeds (R).

Pricing

Platforms & Requirements

Newsboat runs on text terminals of Unix-like systems including GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, and macOS. It requires compilation from source or package managers, with dependencies like libsqlite3-dev. No native Windows support; limited to terminal environments without GUI.

Integrations & Ecosystem

• The Old Reader
• NewsBlur
• FeedHQ
• Bazqux
• Tiny Tiny RSS
• nextCloud News
• OPML import/export
• Shell scripts

Alternatives

Reputation

Newsboat is regarded as a reliable, feature-rich terminal RSS reader praised for its speed, customizability, and active maintenance over Newsbeuter.¹²⁷ Users value its keyboard efficiency and filter capabilities but note a steep learning curve for configuration and keybindings.²⁷ It holds positive reception in Linux communities for lightweight news consumption without graphical dependencies.¹⁵