Adding 'RSS reader mode' (see main Settings) (#3488)

changedetectionio/blueprint/settings/templates/settings.html

@@ -72,17 +72,24 @@
                         <span class="pure-form-message-inline">Allow access to view watch diff page when password is enabled (Good for sharing the diff page)
                         </span>
                     </div>
-                    <div class="pure-control-group">
-                        {{ render_checkbox_field(form.application.form.rss_hide_muted_watches) }}
-                    </div>
-                    <div class="pure-control-group">
-                        {{ render_field(form.application.form.rss_content_format) }}
-                        <span class="pure-form-message-inline">Love RSS? Does your reader support HTML? Set it here</span>
-                    </div>
                     <div class="pure-control-group">
                         {{ render_checkbox_field(form.application.form.empty_pages_are_a_change) }}
                         <span class="pure-form-message-inline">When a request returns no content, or the HTML does not contain any text, is this considered a change?</span>
                     </div>
+                    <div class="grey-form-border">
+                        <div class="pure-control-group">
+                            {{ render_checkbox_field(form.application.form.rss_hide_muted_watches) }}
+                        </div>
+                        <div class="pure-control-group">
+                            {{ render_field(form.application.form.rss_content_format) }}
+                            <span class="pure-form-message-inline">Love RSS? Does your reader support HTML? Set it here</span>
+                        </div>
+                        <div class="pure-control-group">
+                            {{ render_checkbox_field(form.application.form.rss_reader_mode) }}
+                            <span class="pure-form-message-inline">Transforms RSS/RDF feed watches into beautiful text only</span>
+                        </div>
+                    </div>
+
                 {% if form.requests.proxy %}
                     <div class="pure-control-group inline-radio">
                         {{ render_field(form.requests.form.proxy, class="fetch-backend-proxy") }}

changedetectionio/forms.py

@@ -940,6 +940,10 @@ class globalSettingsApplicationForm(commonSettingsForm):
     strip_ignored_lines = BooleanField('Strip ignored lines')
     rss_hide_muted_watches = BooleanField('Hide muted watches from RSS feed', default=True,
                                       validators=[validators.Optional()])
+
+    rss_reader_mode = BooleanField('RSS reader mode ', default=False,
+                                      validators=[validators.Optional()])
+
     filter_failure_notification_threshold_attempts = IntegerField('Number of times the filter can be missing before sending a notification',
                                                                   render_kw={"style": "width: 5em;"},
                                                                   validators=[validators.NumberRange(min=0,

changedetectionio/model/App.py

@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ class model(dict):
                     'rss_access_token': None,
                     'rss_content_format': RSS_FORMAT_TYPES[0][0],
                     'rss_hide_muted_watches': True,
+                    'rss_reader_mode': False,
                     'schema_version' : 0,
                     'shared_diff_access': False,
                     'strip_ignored_lines': False,

changedetectionio/processors/magic.py

@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ class guess_stream_type():
         # magic will call a rss document 'xml'
         # Rarely do endpoints give the right header, usually just text/xml, so we check also for <rss
         # This also triggers the automatic CDATA text parser so the RSS goes back a nice content list
-        elif '<rss' in test_content_normalized or '<feed' in test_content_normalized or any(s in magic_content_header for s in RSS_XML_CONTENT_TYPES):
+        elif '<rss' in test_content_normalized or '<feed' in test_content_normalized or any(s in magic_content_header for s in RSS_XML_CONTENT_TYPES) or '<rdf:' in test_content_normalized:
             self.is_rss = True
         elif any(s in http_content_header for s in XML_CONTENT_TYPES):
             # Only mark as generic XML if not already detected as RSS

changedetectionio/processors/text_json_diff/processor.py

@@ -228,8 +228,21 @@ class ContentProcessor:
         self.datastore = datastore
 
     def preprocess_rss(self, content):
-        """Convert CDATA/comments in RSS to usable text."""
-        return cdata_in_document_to_text(html_content=content)
+        """
+        Convert CDATA/comments in RSS to usable text.
+
+        Supports two RSS processing modes:
+        - 'default': Inline CDATA replacement (original behavior)
+        - 'formatted': Format RSS items with title, link, guid, pubDate, and description (CDATA unmarked)
+        """
+        from changedetectionio import rss_tools
+        rss_mode = self.datastore.data["settings"]["application"].get("rss_reader_mode")
+        if rss_mode:
+            # Format RSS items nicely with CDATA content unmarked and converted to text
+            return rss_tools.format_rss_items(content)
+        else:
+            # Default: Original inline CDATA replacement
+            return cdata_in_document_to_text(html_content=content)
 
     def preprocess_pdf(self, raw_content):
         """Convert PDF to HTML using external tool."""
@@ -384,6 +397,11 @@ class perform_site_check(difference_detection_processor):
         # RSS preprocessing
         if stream_content_type.is_rss:
             content = content_processor.preprocess_rss(content)
+            if self.datastore.data["settings"]["application"].get("rss_reader_mode"):
+                # Now just becomes regular HTML that can have xpath/CSS applied (first of the set etc)
+                stream_content_type.is_rss = False
+                stream_content_type.is_html = True
+                self.fetcher.content = content
 
         # PDF preprocessing
         if watch.is_pdf or stream_content_type.is_pdf:

changedetectionio/rss_tools.py

@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+"""
+RSS/Atom feed processing tools for changedetection.io
+"""
+
+from loguru import logger
+import re
+
+
+def cdata_in_document_to_text(html_content: str, render_anchor_tag_content=False) -> str:
+    """
+    Process CDATA sections in HTML/XML content - inline replacement.
+
+    Args:
+        html_content: The HTML/XML content to process
+        render_anchor_tag_content: Whether to render anchor tag content
+
+    Returns:
+        Processed HTML/XML content with CDATA sections replaced inline
+    """
+    from xml.sax.saxutils import escape as xml_escape
+    from .html_tools import html_to_text
+
+    pattern = '<!\[CDATA\[(\s*(?:.(?<!\]\]>)\s*)*)\]\]>'
+
+    def repl(m):
+        text = m.group(1)
+        return xml_escape(html_to_text(html_content=text, render_anchor_tag_content=render_anchor_tag_content)).strip()
+
+    return re.sub(pattern, repl, html_content)
+
+
+def format_rss_items(rss_content: str, render_anchor_tag_content=False) -> str:
+    """
+    Format RSS/Atom feed items in a readable text format using feedparser.
+
+    Converts RSS <item> or Atom <entry> elements to formatted text with:
+    - <title> → <h1>Title</h1>
+    - <link> → Link: [url]
+    - <guid> → Guid: [id]
+    - <pubDate> → PubDate: [date]
+    - <description> or <content> → Raw HTML content (CDATA and entities automatically handled)
+
+    Args:
+        rss_content: The RSS/Atom feed content
+        render_anchor_tag_content: Whether to render anchor tag content in descriptions (unused, kept for compatibility)
+
+    Returns:
+        Formatted HTML content ready for html_to_text conversion
+    """
+    try:
+        import feedparser
+        from xml.sax.saxutils import escape as xml_escape
+
+        # Parse the feed - feedparser handles all RSS/Atom variants, CDATA, entity unescaping, etc.
+        feed = feedparser.parse(rss_content)
+
+        formatted_items = []
+
+        # Determine feed type for appropriate labels when fields are missing
+        # feedparser sets feed.version to things like 'rss20', 'atom10', etc.
+        is_atom = feed.version and 'atom' in feed.version
+
+        for entry in feed.entries:
+            item_parts = []
+
+            # Title - feedparser handles CDATA and entity unescaping automatically
+            if hasattr(entry, 'title') and entry.title:
+                item_parts.append(f'<h1>{xml_escape(entry.title)}</h1>')
+
+            # Link
+            if hasattr(entry, 'link') and entry.link:
+                item_parts.append(f'Link: {xml_escape(entry.link)}<br>')
+
+            # GUID/ID
+            if hasattr(entry, 'id') and entry.id:
+                item_parts.append(f'Guid: {xml_escape(entry.id)}<br>')
+
+            # Date - feedparser normalizes all date field names to 'published'
+            if hasattr(entry, 'published') and entry.published:
+                item_parts.append(f'PubDate: {xml_escape(entry.published)}<br>')
+
+            # Description/Content - feedparser handles CDATA and entity unescaping automatically
+            # Only add "Summary:" label for Atom <summary> tags
+            content = None
+            add_label = False
+
+            if hasattr(entry, 'content') and entry.content:
+                # Atom <content> - no label, just content
+                content = entry.content[0].value if entry.content[0].value else None
+            elif hasattr(entry, 'summary'):
+                # Could be RSS <description> or Atom <summary>
+                # feedparser maps both to entry.summary
+                content = entry.summary if entry.summary else None
+                # Only add "Summary:" label for Atom feeds (which use <summary> tag)
+                if is_atom:
+                    add_label = True
+
+            # Add content with or without label
+            if content:
+                if add_label:
+                    item_parts.append(f'Summary:<br>{content}')
+                else:
+                    item_parts.append(content)
+            else:
+                # No content - just show <none>
+                item_parts.append('&lt;none&gt;')
+
+            # Join all parts of this item
+            if item_parts:
+                formatted_items.append('\n'.join(item_parts))
+
+        # Wrap each item in a div with classes (first, last, item-N)
+        items_html = []
+        total_items = len(formatted_items)
+        for idx, item in enumerate(formatted_items):
+            classes = ['rss-item']
+            if idx == 0:
+                classes.append('first')
+            if idx == total_items - 1:
+                classes.append('last')
+            classes.append(f'item-{idx + 1}')
+
+            class_str = ' '.join(classes)
+            items_html.append(f'<div class="{class_str}">{item}</div>')
+        return '<html><body>\n'+"\n<br><br>".join(items_html)+'\n</body></html>'
+
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.warning(f"Error formatting RSS items: {str(e)}")
+        # Fall back to original content
+        return rss_content

changedetectionio/static/styles/scss/styles.scss

@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ label {
  }  
 }
 
-#notification-customisation {
+.grey-form-border {
   border: 1px solid var(--color-border-notification);
   padding: 0.5rem;
   border-radius: 5px;

changedetectionio/templates/_common_fields.html

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
                                 <div id="notification-test-log" style="display: none;"><span class="pure-form-message-inline">Processing..</span></div>
                             </div>
                         </div>
-                        <div id="notification-customisation" class="pure-control-group">
+                        <div class="pure-control-group grey-form-border">
                             <div class="pure-control-group">
                                 {{ render_field(form.notification_title, class="m-d notification-title", placeholder=settings_application['notification_title']) }}
                                 <span class="pure-form-message-inline">Title for all notifications</span>

changedetectionio/tests/test_rss_reader_mode.py

@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import time
+from flask import url_for
+from .util import set_original_response, set_modified_response, live_server_setup, wait_for_all_checks, extract_rss_token_from_UI, \
+    extract_UUID_from_client, delete_all_watches
+
+
+def set_original_cdata_xml():
+    test_return_data = """<rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0">
+<channel>
+<title>Security Bulletins on wetscale</title>
+<link>https://wetscale.com/security-bulletins/</link>
+<description>Recent security bulletins from wetscale</description>
+<lastBuildDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 14:58:11 GMT</lastBuildDate>
+<docs>https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html</docs>
+<generator>wetscale.com</generator>
+<language>en-US</language>
+<copyright>© 2025 wetscale Inc. All rights reserved.</copyright>
+<atom:link href="https://wetscale.com/security-bulletins/index.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
+<item>
+<title>TS-2025-005</title>
+<link>https://wetscale.com/security-bulletins/#ts-2025-005</link>
+<guid>https://wetscale.com/security-bulletins/#ts-2025-005</guid>
+<pubDate>Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
+<description><p>Wet noodles escape<br><p>they also found themselves outside</p> </description>
+</item>
+
+
+<item>
+<title>TS-2025-004</title>
+<link>https://wetscale.com/security-bulletins/#ts-2025-004</link>
+<guid>https://wetscale.com/security-bulletins/#ts-2025-004</guid>
+<pubDate>Tue, 27 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
+<description>
+    <![CDATA[ <img class="type:primaryImage" src="https://testsite.com/701c981da04869e.jpg"/><p>The days of Terminator and The Matrix could be closer. But be positive.</p><p><a href="https://testsite.com">Read more link...</a></p> ]]>
+</description>
+</item>
+    </channel>
+    </rss>
+            """
+
+    with open("test-datastore/endpoint-content.txt", "w") as f:
+        f.write(test_return_data)
+
+
+
+def test_rss_reader_mode(client, live_server, measure_memory_usage):
+    set_original_cdata_xml()
+
+    # Rarely do endpoints give the right header, usually just text/xml, so we check also for <rss
+    # This also triggers the automatic CDATA text parser so the RSS goes back a nice content list
+    test_url = url_for('test_endpoint', content_type="text/xml; charset=UTF-8", _external=True)
+    live_server.app.config['DATASTORE'].data['settings']['application']['rss_reader_mode'] = True
+
+
+    # Add our URL to the import page
+    uuid = client.application.config.get('DATASTORE').add_watch(url=test_url)
+    client.get(url_for("ui.form_watch_checknow"), follow_redirects=True)
+
+    wait_for_all_checks(client)
+
+
+    watch = live_server.app.config['DATASTORE'].data['watching'][uuid]
+    dates = list(watch.history.keys())
+    snapshot_contents = watch.get_history_snapshot(dates[0])
+    assert 'Wet noodles escape' in snapshot_contents
+    assert '<br>' not in snapshot_contents
+    assert '&lt;' not in snapshot_contents
+    assert 'The days of Terminator and The Matrix' in snapshot_contents
+    assert 'PubDate: Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT' in snapshot_contents
+    delete_all_watches(client)
+
+def test_rss_reader_mode_with_css_filters(client, live_server, measure_memory_usage):
+    set_original_cdata_xml()
+
+    # Rarely do endpoints give the right header, usually just text/xml, so we check also for <rss
+    # This also triggers the automatic CDATA text parser so the RSS goes back a nice content list
+    test_url = url_for('test_endpoint', content_type="text/xml; charset=UTF-8", _external=True)
+    live_server.app.config['DATASTORE'].data['settings']['application']['rss_reader_mode'] = True
+
+
+    # Add our URL to the import page
+    uuid = client.application.config.get('DATASTORE').add_watch(url=test_url, extras={'include_filters': [".last"]})
+    client.get(url_for("ui.form_watch_checknow"), follow_redirects=True)
+
+    wait_for_all_checks(client)
+
+
+    watch = live_server.app.config['DATASTORE'].data['watching'][uuid]
+    dates = list(watch.history.keys())
+    snapshot_contents = watch.get_history_snapshot(dates[0])
+    assert 'Wet noodles escape' not in snapshot_contents
+    assert '<br>' not in snapshot_contents
+    assert '&lt;' not in snapshot_contents
+    assert 'The days of Terminator and The Matrix' in snapshot_contents
+    delete_all_watches(client)
+

requirements.txt

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # eventlet>=0.38.0  # Removed - replaced with threading mode for better Python 3.12+ compatibility
 feedgen~=0.9
+feedparser~=6.0  # For parsing RSS/Atom feeds
 flask-compress
 # 0.6.3 included compatibility fix for werkzeug 3.x (2.x had deprecation of url handlers)
 flask-login>=0.6.3