Blog Aggregator

A TypeScript CLI tool that aggregates RSS feeds, allowing users to add, follow, and manage feeds while storing posts in a PostgreSQL database.

The name comes from aggreGATOR! 🐊

Table of Contents

• Features
• Requirements
• Installation
• Commands Reference
• Getting Started
• Example Workflow

Features

• Add RSS feeds and store collected posts in a database
• Follow/unfollow feeds from other users
• Multi-user support with authentication
• Browse other users' feeds and aggregated content
• Continuous feed refreshing with customizable intervals

Requirements

Before running Gator, ensure you have:

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• npm (v6 or higher)
• PostgreSQL (v12 or higher)

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/Gator.git
cd Gator

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Set up PostgreSQL

Make sure PostgreSQL is running and create the database:

createdb gator

4. Run migrations

npm run migrate

This will create all required tables automatically.

5. Launch Gator

npm start

Commands Reference

User Authentication

Command	Description	Example
register <username>	Register a new user	npm run start register john
login <username>	Login as an existing user	npm run start login john
reset	Delete your account and all associated data	npm run start reset

User Management

Command	Description	Example
users	List all registered users	npm run start users
follow <feed-url>	Follow a specific RSS feed	npm run start follow https://hnrss.org/newest
following	List feeds you are currently following	npm run start following
unfollow <feed-url>	Unfollow a feed	npm run start unfollow https://hnrss.org/newest

Feed Management

Command	Description	Example
addfeed <name> <url>	Add a new RSS feed (must be logged in)	npm run start addfeed "Hacker News" "https://hnrss.org/newest"
feeds	List your added feeds	npm run start feeds
browse	Browse feeds you follow	npm run start browse

Aggregated Posts

Command	Description	Example
agg	Show aggregated posts from your feeds	npm run start agg
agg <interval>	Auto-refresh posts every X seconds	npm run start agg 10s

Getting Started

This guide will walk you through the full workflow of using Gator.

1. Launch the CLI

npm start

You are now in the Gator CLI environment.

2. Create an Account

npm run start register username

3. Log In

npm run start login username

4. Add Your First Feed

npm run start addfeed "Feed Name" "Feed URL "

5. View Your Feeds

npm run start feeds

6. Check Aggregated Posts

npm run start agg

7. Auto-Refresh Posts

npm run start agg 10s

Posts will refresh automatically every 10 seconds. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Example Full Workflow

# Start Gator
npm start

# Create and login to your account
npm run start register afaf
npm run start login afaf

# Add some feeds
npm run start addfeed "Hacker News" "https://hnrss.org/newest"
npm run start addfeed "TechCrunch" "http://feeds.feedburner.com/TechCrunch"
npm run start addfeed "CSS Tricks" "https://css-tricks.com/feed/"

# View your feeds
npm run start feeds

# See what's new
npm run start agg

# Auto-refresh every 30 seconds
npm run start agg 30s

# Check other users
npm run start users

# Follow a specific feed
npm run start follow https://hnrss.org/newest 

# Browse feeds you follow
npm run start browse

# Unfollow a feed
npm run start unfollow https://hnrss.org/newest

Database Schema

The application automatically creates the following tables:

• users - Store user information
• feeds - Store RSS feed information
• feed_follows - Track user-feed relationships
• posts - Store aggregated posts from feeds

Acknowledgments

• Built with TypeScript and Node.js
• PostgreSQL for data persistence
• RSS parsing for feed aggregation

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Happy feed aggregating! 🐊