rss-git

Github’s gone to shit, let’s use a normal rss feed to cheaply federate git related (social) activity!

Structure

Let’s repurpose the de-facto format of standard RSS feeds for something that can be displayed reasonably in any RSS reader, but which can also be used to build useful tooling around.

Top-level feed information

<title> whatever you want to name this activity feed e.g. “cblgh’s fav computer projects” or “my project feed”
<link> link to where your own repositories can be found, or your personal homepage
<description> an optional description for this activity feed “here’s where i list all the cool things i’ve come across while browsing fediverse. mostly it’s projects made by friends :)”

Entry information

<title>, contains the following format depending on the activity that happened:
- fav: <project name>
- create: <project name>
- fork: <project name>
- follow: <feed title or username>
- move: <project name>
<link> links to the git repository in question
- in the case of follow the link will be to another rss-git feed!
<description> contains an optional project description
<pubDate> is the date of the activity taking place (when it was fav’d, when a repo was created)
<source> the original source of the repository if possible to discern (otherwise often same as <link>; see Examples below)
- only relevant for fork and move
<guid> an optional rss field that can help rss readers. if handwriting the feed, pick a number you haven’t used yet. if generating a feed, take the <pubDate> and express it in unix time (milliseconds since 1970 jan 1)

rss-git feeds are recommended to limit the amount of entries to the latest 250, but go nuts if you want to keep it unlimited i guess :)

fork and move are basically identical but have different semantics:

for a fork the original may still persist and be updated,
for a moved repo the original is to be regarded as obsolete

Example

fav

I favourite github.com/cabal-club/cabal-cli, my rss-git feed entry for that would be:

<item>
    <title>fav: cabal-cli</title>
    <link>https://github.com/cabal-club/cabal-cli.git</link>
    <guid>1683377178000</guid>
    <description>(optional project description)</description>
    <pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</pubDate>
</item>

Note: The title starts with the action (fav) followed by the project name, and the link is directly to the git repository.

create

The repository https://github.com/cabal-club/cable-core.js.git is created.

<item>
    <title>create: cable-core.js</title>
    <link>https://github.com/cabal-club/cable-core.js.git</link>
    <guid>1683377178000</guid>
    <description>(optional project description)</description>
    <pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</pubDate>
</item>

fork

The user slatian, over at codeberg, forks the repository at https://github.com/cblgh/lieu.git to https://codeberg.org/slatian/lieu.devel-fork.git

Actions relating to the forked repo should reference the fork by setting the source: <source>https://codeberg.org/slatian/lieu.devel-fork.git</source>

<item>
    <title>fork: lieu</title>
    <link>https://codeberg.org/slatian/lieu.devel-fork.git</link>
    <source>https://github.com/cblgh/lieu.git</source>
    <guid>1683377178000</guid>
    <description>(optional project description)</description>
    <pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</pubDate>
</item>

Note: link contains the url that a repository has been forked to (not the source)

move

The repository https://github.com/slatian/lieu.git is moved to https://codeberg.org/slatian/lieu.devel-fork.git. The github source is now regarded as obsolete.

Future actions relating to the repo should use the new location as the source <source>https://codeberg.org/slatian/lieu.devel-fork.git</source>.

<item>
    <title>move: lieu</title>
    <link>https://codeberg.org/slatian/lieu.devel-fork.git</link>
    <source>https://github.com/slatian/lieu/</source>
    <guid>1683377178000</guid>
    <description>(optional project description)</description>
    <pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</pubDate>
</item>

Note: link contains the url that a repository has been moved to (not the source)

follow

<item>
    <title>follow: cblgh</title>
    <link>https://cblgh.org/rss-git.xml</link>
    <guid>1683377178000</guid>
    <description>(optional description taken verbatim from the followed feed's description)</description>
    <pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</pubDate>
</item>

Note: link contains the url to another git-rss feed!

Atom structure

Since some people prefer atom, and most RSS readers handle both atom & rss, here’s the equivalent fields for atom feeds!

the wrapping container is <entry> instead of rss’s <item>
<title> remains the same as for rss
<link> remains the same as for rss
<updated> is used instead of rss’s <pubDate>
<summary> is used instead of rss’s <description>
<id> is an atom required unique ID; this could be the timestamp from <update> expressed in unix time (milliseconds since 1970 jan 1)

Atom Examples

fav

<entry>
    <title>fav: cabal-cli</title>
    <link>https://github.com/cabal-club/cabal-cli.git</link>
    <id>1683377178000</id>
    <summary>(optional project description)</summary>
    <updated>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</updated>
</entry>

Note: The title starts with the action (fav) followed by the project name, and the link is directly to the git repository.

create

<entry>
    <title>create: cable-core.js</title>
    <link>https://github.com/cabal-club/cable-core.js.git</link>
    <id>1683377178000</id>
    <summary>(optional project description)</summary>
    <updated>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</updated>
</entry>

fork

<entry>
    <title>fork: lieu</title>
    <link>https://codeberg.org/slatian/lieu.devel-fork.git</link>
    <source>https://github.com/cblgh/lieu.git</source>
    <id>1683377178000</id>
    <summary>(optional project description)</summary>
    <updated>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</updated>
</entry>

move

<entry>
    <title>move: lieu</title>
    <link>https://codeberg.org/slatian/lieu.devel-fork.git</link>
    <source>https://github.com/slatian/lieu/</source>
    <id>1683377178000</id>
    <summary>(optional project description)</summary>
    <updated>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</updated>
</entry>

follow

<entry>
    <title>follow: cblgh</title>
    <link>https://cblgh.org/rss-git.xml</link>
    <id>1683377178000</id>
    <summary>(optional description taken verbatim from the followed feed's description)</summary>
    <updated>Fri, 06 May 2023 13:46:18 +0100</updated>
</entry>

Usage

The underlying structure can be used in many different ways:

When you find a repo you like, put it into your list of favourites and generate a rss-git feed from that list
Create a simple link aggregation site that lets users keep track of favourited / created repositories with a very clear right to exit (just bring your feed with you!)
Existing git frontends could be augmented to output rss feeds following the semantics defined above

Whatever way you want to create a git activity feed, whether it’s by hand through your static site generator, your own tool or whatever: go for it! :)