Supported Protocols Tiny Tiny RSS

Table of Contents

About

Supported since
0.2.0
Base URL
/tt-rss/
API endpoint
/tt-rss/api
Specifications
Main, search syntax, FeedReader extensions, News+ extension

The Arsse supports not only the Tiny Tiny RSS protocol, but also extensions required by the FeedReader client and the more commonly supported getCompactHeadlines extension.

It allows organizing newsfeeds into nested folders, and supports an odd patchwork subset of Tiny Tiny RSS’ full capabilities. The FeedReader extensions round out the protocol with significantly more features. Unlike with TT-RSS itself, API access is always enabled with The Arsse.

Missing features

The Arsse does not currently support the entire protocol. Notably missing features include manipulation of the special “Published” newsfeed, as well as searching. The full list of missing features is as follows:

  • The shareToPublished operation is not implemented; it returns UNKNOWN_METHOD
  • Setting an article’s “published” flag with the updateArticle operation is not implemented and will gracefully fail
  • The sanitize, force_update, and has_sandbox parameters of the getHeadlines operation are ignored
  • String feed_id values for the getCompactHeadlines operation are not supported and will yield an INCORRECT_USAGE error
  • Articles are limited to a single attachment rather than multiple attachments
  • The getPref operation is not implemented; it returns UNKNOWN_METHOD

Differences

  • Input that cannot be parsed as JSON normally returns a NOT_LOGGED_IN error; The Arsse returns a non-standard MALFORMED_INPUT error instead
  • Feed, category, and label names are normally unrestricted; The Arsse rejects empty strings, as well as strings composed solely of whitespace
  • Discovering multiple feeds during subscribeToFeed processing normally produces an error; The Arsse instead chooses the first feed it finds
  • Providing the setArticleLabel operation with an invalid label normally silently fails; The Arsse returns an INVALID_USAGE error instead
  • Processing of the search parameter of the getHeadlines operation differs in the following ways:
    • Values other than "true" or "false" for the unread, star, and pub special keywords treat the entire token as a search term rather than as "false"
    • Invalid dates are ignored rather than assumed to be "1970-01-01"
    • Specifying multiple non-negative dates usually returns no results as articles must match all specified dates simultaneously; The Arsse instead returns articles matching any of the specified dates
    • Dates are always relative to UTC
    • Full-text search is not yet employed with any database, including PostgreSQL
  • Article hashes are normally SHA1; The Arsse uses SHA256 hashes
  • Article attachments normally have unique IDs; The Arsse always gives attachments an ID of "0"
  • The getCounters operation normally omits members with zero unread; The Arsse includes everything to appease some clients

Other notes

  • TT-RSS accepts base64-encoded passwords, though this is undocumented; The Arsse accepts base64-encoded passwords as well
  • TT-RSS sometimes returns an incorrect count from the setArticleLabel operation; The Arsse returns a correct count in all cases
  • TT-RSS sometimes returns out-of-date cached information; The Arsse does not use caches as TT-RSS does, so information is always current
  • TT-RSS returns results for feed ID -3 when providing the getHeadlines operation with category ID -3; The Arsse retuns the correct results
  • The protocol doucmentation advises not to use limit or skip together with unread_only for the getFeeds operation as it produces unpredictable results; The Arsse produces predictable results by first retrieving all unread feeds and then applying skip and limit
  • The protocol documentation on values for the view_mode parameter of the getHeadlines operation is out of date; The Arsse matches the actual implementation and supports the undocumented published and has_note values exposed by the Web user interface
  • The protocol documentation makes mention of a search_mode parameter for the getHeadlines operation, but this seems to be ignored; The Arsse does not implement it
  • The protocol documentation makes mention of an output_mode parameter for the getCounters operation, but this seems to be ignored; The Arsse does not implement it
  • The documentation for the getCompactHeadlines operation states the default value for limit is 20, but the reference implementation defaults to unlimited; The Arsse also defaults to unlimited
  • It is assumed TT-RSS exposes other undocumented behaviour; unless otherwise noted The Arsse only implements documented behaviour

Interaction with HTTP authentication

Tiny Tiny RSS itself is unaware of HTTP authentication: if HTTP authentication is used in the server configuration, it has no effect on authentication in the API. The Arsse, however, makes use of HTTP authentication for Nextcloud News, and can do so for TT-RSS as well. In a default configuration The Arsse functions in the same way as TT-RSS: HTTP authentication and API authentication are completely separate and independent. Alternative behaviour is summarized below:

  • With default settings:
    • Clients may optionally provide HTTP credentials
    • API authentication proceeds as normal
    • All feed icons are visible to unauthenticated clients
    • Analogous to multi-user mode
  • If the userHTTPAuthRequired setting is true:
    • Clients must pass HTTP authentication
    • API authentication proceeds as normal
    • Feed icons are visible only to their owners
    • Analoguous to multi-user mode with additional HTTP authentication
  • If the userSessionEnforced setting is false:
    • Clients may optionally provide HTTP credentials
    • If HTTP authentication succeeded API authentication is skipped: tokens are issued upon login, but ignored for HTTP-authenticated requests
    • All feed icons are visible to unauthenticated clients
    • Analogous to single-user mode if using HTTP authentication, and to multi-user mode otherwise
  • If the userHTTPAuthRequired setting is true and the userSessionEnforced setting is false:
    • Clients must pass HTTP authentication
    • API authentication is skipped: tokens are issued upon login, but thereafter ignored
    • Feed icons are visible only to their owners
    • Analogous to single-user mode
  • If the userPreAuth setting is true:
    • The Web server asserts HTTP authentication was successful
    • API authentication only checks that HTTP and API user names match
    • Feed icons are visible only to their owners
    • Analoguous to multi-user mode with additional HTTP authentication
  • If the userPreAuth setting is true and the userSessionEnforced setting is false:
    • The Web server asserts HTTP authentication was successful
    • API authentication is skipped: tokens are issued upon login, but thereafter ignored
    • Feed icons are visible only to their owners
    • Analogous to single-user mode

In all cases, supplying invalid HTTP credentials will result in a 401 response.