FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

General questions about CyberFeeds features, configuration, and troubleshooting.

---

General

What is CyberFeeds?

CyberFeeds is a free, open-source RSS/Atom feed reader for Windows. It allows you to subscribe to feeds, read articles, manage your reading flow, and get notifications for new articles.

Is CyberFeeds free?

Yes. CyberFeeds is completely free and open source under the GPLv3 license. There are no paid features, ads, or tracking. You can help keep it free here.

What platforms are supported?

CyberFeeds is built with Electron and primarily targets Windows. macOS and Linux builds are possible but the primary focus is Windows.

Does CyberFeeds work offline?

Yes. CyberFeeds stores all data locally and can read cached articles offline. Feed fetching, full-content extraction, translation, and YouTube playback require an internet connection.

---

Feeds

What feed formats are supported?

• RSS 0.9x, 1.0, 2.0
• Atom 1.0
• XML feeds with automatic detection

Can I subscribe to Reddit?

Yes. Enter r/subreddit or u/username in the Add Feed dialog. CyberFeeds uses a fallback chain (RSS → JSON API) for reliable Reddit integration.

Can I subscribe to YouTube channels?

Yes. Paste a YouTube channel, playlist, or video URL (for example, youtube.com/@ChannelName) into the Add Feed dialog. CyberFeeds resolves it to the RSS feed and lets you play video articles inside the reader; no browser extensions or manual channel ID lookups are needed. See YouTube Channels for details.

Can I choose whether YouTube videos open in CyberFeeds or in my web browser?

Yes. In Settings → Reading Preferences, toggle Play YouTube videos in-app. When enabled, clicking the play button on an article thumbnail plays the video directly inside the article viewer (starting paused to avoid sudden sound). When disabled, clicking it launches the video directly in your default web browser.

How do I import feeds from another reader?

1. Export an OPML file from your old reader
2. In CyberFeeds: Settings → Data → Import OPML
3. All feeds and folders are imported

What is Feeds Doctor?

Feeds Doctor diagnoses feed issues like broken URLs, redirect problems, and SSL errors. Open it from the sidebar or Settings → Maintenance, then start a scan.

Can I organize feeds into folders?

Yes. Create folders via Add Folder, then drag feeds into them.

---

Articles

How does full-content extraction work?

CyberFeeds fetches the article URL and extracts the main content using a worker thread. This provides clean, readable text even for feeds that only publish summaries. YouTube articles use their feed metadata and do not need full-page extraction.

Can I search or translate selected text?

Yes. Select text in the article viewer (including article titles starting smoothly from the very first character) to open the floating toolbar, then choose Search, Copy, or Translate. The toolbar can be disabled in Settings → General.

Can I star articles for later?

Yes. Click the star icon in the article viewer. Starred articles are preserved and can be filtered.

What happens to deleted articles?

Deleted articles go to trash and stay there for 30 days before auto-purge. You can restore them from trash within that period.

How do I mark all articles as read?

Right-click a feed → Mark all read. Or use the Mark all read button in the toolbar.

Can I search articles?

Yes. Use the search field in the article list. With Instant search enabled, results update while typing; otherwise press Enter to run the search. Search covers article titles, summaries, and full content.

---

Notifications

How do notifications work?

When new articles arrive, a custom notification window appears. You can click to open the article or dismiss the notification.

Why is notification history fast and responsive even with thousands of items?

CyberFeeds uses progressive batch rendering via IntersectionObserver, loading 50 to 80 cards at a time as you scroll instead of mounting thousands of DOM elements and active tooltips at once. In addition, real-time incoming notification events are throttled with 500ms batching, preventing UI freezing or high CPU/memory spikes.

Can I mute specific feeds?

Yes. Go to Settings → Notifications → Feed filters to mute specific feeds. The number of muted feeds is displayed in a dedicated badge in the section header.

What are keyword filters?

Keyword filters only notify you about articles containing specific words. Add keywords in Settings → Notifications.

What is snooze?

Snooze temporarily suppresses all notifications for a set duration. Useful for meetings or focused work.

Can notifications appear during fullscreen apps?

By default, notifications are suppressed during fullscreen applications (games, videos, presentations). You can configure this in settings.

---

Customization

What themes are available?

• CyberFeeds (default)
• White
• Purple
• Blue
• Gray
• Yellow

Can I change the layout?

Yes. Choose from 3-panel, 2-panel, 1-panel, or horizontal-split layouts in Settings.

Does CyberFeeds remember which monitor it was open on in multi-monitor setups?

Yes. CyberFeeds remembers window display coordinates and monitor state when minimizing to the system tray. Restoring from tray, notifications, or a second-instance launch nudges the window onto the designated saved monitor before maximizing.

Can I use a custom browser?

Yes. Set a custom browser path in Settings → General to open articles in your preferred browser.

What reading preferences can I adjust?

• Font size
• Line height
• Maximum content width
• Reading theme (sepia, dark, light)
• Play YouTube videos in-app (embedded vs default browser)

---

Privacy

Is my data stored in the cloud?

No. All data is stored locally in a SQLite database. No data is sent to external servers except for fetching feeds.

What data is stored locally?

• Feed subscriptions
• Articles and reading state
• Settings and preferences
• Notification history

---

Troubleshooting

Windows shows a SmartScreen warning on install

Expected for new releases until Windows builds enough reputation for the file; see Installation & Setup: click More info, then Run anyway.

Feeds are not updating

• Check your internet connection
• Verify the polling interval in Settings
• Try the Refresh button in the sidebar or top bar
• Run Feeds Doctor from the sidebar or Settings → Maintenance

YouTube feeds fail with HTTP 404

Google's backend servers for YouTube RSS feeds (https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml) experience a daily recurring maintenance window, typically between 05:00 and 08:00 UTC. During this window, YouTube returns HTTP 404 (Not Found) for all channel feeds across the entire platform. If you encounter this error, try again outside this time window. CyberFeeds will automatically resume syncing once YouTube's service is back online.

Notifications don't appear

• Check if notifications are enabled in Settings
• Verify the feed is not muted
• Check if snooze is active
• Ensure the monitor settings are correct

Articles are not extracting full content

• Enable auto-fetch full content in Settings
• Some websites block content extraction
• Try reader mode fallback

App is slow with many feeds

• Increase the polling interval
• Enable cleanup of old articles
• Reduce the number of starred/feeds

Hotkeys don't work

• Check for conflicts with other applications
• Verify hotkeys in Settings → Keyboard
• Restart CyberFeeds after changing hotkeys

---

Contributing

How can I report a bug?

Open an issue on GitHub Issues with:

• CyberFeeds version
• Windows version
• Steps to reproduce
• Expected vs actual behavior

How can I contribute code?

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Submit a pull request
4. Describe your changes in the PR description

How can I help with translations?

UI strings are in src/shared/translations.ts. Submit a PR with your translation.

How can I donate?

See the Donate section on the main README.