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             v0.3 manual
            February 2026
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<!-- markdown-toc start - Don't edit this section. Run M-x markdown-toc-generate-toc again -->

- [Neko](#neko)
  - [Features](#features)
  - [Screenshots](#screenshots)
- [Installation](#installation)
  - [Requirements](#requirements)
  - [Building](#building)
    - [Docker](#docker)
    - [Build from Source](#build-from-source)
    - [Development and Testing](#development-and-testing)
- [Configuration](#configuration)
  - [Storage](#storage)
- [Usage](#usage)
  - [Web Interface](#web-interface)
  - [Sidebar Variants](#sidebar-variants)
  - [Add Feed](#add-feed)
  - [Crawl Feeds](#crawl-feeds)
  - [Export](#export)
- [All Command Line Options](#all-command-line-options)
- [Configuration File](#configuration-file)
- [History](#history)
  - [Early 2017](#early-2017)
  - [July 2018 -- v0.2](#july-2018----v02)
  - [February 2026 -- v.03 -- Vibe-code Modernization](#february-2026----v03----vibe-code-modernization)
- [Feedback](#feedback)

<!-- markdown-toc end -->


# Neko

`neko` is a self-hosted, rss reader focused on simplicity and efficiency.

Backend is written in `Go` and there is a modern `React/Vite` SPA frontend.

*note: the cat ears are in your mind*

*note: as of Feb 2026, this project is now mostly rewritten by AI as an experiment, so if you want the old original version git checkout back to 39ed5fcfe9327ab4eb81c4863d9e6353f08f6c07 from a few years ago*

## Features

   * limited features (#1 feature)
   * keyboard shortcuts
      * **j** - next item
      * **k** - previous item
      * that's all you should ever need
   * automatically marks items read in an infinite stream of never-ending content (until you run out of content and it ends)
   * full text search
   * scrapes full text of pages on demand
   * collapsible sidebar sections for Feeds and Tags

## Screenshots

![Screenshot 1](screenshot/neko.jpg?raw=true "Screenshot 1")

![Screenshot 2](screenshot/neko2.jpg?raw=true "Screenshot 2")

# Installation

## Requirements

If you are using a binary, no dependencies!

(I don't actually provide the binaries though.)

 
## Building

### Docker

The easiest way to run Neko is using Docker and Docker Compose.

1. **Build and Start**:
   ```bash
   docker-compose up -d
   ```

2. **Access**:
   The web interface will be available at `http://localhost:8080`.

Data is persisted in a Docker volume named `neko-data` (mapping to `/app/data/neko.db` inside the container).

### Build from Source

Neko is designed for easy building. Static assets for the frontends are pre-built and checked into the repository in the `web/dist/` directory, so a standard Go build is all that's required for most users.

1. **Standard Build**:
   ```bash
   # Uses existing assets in web/dist/ and web/static/ via Go embed
   make build
   ```
   A `neko` binary will be created in the root directory.

2. **Full Rebuild (including UI)**:
   If you modify the React or Vanilla frontends, you'll need to rebuild them. This requires Node.js.
   ```bash
   # Rebuilds everything: cleans, builds UIs, and builds binary
   make all
   ```

3. **Updating UI Assets Only**:
   If you want to update the frontends without a full clean:
   ```bash
   make ui           # Rebuild React frontend
   make build        # Build final binary
   ```


# Configuration

Everything can handled with a few command line flags. You shouldn't need to change the defaults most of the time.

You can also set options using a configuration file [`yaml`](http://yaml.org), described at the end of this README (but you probably don't need to.)

## Storage

By default `neko` will create the file `neko.db` in the current directory for storage.

You can override the location of this database file with the `--database` command line option or `-d` short option.

    $ neko --database=/var/db/neko.db --add=http://trenchant.org/rss.xml

which is equivalent to --

    $ neko -d /var/db/neko.db --add=http://trenchant.org/rss.xml

For expert users -- this is a [SQLite](https://sqlite.org/) database and can be manipulated with standard sqlite commands --

    $ sqlite3 neko.db .schema
    
-- will print out the database schema.

# Usage

## Web Interface

You can do most of what you need to do with `neko` from the web interface, which is what `neko` does by default.

    $ neko
    
`neko` web interface is available by default at `127.0.0.1:4994`.

Neko currently bundles three versions of the web interface for different preferences:

*   **v2 (Modern React)**: Available at `/` (default) and `/v2/`. This is the primary modern interface.
*   **v3 (Performance Vanilla)**: Available at `/v3/`. A high-performance, zero-dependency version built for speed and simplicity. 
*   **v1 (Legacy Backbone)**: Available at `/v1/`. The original classic interface.

You can specify a different port using the `--http` option.

    $ neko --http=9001

If you are hosting on a publicly available server instead of a personal computer, you can protect the interface with a password flag --

    $ neko --password=rssisveryimportant
    
## Sidebar Variants

Neko now supports several UI variants for the sidebar that can be toggled via URL parameters (and are persisted in local storage):

- `?sidebar=glass`: (Default) Modern translucent glassmorphism
- `?sidebar=minimal`: The clean v1-inspired look
- `?sidebar=type`: Bold, Swiss-inspired typography
- `?sidebar=banana`: Playful, "pop" aesthetic

Example: `http://localhost:4994/?sidebar=type`
## Add Feed

You can add feeds directly from the command line for convenience --

    $ neko --add=http://trenchant.org/rss.xml

## Crawl Feeds

By default, when running the web server (`neko`), a background crawler runs every **60 minutes** to fetch new items.

You can customize this interval using the `--minutes` flag:

    $ neko --minutes=30    # Crawl every 30 minutes

To **disable** background crawling, set minutes to 0:

    $ neko --minutes=0     # Run web server only, no background crawling

### Manual Update

You can manually trigger a feed update from the command line without starting the server:

    $ neko --update

This will fetch, download, parse, and store in the database your feeds once and then exit.

## Export

Export de facto RSS feed standard OPML from the command line with --

    $ neko --export=opml

Change `opml` to `text` for a simple list of feed URLs, or `json` for JSON formatted output.

Export is also available in the web interface.

Import of OPML and other things is available via the web interface.

## Purge Items

You can delete old items to free up database space. By default, only **read** items are deleted.

    $ neko --purge=30      # Delete read items older than 30 days

To include **unread** items in the purge:

    $ neko --purge=30 --purge-unread

**Note:** Starred items are never deleted.

# All Command Line Options

View all command line options with `-h` or `--help`

    $ neko -h

Usage of neko:
  -a, --add http://example.com/rss.xml
    	add the feed at URL http://example.com/rss.xml
  -c, --config string
    	read configuration from file
  -d, --database string
    	sqlite database file
  -x, --export string
    	export feed. format required: text, json or opml
  -h, --help
    	print usage information
  -s, --http int
        HTTP port to serve on
  -i, --imageproxy
    	rewrite and proxy all image requests for privacy (experimental)
  -m, --minutes int
    	minutes between crawling feeds (default -1, uses 60 if unset)
  -p, --password string
    	password to access web interface
  --purge int
        purge read items older than N days
  --purge-unread
        when purging, also include unread items
  --secure-cookies
    	set Secure flag on cookies (requires HTTPS)
  -u, --update
    	fetch feeds and store new items
  -v, --verbose
    	verbose output

These are POSIX style flags so --

    $ neko --minutes=120

is equivalent to

    $ neko -m 120

# Configuration File

For convenience, you can specify options in a configuration file.

    $ neko -c /etc/neko.conf

A subset of the command line options are supported in the configuration file, with the same semantics --

   * database
   * http
   * imageproxy
   * minutes
   * password
   * secure_cookies

For example --

```
database: /var/db/neko.db
http: 9001
imageproxy: true
minutes: 90
password: VeryLongRandomStringBecauseSecurityIsFun
# secure_cookies: true  # Set to true when using HTTPS in production

```

# History

## Early 2017

I decided I didn't like the [original version of this that was python and mongo](https://github.com/adammathes/neko_v1) so rewrote it. I wanted to learn some Go. So assume the code is not great since I don't know what I'm doing even more so than normal.

The Javascript frontend stayed still the same, I kept saying I will rewrite that too since it's old backbone.js code but it still seems to mostly work. It's not very pretty though.

## July 2018 -- v0.2

Significant changes to simplify setup, configuration, usage. The goal was typing `neko` should be all you need to do to get started and use the software.

   * removed MySQL requirement (eliminating a ton of configuration and complexity)
   * added SQLite support (easier!)
   * auto-initialization of database file with embedded schema
   * removed json-formatted config file -- all options are command line options
   * `neko` runs web server by default
   * `neko` server crawls feeds regularly rather than requiring cron

## February 2026 -- v.03 -- Vibe-code Modernization

*WELCOME TO THE GEMINI ERA*

The project underwent a significant modernization phase with the help of Google Antigravity, Gemini, and Claude:

   * **Architecture**: Refactored backend into a clean REST API.
   * **Frontend**: Completely rewrote the legacy Backbone.js frontend in React/Vite as a modern Single Page Application (SPA).
   * **Performance**: Implemented robust Gzip compression and optimized asset delivery.
   * **Stability**: Added a comprehensive test suite with high coverage across both backend and frontend.
   * **Modern Standards**: Fully adopted Go modules and modern JavaScript build tooling.


# Development and Testing

Utility scripts and test wrappers are located in the `scripts/` directory:
- `scripts/clean_test_env.sh`: Resets the test database and kills stray processes.
- `scripts/run_e2e_safe.sh`: A safe wrapper for running Playwright E2E tests.
- `scripts/run_e2e.sh`: Standard E2E test runner.


## Development with Containers

If you don't have Go or Node installed locally, or prefer an isolated environment, you can use the provided `docker-compose.dev.yaml`. This avoids manual setup and works around some issues with VS Code Dev Containers in certain environments (like Antigravity + Colima).

1. **Start the development environment**:
   ```bash
   docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yaml up -d --build
   ```

2. **Run tests inside the container**:
   ```bash
   docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yaml exec neko-dev bash -c "go test ./... && cd frontend && npm install && npm test"
   ```

3. **Get an interactive shell**:
   ```bash
   docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yaml exec neko-dev bash
   ```

4. **Stop the environment**:
   ```bash
   docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yaml down
   ```