YouTube Feed RSS

A lightweight Python tool to curate YouTube subscriptions into tagged, filterable RSS feeds. Built for people who want algorithm-free video consumption with their own organizational logic.

Why

YouTube's subscription feed is chronological chaos. This gives you:

• Tag-based filtering — organize channels by topic (tech, finance, cooking, etc.)
• Multiple RSS outputs — one master feed, or per-tag feeds
• Manual curation — you decide what goes in, not an algorithm
• Portable data — SQLite database you own and can query

Quick Start

# Setup
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Initialize database
python feed.py init

# Add a channel
python feed.py add "UCYO_jab_esuFRV4b17AJtAw" --tag "math,education"

# Tag existing channels
python feed.py tag "Channel Name" --add "new-tag"

# List channels by tag
python feed.py list --tag "math"

# Search channels
python feed.py search "3blue"

# Generate RSS feeds
python feed.py sync          # Fetch latest videos
python feed.py generate      # Build feed.xml and feed-<tag>.xml files

# Stats
python feed.py stats

Database Schema

CREATE TABLE channels (
    id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
    name TEXT NOT NULL,
    tags TEXT,  -- comma-separated: "tech,programming,linux"
    added_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

CREATE TABLE videos (
    id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
    channel_id TEXT REFERENCES channels(id),
    title TEXT NOT NULL,
    published_at TIMESTAMP,
    fetched_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

RSS Output

• feed.xml — Master feed with all channels
• feed-<tag>.xml — Per-tag feeds (e.g., feed-tech.xml)

Each feed includes:

• Channel name in item title: [Channel] Video Title
• Tags as categories
• YouTube link + embed
• Published date

Use Cases

• Feed readers — Import into Feedly, Inoreader, FreshRSS
• Automation — cron job to sync daily, generate feeds
• Archive — Query SQLite for "what did I watch in 2024?"
• Sharing — Host feeds on a static site for others

Requirements

• Python 3.9+
• yt-dlp (for metadata extraction)
• feedgen (for RSS generation)

License

MIT