Description

Query headlines and articles from a self-hosted FreshRSS instance. Use when the user asks for RSS news, latest headlines, feed updates, or wants to browse articles from their FreshRSS reader. Supports filtering by category, time range, and count.

README (SKILL.md)

FreshRSS

Name: FreshRSS Reader
Author: nickian

Query headlines from a self-hosted FreshRSS instance via the Google Reader compatible API.

Setup

Set these environment variables:

export FRESHRSS_URL="https://your-freshrss-instance.com"
export FRESHRSS_USER="your-username"
export FRESHRSS_API_PASSWORD="your-api-password"

API password is set in FreshRSS → Settings → Profile → API Management.

Commands

Get latest headlines

{baseDir}/scripts/freshrss.sh headlines --count 10

Get headlines from the last N hours

{baseDir}/scripts/freshrss.sh headlines --hours 2

Get headlines from a specific category

{baseDir}/scripts/freshrss.sh headlines --category "Technology" --count 15

Get only unread headlines

{baseDir}/scripts/freshrss.sh headlines --unread --count 20

Combine filters

{baseDir}/scripts/freshrss.sh headlines --category "News" --hours 4 --count 10 --unread

List categories

{baseDir}/scripts/freshrss.sh categories

List feeds

{baseDir}/scripts/freshrss.sh feeds

Output

Headlines are formatted as:

[date] [source] Title
  URL
  Categories: cat1, cat2

Notes

Default count is 20 headlines if not specified
Time filtering uses --hours for relative time (e.g., last 2 hours)
Category names are case-sensitive and must match your FreshRSS categories
Use categories command first to see available category names

Usage Guidance

This skill appears to legitimately query a FreshRSS instance, but the package metadata is inconsistent with the actual code and instructions. Before installing or enabling it: - Treat it as needing three sensitive environment values (FRESHRSS_URL, FRESHRSS_USER, FRESHRSS_API_PASSWORD). Only provide those for a FreshRSS instance you control or trust. - The script requires curl and jq (and relies on OS-specific date behavior); ensure those tools are available and consider adding them to the manifest. - Because the manifest omitted required credentials, automated permission checks may not catch that it needs secrets — don't assume lack of declared env vars means no credentials are used. - Inspect the script locally yourself (or run it in an isolated environment) before giving it access to real credentials. The script prints the server response on auth failure, which could leak information — consider sanitizing error output. - If you plan to use it long-term, ask the publisher to fix the manifest: declare the required env vars and list required binaries, and consider safer error handling. If you cannot verify the source or are uncomfortable supplying your FreshRSS API password, do not install or enable this skill.

Capability Analysis

Type: OpenClaw Skill Name: freshrss-reader Version: 1.0.0 The skill is designed to query a self-hosted FreshRSS instance. The `SKILL.md` provides clear, benign instructions for the AI agent and user. The `scripts/freshrss.sh` script uses `curl` to interact with the user-configured FreshRSS API endpoint (`FRESHRSS_URL`) for authentication and data retrieval, and `jq` for parsing JSON responses. All network activity is confined to the specified FreshRSS instance, and there is no evidence of data exfiltration to unauthorized endpoints, malicious execution, persistence mechanisms, or prompt injection attempts against the agent.

Capability Assessment

ℹ Purpose & Capability

The script's purpose (querying a FreshRSS instance via the Google Reader API) matches the skill name/description. However, the skill metadata declares no required environment variables or binaries while both SKILL.md and scripts/freshrss.sh require FRESHRSS_URL, FRESHRSS_USER, and FRESHRSS_API_PASSWORD and rely on external tools (curl, jq, date). The declared metadata therefore understates what the skill needs.

✓ Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions limit actions to calling the user's FreshRSS instance API and formatting results. The SKILL.md tells the agent to set three FreshRSS-related env vars and invoke the included script. The script only communicates with the FRESHRSS_URL host and does not call any other remote endpoints.

✓ Install Mechanism

There is no network install step or external download — this is an instruction-only skill with an included shell script. Nothing is fetched from arbitrary URLs or extracted to disk during install.

⚠ Credentials

The skill actually requires three sensitive environment variables (FRESHRSS_URL, FRESHRSS_USER, FRESHRSS_API_PASSWORD) but the registry metadata lists none and has no primary credential. That mismatch is problematic: the skill expects credentials that are not declared in its manifest. The required env vars are appropriate for the stated purpose, but the manifest omission is an incoherence that can mislead users and automated permission reviews.

✓ Persistence & Privilege

The skill does not request permanent presence (always:false), does not modify other skills or system configs, and does not persist credentials. It runs only when invoked and only accesses the FreshRSS instance provided by the user.

Version History

v1.0.0

Initial release - query headlines from self-hosted FreshRSS with category, time, and count filters

Metadata

Slug freshrss-reader

Version 1.0.0

License —

All-time Installs 6

Active Installs 5

Total Versions 1

Frequently Asked Questions

What is FreshRSS Reader?

Query headlines and articles from a self-hosted FreshRSS instance. Use when the user asks for RSS news, latest headlines, feed updates, or wants to browse articles from their FreshRSS reader. Supports filtering by category, time range, and count. It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 2480 downloads so far.

How do I install FreshRSS Reader?

Run "/install freshrss-reader" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.

Is FreshRSS Reader free?

Yes, FreshRSS Reader is completely free (open-source). You can download, install and use it at no cost.

Which platforms does FreshRSS Reader support?

FreshRSS Reader is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).

Who created FreshRSS Reader?

It is built and maintained by nickian (@nickian); the current version is v1.0.0.

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