The Old Reader API

News / API Key Intermediate HTTPS

77 B

Metadata Score Metadata estimate · not endpoint-tested

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Overview

The Old Reader API provides programmatic access to The Old Reader, a classic RSS feed reader service. It allows developers to manage subscriptions, fetch unread articles, and mark items as read on behalf of authenticated users. It is useful for building custom RSS reader interfaces or automation workflows around your feed subscriptions.

Beginner Tip

You need to authenticate using your The Old Reader account credentials to obtain a token, then pass that token in an Authorization header for subsequent requests. Start with the /reader/api/0/subscription/list endpoint to list your subscribed feeds.

Available Data

The kind of data this API exposes, based on its documentation. We could not call the endpoint to confirm the exact field names.

Use case: Integrate rss reader data into web and mobile applications

The Old Reader data via REST API

Example Response

Illustrative shape only — we were not able to call this endpoint (it requires credentials or exposes no public sample URL), so the fields below show the kind of data this API returns rather than a recorded response.

JSON Response · Illustrative

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "result": "Data from The Old Reader",
    "description": "RSS reader",
    "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
  }
}

Field Reference

subscriptions[].id Unique feed identifier used to reference this subscription in other API calls

subscriptions[].title Display name of the subscribed RSS feed

subscriptions[].url RSS feed URL that The Old Reader is polling

subscriptions[].htmlUrl Website URL associated with the RSS feed

subscriptions[].unread_count Number of unread articles in this subscription

Implementation Example

Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.

Request

const url = "https://theoldreader.com/reader/api/0/subscription/list?output=json";
// Replace headers or query params with the values required by this API.
const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
  "X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
  }
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

Generated guidance based on this API's documentation, not observed by us. Treat it as a starting point and check against the provider's own error reference.

401 Unauthorized The Authorization header is missing or the token has expired

✓ Re-authenticate by posting your credentials to /reader/accounts/ClientLogin to get a fresh auth token

400 Bad Request A required parameter such as output format is missing

✓ Add output=json to your query string to specify the response format explicitly

Empty subscription list No feeds are currently subscribed to the account

✓ Log into The Old Reader web interface and add some RSS subscriptions before calling the API

Metadata Score Breakdown

Estimated from metadata — endpoint not independently tested

This score is estimated from observable metadata — HTTPS support, authentication model, declared CORS, and documentation reachability — because the API requires authentication or exposes no publicly testable endpoint. The five-signal breakdown is only shown for live-tested APIs.

Metadata estimate · endpoint not independently tested

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