Exploring the Feedly Developer API

Feedly is one of the most popular RSS aggregators out there, and with its developer API, users and developers alike can tap into the power of Feedly's content organizing capabilities. In this blog post, we'll go over everything you need to know to get started with the Feedly API, including example code in JavaScript.

What is the Feedly API?

The Feedly API is a developer API that allows users to interact with their Feedly feeds. With the API, you can build integrations into your own applications to access specific feeds and get updates on them in real-time.

How to Get a Feedly API Access Token

Feedly's Cloud API uses OAuth 2.0 bearer tokens rather than a simple API key, and access is more restricted than it once was.

1. Sign in to your Feedly account and open the developer site at https://developers.feedly.com/.
2. Generate a personal API access token from the self-service token page in your account settings. If that option isn't available on your plan, request API access via Feedly support.
3. For an app serving other users, register an OAuth client and implement the authorization-code flow.

Pass the token as a Bearer credential against the https://cloud.feedly.com/v3 base URL (also reachable as api.feedly.com):

const token = 'YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN';

fetch('https://cloud.feedly.com/v3/collections', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}` }
})
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(collections => console.log(collections));

Personal developer tokens are time-limited and meant for testing your own account; broader or commercial access typically requires Feedly's paid/enterprise API program.

Example code in JavaScript

Here are some example code snippets in JavaScript that are commonly used with the Feedly API:

Retrieving a user's feeds

const request = require('request');
const FEEDLY_API_URL = 'https://cloud.feedly.com/v3';

function getUserFeeds(token, callback) {
  const options = {
    url: `${FEEDLY_API_URL}/collections`,
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`
    }
  };

  request.get(options, (error, response) => {
    if (error) {
      console.log(error);
      return;
    }

    const feeds = JSON.parse(response.body);
    callback(feeds);
  });
}

Retrieving the latest articles from a feed

const request = require('request');
const FEEDLY_API_URL = 'https://cloud.feedly.com/v3';

function getFeedArticles(token, feedId, callback) {
  const options = {
    url: `${FEEDLY_API_URL}/streams/contents?streamId=${feedId}&count=10`,
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`
    }
  };

  request.get(options, (error, response) => {
    if (error) {
      console.log(error);
      return;
    }

    const articles = JSON.parse(response.body);
    callback(articles);
  });
}

Adding an article to a user's feed

const request = require('request');
const FEEDLY_API_URL = 'https://cloud.feedly.com/v3';

function addArticleToFeed(token, feedId, article) {
  const options = {
    url: `${FEEDLY_API_URL}/entries`,
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    json: {
      origin: {
        streamId: feedId,
        title: article.title,
        htmlUrl: article.url
      },
      title: article.title,
      categories: [
        {
          label: 'Saved',
          id: 'user/saved'
        }
      ]
    }
  };

  request.post(options, (error, response) => {
    if (error) {
      console.log(error);
      return;
    }

    console.log(response.body);
  });
}

Conclusion

If you're looking to integrate Feedly's capabilities into your own applications, the Feedly API is a great place to start. With the example code in JavaScript that we've provided, you have a solid foundation for building your integration. Give it a try and see how you can enhance your users' experience with a powerful RSS aggregator like Feedly!