Tiny Tiny RSS bot

What is Tiny Tiny RSS?

Tiny Tiny RSS (TT-RSS) is an open-source, self-hosted web-based news feed (RSS/Atom) aggregator designed to allow users to read news from any location while feeling as close to a desktop application as possible. The software was created by Andrew Dolgov and is maintained by a community of developers.

Tiny Tiny RSS has been in development since the early 2010s and has grown in popularity, especially after Google Reader was discontinued in 2013. It's technically classified as an RSS reader application that acts as a feed crawler when fetching content updates. Unlike cloud-based readers, TT-RSS is installed on your own server, giving you complete control over your data and subscriptions.

The software works by periodically checking RSS/Atom feeds from websites you've subscribed to, downloading new content, and presenting it in an organized interface. When crawling websites, Tiny Tiny RSS identifies itself with a user-agent string that typically follows the format Tiny Tiny RSS/[version] (https://tt-rss.org/), often including a Git commit hash that indicates the specific build.

A distinctive characteristic of Tiny Tiny RSS is its decentralized nature—each installation performs direct HTTP requests from the host server where the software is installed, making each instance a unique point of contact with content providers.

Why is Tiny Tiny RSS crawling my site?

If you're seeing Tiny Tiny RSS in your server logs, it means someone who runs a TT-RSS instance has subscribed to one or more RSS/Atom feeds on your website. The crawler is visiting your site to check for new articles, blog posts, or other content updates that you've published through your feeds.

Tiny Tiny RSS typically visits sites based on update intervals configured by the instance administrator. By default, it checks for updates every 30 minutes, but this can be adjusted to be more or less frequent. The crawling is triggered automatically by the TT-RSS update daemon or when users manually refresh their feeds.

This type of crawling is generally authorized and expected behavior for websites that publish RSS/Atom feeds, as the purpose of these feeds is to allow readers to subscribe to your content and be notified of updates.

What is the purpose of Tiny Tiny RSS?

The primary purpose of Tiny Tiny RSS is to provide users with a self-hosted alternative to commercial RSS readers. It allows individuals to aggregate content from multiple websites in one place, making it easier to follow numerous news sources, blogs, and other content publishers without having to visit each site individually.

Tiny Tiny RSS supports the open web ecosystem by enabling content discovery and consumption through standardized feed formats. For publishers, having your content read through TT-RSS means your audience can stay updated with your latest posts even if they don't visit your site directly every day.

The software provides value to both users and website owners: users get a personalized news reading experience, while publishers maintain audience engagement through subscription-based content delivery. Since TT-RSS is self-hosted, it also offers enhanced privacy as user reading habits aren't tracked by third-party services.

How do I block Tiny Tiny RSS?

Tiny Tiny RSS respects the standard robots.txt protocol, so you can use this mechanism to control its access to your site. If you want to block Tiny Tiny RSS from crawling your entire site, you can add the following to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: Tiny Tiny RSS
Disallow: /

If you only want to block access to specific sections of your site, you can specify particular paths:

User-agent: Tiny Tiny RSS
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /members-only/

Keep in mind that blocking Tiny Tiny RSS means that users of this software won't be able to subscribe to your content through their reader. This could potentially reduce your audience reach, especially among more technically-inclined and privacy-conscious readers who prefer self-hosted solutions.

If you're concerned about bandwidth usage, a more balanced approach might be to optimize your RSS feeds rather than blocking them entirely. Consider offering summary feeds instead of full-content feeds, or limiting the number of items in your feed to reduce the amount of data transferred during each crawl.