RSS Feed Parser / Validator

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Validate and preview any RSS, RDF, or Atom feed. We detect the format, parse the channel and items, and flag content-type, date, and structure issues that break readers and aggregators.

Enter a feed URL to validate:

How the Validator Works

  1. Safe fetch, the host is validated before our server requests the feed.
  2. Detect format, the root element identifies RSS, RDF, or Atom.
  3. Parse content, the channel title and items are extracted.
  4. Report issues, content type, dates, and structure are checked.

Why Valid Feeds Matter

  • Reliable delivery, valid feeds work in every reader and aggregator.
  • Podcast and syndication, broken feeds can drop you from directories.
  • Fresh-content signals, correct dates keep entries in the right order.
  • Automation, clean feeds power newsletters, alerts, and integrations.

RSS Feed Elements Reference

A valid RSS 2.0 feed is built from a small set of elements nested inside the root rss and channel. The table below shows what each element does and whether it is required. Atom feeds use different tag names for the same ideas, noted at the end.

ElementRequired?Purpose
<rss> / <channel>YesRoot rss element wraps a single channel that holds feed metadata and all items.
channel > titleYesThe name of the feed, usually the site or publication title.
channel > linkYesURL of the website the feed belongs to.
channel > descriptionYesA short summary of what the feed is about.
itemRecommendedOne entry per piece of content; a feed normally has many items.
item > titleTitle or description requiredHeadline of the entry; an item must have a title or a description.
item > linkRecommendedURL of the full content the item refers to.
item > guidRecommendedUnique identifier so readers can detect new versus seen items.
item > pubDateRecommendedPublication date in RFC 822 format; used to sort and find fresh entries.

Atom equivalent: Atom feeds use feed as the root instead of rss/channel, entry instead of item, id instead of guid, and updated / published instead of pubDate, with title and link playing the same roles.

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RSS Feed Validator: FAQ

What makes the result Valid?
Valid means the response is well-formed XML, its root is recognized as RSS 2.0, RSS 1.0 RDF, or Atom, and no parser issue was recorded. Warnings such as a missing title, missing dates, or an unusual Content-Type do not by themselves change the valid flag.
How should I interpret the Format, Title, Items, and Content-Type fields?
Format comes from the XML root element. Title is the channel or feed title. Items is the number of entries the parser returned, capped at 25, and Content-Type is the HTTP media type before any charset parameter.
Why are only some recent entries displayed?
The server extracts at most 25 RSS items or Atom entries, and the page shows the first 10 of that returned set. The displayed count is therefore not a guaranteed total for a feed with more than 25 entries.
What do the XML and root-element errors mean?
An XML error includes the parser's line and column for malformed markup. A root-element error means the document may be valid XML but is not recognized as rss, rdf:RDF, or feed. Fix escaping or structure at the feed source, then validate the public URL again.
Should I fix Content-Type and missing-date warnings?
Usually yes. Serve feeds as application/rss+xml, application/atom+xml, or application/xml, and include pubDate, dc:date, updated, or published where the format supports it. Readers vary, so warnings indicate interoperability risk rather than certain failure.
Can this fully validate a podcast feed?
It validates the core RSS structure and previews episode items, but it does not check podcast-directory extensions such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify-specific required tags. Use the relevant directory validator after the core feed passes here.
What request limits can cause a failure?
The server allows up to 15 seconds and reads at most 1 MB of XML. Private or local hosts are blocked. Firewalls, authentication, oversized feeds, malformed XML, or a server returning HTML can produce an error or an unknown format.
Is the feed content stored?
The public feed URL is fetched by the Web Aloha server for this request because browsers often cannot read cross-origin feeds directly. This endpoint has no result cache or database write and does not persist the fetched XML after returning the parsed report.

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