Winds
A Beautiful Open Source RSS & Podcast App Powered by Getstream.io
Winds is an open source RSS reader and podcast player built with React, Node.js, and MongoDB, preserved as a reference for how a polished, full-stack JavaScript app is structured across web and desktop.
Winds is an open source RSS reader and podcast player with a polished interface, built to show what a well-designed open source app looks like using modern JavaScript tools. RSS is a format that lets websites publish a feed of their latest content, and an RSS reader collects those feeds in one place so you can read articles from many sites without visiting each one individually. Winds handles both articles and podcast audio in the same app.
The README notes upfront that this repository is no longer maintained, so no new issues or pull requests are being accepted. It remains useful as a reference codebase and as a working app for anyone who wants to run their own copy.
The frontend is built with React and Redux, two JavaScript libraries commonly used for building interactive web interfaces. The backend runs on Express.js, a Node.js framework for building web servers. Data is stored in MongoDB. Several third-party services handle specific functions: Algolia powers search, Stream handles personalized activity feeds and follow suggestions, SendGrid handles email, and AWS provides hosting.
Running the app locally requires setting up accounts with Stream and Algolia, both of which offer free tiers, and then filling in the credentials in a configuration file. The project also requires MongoDB and Redis running on your machine. The README includes setup instructions for macOS using Homebrew.
Beyond just being an RSS reader, Winds was built partly as a teaching tool. The repository links to a series of blog posts and tutorials covering topics like integrating search, building REST APIs, deploying with Docker, optimizing performance with Redis, and publishing a desktop app with Electron. The desktop version is built with Electron, which packages web apps as native desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The project is 100 percent open source. Anyone wanting to explore how a production-quality JavaScript application is structured across frontend, backend, and desktop layers can use this codebase as a reference.
Where it fits
- Study a complete React, Node.js, and MongoDB app to understand how frontend, backend, and database layers connect.
- Self-host your own RSS feed reader and podcast player instead of using a third-party service.
- Follow the linked tutorials to learn how to add search, Redis caching, email, and Electron desktop packaging to a JavaScript app.