What does an RSS feed look like, and which channel and item fields are required?

An RSS 2.0 document has a single root containing one . The channel must include title, link and description, and may add language, pubDate, image and more. It can hold any number of elements; each item needs at least a title or a description, and commonly carries link, guid, pubDate, author, category and enclosure (for podcast audio). Expand these nodes in the JSON view to check them one by one.

What is the difference between RSS 2.0 and Atom, and how do I tell which one I have?

Check the root element: means RSS 2.0, means Atom. RSS 2.0 uses channel/item with RFC 822 dates (Mon, 01 Jan 2024 10:00:00 GMT); Atom is defined by RFC 4287, uses feed/entry, requires id, title and updated on every entry, uses RFC 3339 dates (2024-01-01T10:00:00Z), and puts links in the href attribute of . This viewer parses both and shows them in the same layout.

How do I validate an RSS or Atom feed? How is this different from the W3C Feed Validator?

This tool performs a parse-level check: it verifies that the input parses as XML and that the root element is rss or feed, and shows an error otherwise. It does not check required fields, date formats or GUID uniqueness against the specification. For spec-level validation submit the URL or source to the W3C Feed Validation Service, which lists every error and warning; use the XML Viewer to pinpoint unclosed tags.

Can I enter a feed URL and load it directly?

No. The tool runs entirely in your browser with no server, and browser CORS restrictions prevent it from fetching feeds from other sites. Open the feed URL in a new tab, right-click and choose View Page Source (Ctrl+U), select all and copy, then paste it here. If your browser downloads a .xml file instead, load it with Upload XML. Either way the content never leaves your device.

Why does my feed show an invalid format or parse error?

Common causes: (1) the root element is not rss/feed — RSS 1.0 (rdf:RDF), JSON Feed, or an HTML page pasted by mistake; (2) truncated XML or unclosed tags; (3) unescaped & in descriptions — write & or wrap the text in ; (4) the declared encoding does not match the actual bytes, producing garbled text; (5) prefixes such as content:, dc: or itunes: used without the matching xmlns declaration on the root. Fix the XML and paste it again.

How would I write my own RSS parser?

In the browser, use the built-in DOMParser: new DOMParser().parseFromString(xml, "application/xml"), then iterate querySelectorAll("item") or "entry" and read child nodes such as title, link and pubDate; use getElementsByTagNameNS for namespaced elements. In Node.js, fast-xml-parser (which this tool uses to turn XML into an object) or rss-parser are common choices. The key steps are detecting RSS vs Atom from the root element and normalizing both into one {title, link, date, summary} shape.

Is my feed content uploaded anywhere?

No. Parsing is done by JavaScript running in your browser (fast-xml-parser). Pasted or uploaded XML exists only in the page's memory, is discarded on reload, and is never sent to or logged by any server. Once the page has loaded it keeps working offline.

Does it work with podcast feeds that use enclosure and itunes tags?

Yes, they parse fine. The list view shows each episode's title, link, publication date and text summary. The audio file URL lives in the attribute, and extensions such as itunes:duration and itunes:image appear in the JSON view (attributes carry the @_ prefix, e.g. @_url, @_type, @_length under enclosure). The tool does not play audio or submit feeds to podcast directories.

RSS Viewer

Paste or upload RSS 2.0 / Atom XML to inspect the feed: channel metadata, each item title, link, date and summary, plus a JSON view. Runs in your browser.

To inspect an RSS feed online, paste the XML of an RSS 2.0 or Atom feed into the left editor (or upload a .xml/.rss/.atom file). The right pane immediately lists the channel/feed title, description and link, and every item/entry with its title, article link, publication date and summary. Switch to JSON view to see the full parsed object, including @_-prefixed attributes and namespaced elements such as content:encoded or itunes:*. The tool does not fetch feed URLs (browser CORS restrictions): open the feed address in your browser, view the page source, and copy the XML. Parsing runs entirely on your device and nothing is uploaded.

RSS Input

Feed Preview

List View / JSON View

Paste RSS/Atom XML to see the parsed feed here

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How to inspect an RSS feed online

1
Get the feed XML
Open the feed URL in your browser (common paths are /feed, /rss.xml, /atom.xml), press Ctrl+U to view the source, then select all and copy. If the browser downloads the file instead, load it with the Upload XML button or drag it onto the editor.
2
Review the channel and item list
The tool detects RSS 2.0 (root element rss) or Atom (root element feed) and shows the channel title, description and site link, followed by each item's title, link, publication date and summary. HTML summaries are rendered with images hidden for easier scanning.
3
Switch to JSON view to check fields
Click the JSON view button to inspect the complete parsed object. Attributes appear with an @_ prefix (for example @_version, @_href) and namespaced elements such as content:encoded, dc:creator and itunes:* are kept as-is, which makes missing fields or mapping issues easy to spot.
4
Troubleshoot or start over
"Invalid RSS/Atom feed format" usually means the root element is not rss/feed (RSS 1.0 rdf:RDF, an HTML page, or JSON Feed); "Error parsing XML" points to truncated or malformed XML. Load the Sample to compare against a standard structure, or click Clear to paste again.

References

RSS 2.0 Specification (RSS Advisory Board)
The authoritative RSS 2.0 specification: required channel elements (title, link, description), item elements, and optional fields such as enclosure, guid and pubDate.
RFC 4287 — The Atom Syndication Format
The IETF standard for Atom, requiring id, title and updated on every feed and entry and RFC 3339 dates.
W3C Feed Validation Service
W3C's online validator that accepts a URL or pasted source and reports every RSS/Atom error and warning against the specification.
MDN — DOMParser
Reference for the browser's built-in XML parsing API, useful when writing your own RSS parser that turns an XML string into a DOM.
Wikipedia — RSS
Background on the history of RSS, its versions (0.9x, 1.0 RDF, 2.0) and its relationship to Atom.

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Preview how the HTML inside an item's description or content:encoded actually renders.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does an RSS feed look like, and which channel and item fields are required?: An RSS 2.0 document has a single <rss version="2.0"> root containing one <channel>. The channel must include title, link and description, and may add language, pubDate, image and more. It can hold any number of <item> elements; each item needs at least a title or a description, and commonly carries link, guid, pubDate, author, category and enclosure (for podcast audio). Expand these nodes in the JSON view to check them one by one.
What is the difference between RSS 2.0 and Atom, and how do I tell which one I have?: Check the root element: <rss> means RSS 2.0, <feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"> means Atom. RSS 2.0 uses channel/item with RFC 822 dates (Mon, 01 Jan 2024 10:00:00 GMT); Atom is defined by RFC 4287, uses feed/entry, requires id, title and updated on every entry, uses RFC 3339 dates (2024-01-01T10:00:00Z), and puts links in the href attribute of <link>. This viewer parses both and shows them in the same layout.
How do I validate an RSS or Atom feed? How is this different from the W3C Feed Validator?: This tool performs a parse-level check: it verifies that the input parses as XML and that the root element is rss or feed, and shows an error otherwise. It does not check required fields, date formats or GUID uniqueness against the specification. For spec-level validation submit the URL or source to the W3C Feed Validation Service, which lists every error and warning; use the XML Viewer to pinpoint unclosed tags.
Can I enter a feed URL and load it directly?: No. The tool runs entirely in your browser with no server, and browser CORS restrictions prevent it from fetching feeds from other sites. Open the feed URL in a new tab, right-click and choose View Page Source (Ctrl+U), select all and copy, then paste it here. If your browser downloads a .xml file instead, load it with Upload XML. Either way the content never leaves your device.
Why does my feed show an invalid format or parse error?: Common causes: (1) the root element is not rss/feed — RSS 1.0 (rdf:RDF), JSON Feed, or an HTML page pasted by mistake; (2) truncated XML or unclosed tags; (3) unescaped & < > in descriptions — write & or wrap the text in <![CDATA[ ... ]]>; (4) the declared encoding does not match the actual bytes, producing garbled text; (5) prefixes such as content:, dc: or itunes: used without the matching xmlns declaration on the root. Fix the XML and paste it again.
How would I write my own RSS parser?: In the browser, use the built-in DOMParser: new DOMParser().parseFromString(xml, "application/xml"), then iterate querySelectorAll("item") or "entry" and read child nodes such as title, link and pubDate; use getElementsByTagNameNS for namespaced elements. In Node.js, fast-xml-parser (which this tool uses to turn XML into an object) or rss-parser are common choices. The key steps are detecting RSS vs Atom from the root element and normalizing both into one {title, link, date, summary} shape.
Is my feed content uploaded anywhere?: No. Parsing is done by JavaScript running in your browser (fast-xml-parser). Pasted or uploaded XML exists only in the page's memory, is discarded on reload, and is never sent to or logged by any server. Once the page has loaded it keeps working offline.
Does it work with podcast feeds that use enclosure and itunes tags?: Yes, they parse fine. The list view shows each episode's title, link, publication date and text summary. The audio file URL lives in the <enclosure url="..."> attribute, and extensions such as itunes:duration and itunes:image appear in the JSON view (attributes carry the @_ prefix, e.g. @_url, @_type, @_length under enclosure). The tool does not play audio or submit feeds to podcast directories.