Managing YouTube subscriptions via GitHub and Miniflux

By @Charlie Revett on @July 21, 2024

I watch too much YouTube. I'm not alone; 62% of US internet users visit the platform daily, and 92% weekly. It scratches an itch differently to Twitter/X or Instagram because I subscribe to channels that meaningfully impact my life. However, I often start well but become entranced by the “YouTube rabbit hole”.

The platform’s algorithm threads the needle by providing a balanced, never-ending stream of content that feels productive. It’s a completely different experience to Instagram Reels, for example, which feels like a gluttonous meal of content.

This post outlines how I migrated my use of YouTube to Miniflux, a self-hosted RSS reader, which I manage via a GitHub repo.

Overview

The goals of the system are:

Host a Miniflux instance
Manage the subscriptions for Miniflux via a YAML file
Sync subscription changes automatically via a GitHub Action
Create a single feed of content

Why?

Miniflux provides a single feed containing the news, videos, podcasts, and blog posts I subscribe to. It has no algorithm. It has an end. I completely manage its content. Miniflux consolidates everything I want to consume in one place.

I read it once a day, knowing the content is valuable. If I then go directly on a platform, e.g. Instagram, I know I'm enjoying a distraction. I’m not kidding myself that in some way it is good for me.

Automating the feeds that I subscribe to via GitHub is overengineering, however I prefer to manage configuration this way, see revett/dotfiles as another example.

Implementation

I initially used DigitalOcean to run my Miniflux instance. Last year, I migrated it to Railway as an excuse to try out the platform. I’ve been consistently impressed by the quality and pace of product development from the team — have a read of their changelogs.

I run the Miniflux instance in a Docker container (see docs), alongside Postgres. It costs around $3 per month to run.

Once you have the Miniflux instance up and running, head to /keys and create an API key.

Create a new GitHub repo with this file structure — see revett/feeds as an example.

repo:
	- feeds.yml # List of subscriptions
  - .github:
		- workflows:
			- sync.yml # GitHub Action

The feeds.yml file lists the RSS feeds you want to subscribe to, grouped by category:

Set up a GitHub Action to sync your subscriptions to the Miniflux instance:

This GitHub Action uses the revett/miniflux-sync CLI to sync the Miniflux instance with the feeds in feeds.yml.

Head to /feeds/settings/secrets/actions in your GitHub repo and set the following repository secrets:

MINIFLUX_SYNC_ENDPOINT — e.g. https://your-domain.com/v1/
MINIFLUX_SYNC_API_KEY — The API key that you generated earlier

On commits to main, the GitHub Action will sync changes. On all other branches, the revett/miniflux-sync CLI uses --dry-run to only output what would be changed, if you wish to check changes before syncing.

Screenshots

Credits

Cover image created by @viglomir.

Managing YouTube subscriptions via GitHub and Miniflux

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Managing YouTube subscriptions via GitHub and Miniflux
Overview
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Implementation
Screenshots
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