Getting started, frequently asked questions, and what to expect from rssdiag.
Using rssdiag takes about thirty seconds:
https://example.com/feed.xml or a podcast feed URL from your
hosting provider.
If the feed has no defects, you will see a clean bill of health. If it has errors, each one is explained in plain language so you can fix it.
rssdiag runs the same class of validations a feed reader or podcast directory performs:
text/plain?Every finding includes what breaks as a result, because "invalid" on its own has never helped anybody fix a feed.
Almost certainly. The defects that cause feed-reader and podcast-directory rejections — missing GUIDs, unparseable dates, encoding mismatches, malformed XML — are the same defects rssdiag is built to detect. If the rejection is caused by something in the feed itself, the report will flag it.
rssdiag does not submit your feed to any directory on your behalf. It only tells you what is wrong; you take the fix back to your hosting provider or directory.
rssdiag tells you what is wrong and what breaks because of it, but it does not auto-fix your feed. The explanation is written to be actionable enough for you to locate the problem in your CMS, podcast-hosting dashboard, or feed-generator configuration.
Common fixes:
<guid> tag per item. Many podcast hosts add these automatically once you publish.encoding="utf-8" but the server sends charset=iso-8859-1, update one to match the other.application/rss+xml or application/atom+xml.No account is required. rssdiag has no signup, no email collection, and no login. Each diagnosis is independent — we fetch the feed, analyse it, return the report, and that is it. Feed URLs, feed content, and diagnostic reports are not stored server-side after the response is delivered.
On the Free plan, you diagnose one feed at a time. If you need to check several feeds, paste them one after another — there is no limit on how many diagnoses you can run.
Batch checking — diagnosing a list of feeds in a single operation — is planned for the Pro plan (coming soon).
Yes — just paste the URL again. Because there is no account or stored history, every diagnosis fetches the feed fresh. If you fixed something since the last check, the new report will reflect it.
rssdiag checks one feed URL at a time. It does not crawl your website, follow enclosure links, or download media files.
rssdiag does not submit your feed to any podcast directory, search engine, or feed aggregator on your behalf.
rssdiag diagnoses defects but does not modify your feed. Fixes must be applied in your publishing tool or server configuration.
rssdiag answers when you ask it. There is no email or notification system for automatic re-checking or monitoring.
Diagnosing multiple feeds at once is planned for the Pro plan, which is not yet available.
Saving or exporting diagnostic reports is planned for the Pro plan (coming soon). For now, copy the report from the page.
Each diagnosis is independent with no saved history. There is no way to view past reports unless you saved them yourself.
The checkout flow on the pricing page is a demonstration only. No real payment is processed and no Pro subscription is yet available.
rssdiag is a small project. The best way to reach us depends on what you need:
Bug reports and feature requests:
Please open an issue at the project repository associated with this service.
Include the feed URL you were diagnosing (if relevant) and what you expected
versus what happened.
Questions about using the tool:
Start with the FAQs above. If your question is not covered, the best place
to ask is via the project repository as well — that way the answer helps
other users too.
Billing or Pro subscription enquiries:
These will apply once the Pro plan is live. In the meantime, no real payments
are processed and no subscription data is collected.
We aim to respond to open issues within a few business days. There is no phone, live chat, or email ticketing system.