Help & getting started

A quick guide to Readfine. The reading view is meant to be self-explanatory; this page covers setup and the less obvious features. For a complete rundown, see the full feature list.

Getting started

  1. 1

    Add your first feed

    Paste an RSS/Atom feed URL in Settings → Feeds. Readfine can also scrape a website that has no RSS, see What's a scrape feed? below.

    Coming from another reader? Import your subscriptions via OPML.

  2. 2

    Read & organize

    Articles open in a clean reading view. Mark them read, star favourites, or archive what you want to keep out of the way.

    Labels are your own colour-coded tags for sorting articles by hand. Create them in Settings → Labels.

    Filters do the tagging for you: each new article is checked against your rules and, when the conditions match, actions are applied automatically (add a label, mark as read, star, archive). Set them up in Settings → Filters (see How do filters work?).

    That's everything you need for day-to-day reading.

  3. 3

    Turn on AI (optional)

    AI features are an optional layer. They use your own API key (Anthropic, OpenAI or Google), which you add in Settings → AI. See Where do I get an AI key?

    Once enabled you get:

    • Relevance scoring: each article gets a score based on your interests. A handy trick: add a filter that marks low-score articles as read, so they never clutter your list.
    • Summaries and chat over any article.
    • Catch me up & briefings: a digest of what you missed over a period, on demand or scheduled to your inbox.

A workflow that works well

There's no single right way to use Readfine, but here's one that scales nicely once you follow a lot of feeds:

  • Let filters (and, with AI, scoring) do the triage: auto-label what matters, mark the rest as read, then browse your labeled articles instead of wading through one long unread list.
  • Treat the star as a read-later queue: star anything worth a proper read, then come back to your starred list when you have time, rather than reading everything the moment it arrives.

FAQ

Can I import from another reader?

Yes. Export an OPML file from your current reader and import it in Settings → OPML. You can also export your Readfine subscriptions there.

What's a scrape feed?

When a website has no RSS feed, Readfine can read its listing page directly. You point it at the page and give a CSS selector that matches the article links; Readfine then checks that page on a schedule, just like an RSS feed. If you have an AI key, it can suggest the selector for you. Start by pasting the site URL in Settings → Feeds.

How do filters work?

A filter is a set of conditions (match on title, content, author, score… with AND/OR and optional regex) plus actions that run when an article matches: add a label, mark as read, or star. You can scope a filter to specific feeds or folders. Filters run on new articles as they arrive. Manage them in Settings → Filters.

How do I use regex in a filter?

When a condition's operator is regex, the value is treated as a regular expression (Python syntax). The pattern is matched anywhere in the field and is case-insensitive, so einstein also matches “Einstein”. Use it on text fields (title, content, author, URL) when plain contains isn't enough.

  • (apple|pear|fig) matches any of several terms (OR).
  • \bAI\b matches the whole word “AI” only (not “rain” or “maintain”); \b is a word boundary.
  • ^Breaking means the field starts with “Breaking” (^ = start, $ = end).
  • colou?r matches “color” and “colour” (? = the previous item zero or one time).
  • \d{4} matches exactly four digits, e.g. a year like “2026” (\d = a digit, {4} = four times).

Building blocks you can combine: . any character, \d digit, \w letter/number, \s space, * zero or more, + one or more, [a-z] a range. Special characters (. $ ^ ( ) [ ] * + ?) must be escaped with a backslash to match them literally, e.g. \$\d+ matches a price like “$50”.

Patterns are limited to 200 characters, and a few constructs prone to catastrophic backtracking (nested quantifiers like (\w+)+) are rejected when you save. An invalid pattern is reported on save, so nothing breaks silently.

New to regex? Build and test patterns interactively at regex101.com. Pick the Python flavor to match how Readfine evaluates them.

How do I customize the layout?

Open Settings → Preferences to choose a 2- or 3-panel layout (separately for medium and large screens), the list density (compact, comfortable or summary, separately for desktop and mobile), dark mode, and whether articles are marked read as you scroll. You can also choose how the sidebar behaves on small screens (collapsible or hideable).

Where do I get an AI key?

Readfine is bring-your-own-key: you create a key with one of the providers and paste it into Settings → AI. It's stored encrypted and used only for your own requests.

What is relevance scoring?

With an AI key, Readfine scores incoming articles against your interest profile: a short description of what you care about, which you write yourself or have the AI generate from the articles you've read, in Settings → AI. Combine scoring with a filter (e.g. mark anything below a threshold as read) to keep your list focused.

How do Catch me up & briefings work?

Catch me up generates an on-demand digest of articles from a period and scope you choose. A briefing is the same thing on a schedule, delivered to your inbox. Both need an AI key. Set them up under Catch me up & briefings in the reader.

Is my data private?

Your account, feeds and API keys are yours alone; keys are stored encrypted. See the Privacy Policy for details on what data is held and your rights.