News MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that aggregates news from multiple sources:

• Hacker News (top, best, new stories)

• RSS Feeds (configurable)

• Twitter (planned)

• Bluesky (planned)

Features

• 📰 Multiple news sources in one place

• 💾 SQLite caching for fast access and offline reading

• 🔍 Search across all cached items

• ⚙️ Easy configuration via JSON

• 🔄 Automatic feed refresh

Related MCP server: harness-feed-mcp

Installation

cd ~/src/news-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

Configuration

Project-Specific Setup (Recommended)

This project includes a .claude/mcp_settings.json file that automatically enables the news MCP server when you open Claude Code in this directory.

To use:

1. Open a new terminal

2. Navigate to this directory: cd ~/src/news-mcp-server

3. Start Claude Code in this directory

4. The news MCP server will be automatically available!

Global Configuration (Optional)

If you want the news server available in all Claude Code sessions, add this to your global Claude Code MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "news": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/Users/norm.provost/src/news-mcp-server/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

RSS Feed Configuration

Create config/feeds.json (see config/feeds.json.example for template):

{
  "rss_feeds": [
    {
      "name": "techcrunch",
      "url": "https://techcrunch.com/feed/",
      "refresh_interval_minutes": 30
    }
  ]
}

Usage

Available Resources

Access feeds directly as resources:

• feed://hackernews - Hacker News top stories

• feed://rss:techcrunch - Specific RSS feed

• feed://all - All sources combined

Available Tools

list_sources

List all configured feed sources.

get_feed

Fetch latest items from sources.

Parameters:
- source (optional): "hackernews", "rss:techcrunch", or "all"
- limit (optional): Max items to return (default: 30)
- hours_ago (optional): Only return items from last N hours

refresh_cache

Refresh cached data by fetching from sources.

Parameters:
- source (optional): Specific source to refresh, or all if not specified

search_all

Search across all cached items.

Parameters:
- query (required): Search query
- limit (optional): Max results (default: 50)

add_rss_feed

Add a new RSS feed source.

Parameters:
- name (required): Feed name (e.g., "techcrunch")
- url (required): RSS feed URL

remove_rss_feed

Remove an RSS feed source.

Parameters:
- name (required): Feed name to remove

Examples

In Claude Code

# Refresh Hacker News cache and read it
refresh_cache with source=hackernews
get_feed with source=hackernews limit=10

# Add a new RSS feed
add_rss_feed with name=arstechnica url=https://feeds.arstechnica.com/arstechnica/index

# Search for AI-related articles
search_all with query=AI limit=20

# Get recent items from all sources
get_feed with source=all hours_ago=24

Database

Feed items are cached in cache.db (SQLite). Old items are automatically cleaned after 7 days.

Development

# Build
npm run build

# Watch mode for development
npm run watch

Future Enhancements

• Twitter integration (requires API key)

• Bluesky AT Protocol integration

• Automatic periodic refresh

• Custom filters and rules

• Export functionality

• Web interface for configuration

Architecture

src/
├── index.ts              # Main MCP server
├── types.ts              # TypeScript types
├── sources/
│   ├── base.ts           # Source interface
│   ├── hackernews.ts     # Hacker News API
│   └── rss.ts            # RSS parser
└── storage/
    ├── database.ts       # SQLite operations
    └── config.ts         # Feed configuration

License

MIT