Pressmark

Self-hosted RSS aggregator with a public community feed.

Subscribe to RSS sources, get your personal chronological feed, like and bookmark articles. The public community page — articles liked by users — is open to anyone without an account.

Screenshots

Community	Feed

Subscriptions	Bookmarks

Features

Personal feed — subscribe to any RSS source, track read/unread status
Public community page — top-liked articles from the last N days, visible without an account
Like & bookmark — like articles to surface them on the community page; bookmark privately for later
Admin panel — configure site name, community window, moderate content, view user list
One-command setup — docker compose up starts the full stack
Invite-only mode — optionally restrict registration (configurable in admin)
Comments — discuss articles with other users; subscribe to per-article comment threads for email notifications
Daily digest — opt-in daily email with the top community articles (configured per-user in Subscriptions)

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Backend	.NET 10 · ASP.NET Core · gRPC (`Grpc.AspNetCore`)
Frontend	React 19 · TypeScript (strict) · Vite
UI	TailwindCSS v4 · shadcn/ui · lucide-react
State	Zustand
Forms	react-hook-form + zod
i18n	react-i18next (18 locales)
API transport	gRPC-web (`@connectrpc/connect-web`, no Envoy needed)
Database	MSSQL · EF Core 10 (Code First)
Authentication	JWT — access token in memory + httpOnly refresh cookie
Infrastructure	Docker · Docker Compose · nginx
CI/CD	GitHub Actions

Local Development

Prerequisites: .NET 10 SDK · Node.js 22

You need a running MSSQL instance — either local or Docker:

Setup	Host port	How to get MSSQL running
Docker	`1434`	`docker compose up db -d` (requires Docker)
Local MSSQL installed	`1433`	Already running — change port to `1433` in `launchSettings.json` and `launch.json`

The default connection string (sa / Dev_Password1!) targets Docker on port 1434 and is pre-configured in launchSettings.json and .vscode/launch.json. If using a local SQL Server instance, change 1434 → 1433 in ConnectionStrings__Default in both files.

Migrations are applied automatically on startup — no manual dotnet ef step required.

Option A — VS Code (recommended)

Open the repo folder in VS Code.
Install recommended extensions when prompted (.vscode/extensions.json).
Ensure MSSQL is running:
- Docker — open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → Tasks: Run Task → db: start. This runs docker compose up db -d and maps MSSQL to localhost:1434.
- Local MSSQL installed — already running on localhost:1433; change the port in launchSettings.json and .vscode/launch.json (1434 → 1433).
Select Full Stack (API + Vite) and press F5.

This runs the .NET API with the debugger attached and launches the Vite dev server. Breakpoints work in both the C# and TypeScript code simultaneously.

Option B — terminal

# 1. Ensure MSSQL is running
#    Docker:       docker compose up db -d  (available at localhost:1434)
#    Local MSSQL:  already running at localhost:1433 — update port in launchSettings.json

# 2. Start the API (migrations apply automatically on first run)
dotnet run --project src/Pressmark.Api
# gRPC server at http://localhost:5000
# Check that server started at http://localhost:5000/health

# 3. Start the frontend  (separate terminal)
cd src/pressmark-web
npm install
npm run dev
# Open http://localhost:5173
# Vite proxies /grpc/* → http://localhost:5000 automatically

Connecting a database client

Once the Docker MSSQL container is running (docker compose up db -d), connect with any SQL client:

Setting	Value
Server	`localhost,1434`
Login	`sa`
Password	`Dev_Password1!`
Trust server certificate	Yes

Compatible tools: Azure Data Studio, SSMS, DBeaver, DataGrip.

Debugging tips

Backend (C#):

VS Code attaches the .NET debugger automatically via launch.json.
To attach to an already-running process: Run → Attach to Process → select dotnet.
Structured logs appear in the Debug Console; set Logging:LogLevel:Default to Debug in appsettings.Development.json for verbose output.

Frontend (TypeScript):

Vite source maps are enabled in dev mode — set breakpoints directly in .tsx files inside VS Code.
gRPC-web calls use plain HTTP/1.1 and are visible in the browser Network tab as POST requests to /grpc/<ServiceName>/<MethodName>.
The Zustand devtools middleware exposes all store state in the Redux DevTools browser extension.

Deployment

Prerequisites: a Linux server (or any host) with Docker and Docker Compose installed.

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/lopatnov/pressmark.git
cd pressmark

2. Configure environment variables

A .env file with development defaults is included in the repository. It works out of the box for local use. Before deploying to production, edit .env and change:

Variable	What to set
`MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD`	Strong SA password (uppercase + lowercase + digit + symbol)
`JWT_SECRET`	Random secret, min 32 chars — `openssl rand -base64 32`
`CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS`	Your public domain, e.g. `https://your-domain.com`

The remaining variables in .env have sensible defaults and rarely need changing.

3. Configure the database

By default, docker-compose.yml starts a bundled MSSQL container. If you prefer to use an existing database (Azure SQL, a managed server, or a local instance), follow the instructions in the comments at the top of the db service in docker-compose.yml — they walk through removing the bundled container and pointing the API at an external server.

The connection string format is:

Server=<host>,<port>;Database=pressmark;User Id=<user>;Password=<pass>;TrustServerCertificate=True

For local development without Docker, edit src/Pressmark.Api/Properties/launchSettings.json and update the ConnectionStrings__Default value there.

EF Core applies migrations automatically on startup. To run them manually:

dotnet ef database update --project src/Pressmark.Api

4. Start the stack

docker compose up -d

This starts:

db — Microsoft SQL Server
api — .NET gRPC server (applies migrations on startup)
web — nginx serving the React SPA and proxying /grpc/* to the API
db-backup — daily SQL Server backup (writes .bak files to a Docker volume)

Open http://your-server-ip. The first registered account automatically becomes Admin.

5. HTTPS (recommended)

The nginx config and Docker Compose file contain commented-out instructions for enabling TLS:

nginx/nginx.conf — uncomment the server { listen 443 ssl; ... } block and fill in your certificate paths.
docker-compose.yml — uncomment the "443:443" port mapping in the web service.

Certificates can be obtained via Let's Encrypt / certbot and mounted as a read-only volume into the web container (see the comment in nginx/nginx.conf).

Architecture

Browser
  │  gRPC-web (Connect protocol over HTTP/1.1)
  ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│  Dev:  Vite dev server  :5173   │
│  Prod: nginx            :80     │
│        /         → React SPA    │
│        /grpc/*   → API proxy    │
└──────────────┬───────────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  .NET 10 gRPC Server  :5000               │
│  ├── AuthService        (Register/Login)   │
│  ├── SubscriptionService                   │
│  ├── FeedService        (feed, likes, …)   │
│  ├── AdminService       (role=Admin only)  │
│  ├── RssFetcherService  (polls RSS feeds)  │
│  ├── CleanupService     (prunes old items) │
│  └── DailyDigestService (email digests)   │
└──────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
               │  EF Core (Code First)
               ▼
       Microsoft SQL Server

No Envoy proxy needed — app.UseGrpcWeb() on the .NET side handles the browser-to-gRPC translation.

Project Structure

pressmark/
├── proto/                    # gRPC contracts (source of truth)
│   ├── auth.proto
│   ├── subscription.proto
│   ├── feed.proto
│   └── admin.proto
├── src/
│   ├── Pressmark.Api/        # .NET 10 gRPC server
│   │   ├── Entities/         # EF Core entities
│   │   ├── Data/             # AppDbContext + migrations
│   │   ├── Services/         # gRPC service implementations
│   │   └── Program.cs
│   ├── Pressmark.Api.Tests/  # xUnit + Moq
│   └── pressmark-web/        # React SPA (Vite)
│       └── src/
│           ├── pages/        # CommunityPage, FeedPage, AdminPage, …
│           ├── components/   # UI components, Sidebar, AppLayout
│           ├── store/        # Zustand stores
│           ├── router/       # Routes, ProtectedRoute, AdminRoute
│           └── i18n/         # Locale files
├── nginx/nginx.conf           # Prod: static SPA + gRPC proxy
├── docker-compose.yml
└── .vscode/                   # Launch configs + recommended extensions

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`ConnectionStrings__Default`	(required)	MSSQL connection string
`Jwt__Secret`	(required)	JWT signing secret — min 32 chars, change this!
`Jwt__ExpiryMinutes`	`15`	Access token lifetime (minutes)
`Jwt__RefreshExpiryDays`	`7`	Refresh token lifetime (days)
`Jwt__RefreshCookieName`	`refresh_token`	Name of the httpOnly refresh cookie
`Cors__AllowedOrigins`	`http://localhost:5173`	Allowed CORS origins
`RssFetcher__IntervalMinutes`	`15`	How often to poll RSS feeds
`RssFetcher__MaxItemsPerFeed`	`50`	Maximum items fetched per feed per poll
`App__BaseUrl`	`http://localhost:5173`	Public base URL — used in email links (password reset, comment notifications, digest)

Running Tests

# Backend
dotnet test

# Frontend (TypeScript type-check + build)
cd src/pressmark-web && npm run build

Adding a Migration

dotnet ef migrations add <MigrationName> --project src/Pressmark.Api
dotnet ef database update --project src/Pressmark.Api

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening a pull request.

Bug reports → open an issue
Found it useful? A star on GitHub helps others discover the project

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 163 Commits
.github		.github
.vscode		.vscode
docs/images		docs/images
nginx		nginx
proto		proto
src		src
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.env		.env
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
Pressmark.slnx		Pressmark.slnx
README.md		README.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
_config.yml		_config.yml
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml

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Pressmark

Screenshots

Features

Tech Stack

Local Development

Option A — VS Code (recommended)

Option B — terminal

Connecting a database client

Debugging tips

Deployment

1. Clone the repository

2. Configure environment variables

3. Configure the database

4. Start the stack

5. HTTPS (recommended)

Architecture

Project Structure

Environment Variables

Running Tests

Adding a Migration

Contributing

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Pressmark

Screenshots

Features

Tech Stack

Local Development

Option A — VS Code (recommended)

Option B — terminal

Connecting a database client

Debugging tips

Deployment

1. Clone the repository

2. Configure environment variables

3. Configure the database

4. Start the stack

5. HTTPS (recommended)

Architecture

Project Structure

Environment Variables

Running Tests

Adding a Migration

Contributing

License

About

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