Structured identity for syndication feeds.

Byline is an open specification that extends RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed with author context. It solves content collapse: when content from a personal blog, a corporate press release, and a satirical newsletter arrive in your feed reader, they look identical. Byline gives readers the context they need.

The canonical specification lives at bylinespec.org/spec.

This repository contains:

• SPEC.md - The full specification (mirrored from the website)
• examples/ - Sample feeds in RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed formats
• LICENSE - CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain)

<rss version="2.0" xmlns:byline="https://bylinespec.org/1.0">
  <channel>
    <title>My Blog</title>

    <byline:contributors>
      <byline:person id="me">
        <byline:name>Your Name</byline:name>
        <byline:context>Writer and developer based in Portland.</byline:context>
      </byline:person>
    </byline:contributors>

    <item>
      <title>My Post</title>
      <byline:author ref="me"/>
      <byline:perspective>personal</byline:perspective>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

1. Progressive enhancement - Feeds work without Byline. Readers that don't support it degrade gracefully.
2. Decentralized identity - No registries. Identity through URIs and linked profiles.
3. Format agnostic - Equal support for RSS 2.0, Atom, and JSON Feed.
4. Privacy respecting - No tracking. Pseudonymous identities fully supported.

• Publishers: Implementation guide
• Feed readers: Parsing guide
• Platforms/CMS: Integration guide

See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to participate.

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Open an issue.

Want to list your implementation? Open an issue and we'll add it to the website.

Created by Terry Godier, an indie iOS developer building Current, an RSS reader designed around the river-of-news philosophy. Byline grew out of the problem Current was trying to solve: when every feed item looks the same, readers lose context.

This specification is released under CC0 1.0 Universal. You are free to use, adapt, and build upon this work without restriction.