Table of Contents:
- Why do you require a PostgreSQL instance to run?
- Why mix Nostr and RSS feeds?
- How this Nostr client has so many unexpected features?
- Why Noflux stores favicons into the database?
- How to create themes for Noflux?
- Why there is no plugin system?
- What is “Save this article”?
- How are items removed from the database?
- What “Flush History” does?
- Which binary do I need to use on my Raspberry Pi?
- Which Debian package architecture should I use for my Raspberry Pi?
- Which binary do I need to use on Scaleway ARM machines?
- Which Docker architecture should I use?
- Why SQL migrations are not executed automatically?
- How to backup my data?
Why mix Nostr and RSS feeds? ¶
Nostr’s NIP-23 works very much like RSS, it’s well suited for longer articles meant to be read asynchronously, like blog posts, and these articles can be fetched in a single Nostr request. The RSS approach to reading such articles is unmatched, therefore it only makes sense to include Nostr NIP-23 articles here alongside Atom and JSON feeds.
How this Nostr client has so many unexpected features? ¶
Noflux is a fork of Miniflux, an RSS feed reader that exists since 2017 and has been perfecting itself since then and adding all sorts of interesting features and integrations.
The rest of this FAQ is mostly a copy of Miniflux’s FAQ.
Why do you require a PostgreSQL instance to run? ¶
This was a design choice of Miniflux and we kept it even though it is annoying and makes things harder to run locally. In the future we may optionally embed a Postgres instance within the binary using PGlite and things will be brighter.
Why Noflux stores favicons into the database? ¶
Noflux follows the the Twelve Factors principle. Nothing is stored on the local file system. The application is designed to run on ephemeral containers without persistent storage.
How to create themes for Noflux? ¶
As of now, Noflux doesn’t have any mechanism to load external stylesheets to avoid dependencies. Themes are embedded into the binary.
If you would like to submit a new official theme, you must send a pull-request. But do not forget that you will have to maintain your theme over the time, otherwise, your theme will be removed from the code base.
Why there is no plugin system? ¶
- Because this software has a minimalist approach.
- Because implementing a plugin system increase the complexity of the software.
- Because people do not maintain their plugins after a while.
What is "Save this article"? ¶
“Save” sends the feed entry to third-party services like Pinboard or Instapaper if configured.
How are items removed from the database? ¶
Entry status in the database follows this flow: read -> unread -> removed.
Entries marked as removed are not visible in the web UI. They are deleted from the database only when they are no longer visible in the original feed.
Entries marked as favorites are never deleted (column starred in the entries table).
Data retention is also controlled with the variables CLEANUP_ARCHIVE_UNREAD_DAYS and CLEANUP_ARCHIVE_READ_DAYS.
Keep in mind that Postgres needs to run the VACUUM command to reclaim disk space.
What "Flush History" does? ¶
“Flush History” changes the status of entries from “read” to “removed” (except for bookmarks). Entries with the status “removed” are not visible in the user interface.
Which binary do I need to use on my Raspberry Pi? ¶
| Raspberry Pi Model | Noflux Binary |
|---|---|
| A, A+, B, B+, Zero | noflux-linux-armv6 (32 bits) |
| 2 and 3 | noflux-linux-armv7 (32 bits) |
| 3 and 4 | noflux-linux-arm64 (64 bits) |
Which Debian package architecture should I use for my Raspberry Pi? ¶
| Raspberry Pi Model | Debian Package Architecture |
|---|---|
| A, A+, B, B+, Zero | Not supported yet |
| 2 and 3 | armhf (32 bits) |
| 3 and 4 | arm64 (64 bits) |
Which binary do I need to use on Scaleway ARM machines? ¶
| Server Type | Noflux Binary | uname -m |
|---|---|---|
| Scaleway C1 | noflux-linux-armv6 | armv7l |
| Scaleway ARM64 | noflux-linux-armv8 | aarch64 |
Which Docker architecture should I use? ¶
Pulling the latest tag or a specific version should download the correct image according to your machine.
| Docker Architecture | uname -m | Example |
|---|---|---|
| amd64 | x86_64 | |
| arm32v6 | armhf | Raspberry Pi |
| arm32v6 | armv7l | Scaleway C1 |
| arm64v8 | aarch64 | Scaleway ARM64 |
If you use the wrong architecture, Docker will returns an error like this one:
standard_init_linux.go:178: exec user process caused "exec format error"
Why SQL migrations are not executed automatically? ¶
- Because it’s a source of problems.
- Only one process should manipulate the database schema at once.
- If you run multiple containers with an orchestrator that may cause issues.
- You can still run the migrations by defining the variable
RUN_MIGRATIONS=1.
How to backup my data? ¶
Refer to the official Postgres documentation for details about backing up and restoring a Postgres database.
Basic SQL dump example:
# Backup
pg_dump noflux -f noflux.dump
# Restore
psql noflux < noflux.dump
There many other options available, refer to the official documentation of pg_dump and pg_restore.