Feeds guide
Atom feed required elements checklist
Build the smallest conforming Atom feed, satisfy feed and entry requirements, and handle author and content rules without RSS assumptions.
7 min read · Updated 2026-08-21
The short answer
An Atom feed needs one id, title, and updated element in the Atom namespace. Each entry also needs id, title, and updated, plus content or an alternate link, while author information must be available from the entry or its feed context. Validate namespace and RFC 3339 timestamps before adding extensions.Start with the feed-level identity
The feed root belongs to http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom and requires id, title, and updated. The id is a stable identifier rather than necessarily the feed URL; updated records the most recent meaningful change to the feed.
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<id>https://example.com/feed</id>
<title>Example updates</title>
<updated>2026-08-21T10:00:00Z</updated>
<author><name>Ada Example</name></author>
<entry>
<id>https://example.com/posts/1</id><title>First post</title>
<updated>2026-08-21T09:30:00Z</updated>
<link rel="alternate" href="https://example.com/posts/1"/>
</entry>
</feed>Give every entry a stable contract
Each entry requires id, title, and updated. It also needs content unless an alternate link supplies the content elsewhere. published is optional and records the original publication instant; updated is required and changes when the entry changes meaningfully.
- Keep id stable when the title, URL, or content changes.
- Use RFC 3339 timestamps such as 2026-08-21T10:00:00Z.
- Provide content, or provide an alternate link when the full representation lives elsewhere.
- Do not copy RSS's RFC 822 date spelling into Atom.
Resolve author and link context
Author can be inherited from the containing feed when an entry has none. A feed with entries that have no author therefore needs feed-level author information. Add a rel=self link so consumers can identify the feed's own canonical URL.
Atom extensions must use their own namespaces. Unknown extension elements should not displace required Atom children or reuse the Atom namespace for application fields.
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