A feed turns red when Feeder fails to fetch it four times in a row. A gray feed is paused because it's over your plan's limit. Most red feeds are a problem on the site's side, and Feeder keeps trying: when the site works again, the feed goes back to normal by itself.
What do red and gray feeds mean?
| You see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A red feed name in the web app or extension, or a Feed error tag in Library | Feeder couldn't fetch the feed on its last four checks. | Check the error, as shown below. |
| A gray feed name with a warning sign, or a Disabled tag in Library | You follow more feeds, or more AI feeds, than your plan includes. Feeder pauses the ones you added last. | Remove feeds you don't read, or upgrade. Free includes 200 feeds and 3 AI feeds. Plus is $7.99 a month, billed yearly, for 2,500 feeds and 30 AI feeds. |
How do I see why a feed is red?
- Right-click the red feed in your feed list, or hover over it and select More (the three dots).
- Select Check error. The Source checkup page shows the latest errors and when they happened.
What does each feed error mean?
| The error says | What it means | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| "blocked by Cloudflare" or "blocked by a firewall" | The site's bot protection blocks Feeder. | Ask the site owner to allow Feeder. This guide has an e-mail you can send. |
| "forbidden (403)", or another code such as 401 or 406 | The site refuses Feeder, often for the same reason, sometimes because the feed needs a login. | If the feed opens in your browser, ask the site to allow Feeder. Feeds behind a login usually can't be followed. |
| "404 Not Found", or "could not be reached" | The feed or the whole site moved or is gone. | Find the site's current feed and replace the old one. |
| "error (500)", "timed out" or "unable to fetch the feed" | The site is down, slow or overloaded. | Wait. This is usually temporary. |
| "could not be parsed" | Feeder downloaded the file, but it isn't a valid feed. | See The feed is not valid. |
| "too many requests" | The site limits how often it can be checked. | Set a slower Update speed for the feed. |
| "The elements we are monitoring couldn't be found" or "We couldn't find any posts on the page" | The page behind your custom feed or AI feed changed. | For a custom feed, select Edit source and pick the part of the page again. For an AI feed, add the page again. |
YouTube feeds often fail between 01:00 and 07:00 UTC and recover on their own.
When should I replace the feed?
When the error is 404, the site can't be reached, or the feed stays red for over a week while the site works in your browser:
- Select Add feed and paste the site's address to find its current feed. See Adding feeds.
- Follow the new feed.
- Right-click the red feed and select Delete feed.
If the site has no working feed, choose Create a custom RSS feed for this website instead.
What is the "Oh no! Some of your feeds stopped working" e-mail?
Feeder sends it when Notify me when my feeds stop working is on (Settings, Advanced) and a feed you follow has been red for at least a day. Each feed in the e-mail links to its Source checkup page. To stop these e-mails, select Turn off feed health emails at the bottom of the e-mail, or turn the setting off.
Common questions
Does a red feed fix itself?
Often, yes. Feeder keeps checking a red feed, at most once an hour, and once a day after a week without success. One good check turns it back to normal. Deleting the feed and adding it again doesn't help, because everyone who follows a feed shares it.
Why does the feed work in my browser or in another reader?
Bot protection often lets people in browsers through but blocks servers, and Feeder checks feeds from its servers. Other readers use other servers, check at other times, or show a saved copy.
What if all my feeds stop at once?
Then the problem is probably ours. Check status.feeder.co.
Still stuck? E-mail support@feeder.co with the feed's address and a screenshot of the error, especially if it stays red for days while it works in your browser.