getstream/winds

★ 9,121JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 4/5LicenseSetup · hard

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      RSS feed reader
      Podcast player
      Teaching reference
    Tech stack
      React and Redux
      Express and Node
      MongoDB and Redis
      Electron desktop
    Third-party services
      Stream activity feeds
      Algolia search
      SendGrid email
    Audience
      JS developers
      Self-hosters

mindmap root((repo)) What it does RSS feed reader Podcast player Teaching reference Tech stack React and Redux Express and Node MongoDB and Redis Electron desktop Third-party services Stream activity feeds Algolia search SendGrid email Audience JS developers Self-hosters

Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Study a complete React, Node.js, and MongoDB app to understand how frontend, backend, and database layers connect.

USE CASE 2

Self-host your own RSS feed reader and podcast player instead of using a third-party service.

USE CASE 3

Follow the linked tutorials to learn how to add search, Redis caching, email, and Electron desktop packaging to a JavaScript app.

Tech stack

JavaScriptReactReduxNode.jsExpress.jsMongoDBRedisElectron

Getting it running

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Requires Stream and Algolia accounts plus local MongoDB and Redis, all have free tiers but must be configured before the app will start.

Fully open source, use, copy, and modify the code freely.

In plain English

Winds is an open source RSS reader and podcast player with a polished interface, built to show what a well-designed open source app looks like using modern JavaScript tools. RSS is a format that lets websites publish a feed of their latest content, and an RSS reader collects those feeds in one place so you can read articles from many sites without visiting each one individually. Winds handles both articles and podcast audio in the same app. The README notes upfront that this repository is no longer maintained, so no new issues or pull requests are being accepted. It remains useful as a reference codebase and as a working app for anyone who wants to run their own copy. The frontend is built with React and Redux, two JavaScript libraries commonly used for building interactive web interfaces. The backend runs on Express.js, a Node.js framework for building web servers. Data is stored in MongoDB. Several third-party services handle specific functions: Algolia powers search, Stream handles personalized activity feeds and follow suggestions, SendGrid handles email, and AWS provides hosting. Running the app locally requires setting up accounts with Stream and Algolia, both of which offer free tiers, and then filling in the credentials in a configuration file. The project also requires MongoDB and Redis running on your machine. The README includes setup instructions for macOS using Homebrew. Beyond just being an RSS reader, Winds was built partly as a teaching tool. The repository links to a series of blog posts and tutorials covering topics like integrating search, building REST APIs, deploying with Docker, optimizing performance with Redis, and publishing a desktop app with Electron. The desktop version is built with Electron, which packages web apps as native desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The project is 100 percent open source. Anyone wanting to explore how a production-quality JavaScript application is structured across frontend, backend, and desktop layers can use this codebase as a reference.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Using the Winds codebase as a reference, show me how to structure an Express.js REST API with MongoDB connected to a React frontend.

Prompt 2

Walk me through the Winds project folder structure so I understand how the React frontend, Express backend, and MongoDB database are organized.

Prompt 3

Help me set up Stream and Algolia accounts and configure the Winds RSS reader app to run locally on my Mac.

Prompt 4

Show me how the Winds app uses the Stream API to power personalized activity feeds and follow suggestions.

Prompt 5

Help me package a React web app as a desktop application using Electron, following the same approach as the Winds project.

Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

← getstream on gitmyhub — every repo by this author, as a profile.

Verify against the repo before relying on details.