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timqian/my-headline-crawler

Analysis updated 2026-07-18 · repo last pushed 2016-12-31

36HTMLAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5DormantSetup · moderate

TLDR

A small script that automatically scrapes headlines from websites, saves them as JSON, and pushes them to GitHub to power a personal headline dashboard site.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Scrapes headlines
      Saves JSON data
      Pushes to GitHub
    Tech stack
      HTML
      Crontab
      JSON
    Use cases
      Personal news dashboard
      Automated headline feed
      Content curation
    Audience
      Bloggers
      Founders
      Hobbyists

Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Build a personalized news dashboard that updates automatically every day.

USE CASE 2

Curate headlines from multiple websites into a single feed on your own site.

USE CASE 3

Automate web scraping and publishing so you never have to check sites manually.

What is it built with?

HTMLJSONCrontab

How does it compare?

timqian/my-headline-crawleraaaa-zhen/siri-glslicydotdev/pocket
Stars363636
LanguageHTMLHTMLHTML
Last pushed2016-12-31
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultymoderateeasyeasy
Complexity2/52/51/5
Audiencegeneraldesignerdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires a server with crontab access and configuration of GitHub push credentials for automatic updates.

In plain English

my-headline-crawler is a small tool that automatically collects headline information from a website and saves it in a structured format. The end result is displayed on a personal site at timqian.com/my-headline, giving the project author a customized feed of headlines gathered from around the web. The way it works is straightforward. The script visits a target website, extracts the relevant text or data from that page, and organizes it into a JSON file. JSON is a standard format that makes data easy for websites and apps to read. Once the data file is created, the script pushes it to a GitHub repository, which effectively updates the public website where the headlines are displayed. This type of tool is typically used by someone who wants to build a personalized news or headline dashboard. Instead of manually checking various websites every day, the creator can rely on this automated script to fetch the information and update their site on a regular schedule. It is a practical solution for a founder, blogger, or hobbyist who wants to curate and display specific web content with minimal ongoing manual effort. One notable aspect of the project is how it uses a scheduled task to run entirely on autopilot. The README includes a crontab command, which is a standard way to tell a server computer to execute a script at a specific time. In this case, the script is set to run at 3:30 PM every day. This means the headline collection happens automatically in the background without any human intervention required.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Write a crontab entry that runs a Node.js script at 8 AM every day to scrape headlines and commit the JSON to a GitHub repo.
Prompt 2
Build a simple HTML page that fetches a headlines.json file from a GitHub repository and displays the headlines as a list.
Prompt 3
Create a web scraper that extracts the main headline text from a news website and saves it into a JSON file with a timestamp.

Frequently asked questions

What is my-headline-crawler?

A small script that automatically scrapes headlines from websites, saves them as JSON, and pushes them to GitHub to power a personal headline dashboard site.

What language is my-headline-crawler written in?

Mainly HTML. The stack also includes HTML, JSON, Crontab.

Is my-headline-crawler actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2016-12-31).

How hard is my-headline-crawler to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is my-headline-crawler for?

Mainly general.

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