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  "path": "/2026/07/01/today-recent-fading-the-inkwell.html",
  "publishedAt": "2026-07-01T18:48:15Z",
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  "textContent": "So my RSS tab in Perch runs on Inkwell, Micro.blog’s RSS reader, using my micro.blog token. Inkwell’s own apps have this thing where posts are split into three tabs — Today, Recent, and Fading — and stuff just naturally ages out instead of turning into a giant unread pile. Manton talked about this when he introduced Inkwell. Honestly it’s one of my favorite ideas in any feed reader, and I really wanted that same feel inside Perch, not just in Inkwell’s own app. Turns out that wasn’t a quick copy-paste though. Inkwell’s API just gives you a flat list of entries with timestamps — no “bucket” built in. So I had to rebuild that whole Today/Recent/Fading thing from scratch. Took hours to get right, honestly no easy task. But it paid off — Perch’s RSS view now sorts everything into Today, Recent, or Fading just like Inkwell’s own app does, and lets old stuff quietly drop off. I actually finally caught up on all the RSS that’s been sitting in Inkwell somewhere, which felt pretty great. Side note on where that API even came from: there’s no real standard for this kind of feed/read-state API, so Manton basically modeled Inkwell’s after Feedbin’s. In his own words: \"There’s not really a standard yet for feed management and tracking post unread state. Everyone rolls their own thing, so I based most of this API off Feedbin. Microsub API is probably the closest fit. I’d like to support that later. — Manton Reece, micro.blog/manton/86076437\" That’s kind of why building this took real effort — no documented pattern to follow, just figuring it out. Now, categories — this is the one Inkwell just doesn’t have at all, not in the app, not in the API. Feeds are just a flat list over there. So I built my own version. Categories live in a Notion database, keyed by feed URL, so I only have to tag a feed once and every entry from it picks up the category automatically. You can set a category from a popover on any card, or from a slide-in panel, and then filter your feed down to just one topic. That same panel also has a Sources tab — just a plain list of everything you’re subscribed to, so you can filter to one specific feed just as easily. There’s a one-way sync keeping Inkwell and Notion in step so neither one messes up the other — Inkwell’s still the truth for what you’re subscribed to, Notion’s the truth for how it’s organized. All together, this setup just works for me. Today/Recent/Fading for pacing, categories and sources for organizing, all sitting on top of Inkwell instead of replacing it. Kind of feels like a Feedly/Inkwell mashup at this point. Categories/tags are honestly the one thing I keep hoping Inkwell adds on its own someday — until then, this is how I get there myself. Today, Recent, and Fading in the RSS feedCategory listSource list",
  "title": "Today, Recent, Fading: The Inkwell Idea I Couldn't Leave Alone",
  "updatedAt": "2026-07-01T18:48:48Z"
}