How to structure your RSS Feed for DEV.to Ingestion
A guide to formatting an RSS 2.0 feed so DEV.to imports your articles, images, and tags with zero formatting errors. 1. Quick Checklist: What to Do [ ] Wrap full article HTML inside <content:encoded><![CDATA[...]]></content:encoded> . [ ] Convert all image src , srcset , and link href attributes to absolute URLs ( https://domain.com/... ). [ ] Sanitize tags ( <category> ): alphanumeric only ( a-z0-9 ), max 20 chars, max 4 tags per post. [ ] Provide a unique <guid isPermaLink="true"> to prevent duplicate imports. [ ] Provide cover images via <enclosure> and as the first <img> inside <content:encoded> . [ ] In DEV Settings, keep "Mark RSS source as canonical" checked and "Replace self-referential links" unchecked. 2. RSS Field Reference <item> Fields Field Requirement What It Does on DEV.to <title> Required Article headline. Escape XML special characters. <link> Required Canonical link back to original post. <guid> Required Unique ID. Prevents re-importing duplicates on sync. <content:encoded> Required Full HTML body wrapped in <![CDATA[...]]> . Converted to Markdown by DEV. <description> Fallback Excerpt/summary. Used as body only if <content:encoded> is missing. <pubDate> Recommended UTC date ( Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:00:00 GMT ). Sets publication/draft date. <category> Optional (Max 4) Becomes post tags. Must be alphanumeric and $\le$ 20 chars. <enclosure> Optional Sets the post's cover/hero image ( type="image/webp" or image/png ). <author> Optional email@domain.com (Author Name) 3. Strict Formatting Rules Rule 1: Tags ( <category> ) DEV.to rejects or corrupts tags that don't match [a-zA-Z0-9] : Remove special chars: next.js $\rightarrow$ nextjs , web-dev $\rightarrow$ webdev , c# $\rightarrow$ csharp . Truncate: Maximum 20 characters per tag. Limit: Maximum 4 tags per post. Rule 2: Images & Links (Must Be Absolute) DEV.to cannot resolve relative paths like /images/hero.png . ❌ <img src="/images/hero.png"> ✅ <img src="https://yourdomain.com/images/hero.png"> ❌ <a href