tmux-newsboat

December 18, 2021 ยท View on GitHub

Display newsboat counters in tmux status line.

Add plugin to the list of TPM plugins in .tmux.conf:

set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-newsboat'

Hit prefix + I to fetch the plugin and source it. You should now be able to use the plugin.

Manual Installation

Clone the repo:

$ git clone https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tmux-newsboat ~/clone/path

Add this line to the bottom of .tmux.conf:

run-shell ~/clone/path/newsboat.tmux

Reload TMUX environment with: $ tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf. You should now be able to use the plugin.

Additional installation steps

After installing the plugin, there are a couple more installation steps:

  • Ensure newsboat has the following config:
auto-reload yes   # fetch new content when starting program
reload-time 10    # fetch new content every 10 minutes
notify-always yes # update tmux counters after every fetch
notify-format "%d %n %f"
notify-program "<plugin-installation-dir>/bin/tmux-newsboat"

Where <plugin-installation-dir> from the above will most likely be

  • ~/.tmux/plugins/tmux-newsboat

  • or ~/.config/tmux/plugins/tmux-newsboat

  • Add one or more supported format strings to tmux's status-right (or `status-left if that's your thing):

    • #{newsboat_new_articles}
    • #{newsboat_unread_articles}
    • #{newsboat_unread_feeds}

  • NOTE: this plugin assumes you have a running newsboat instance in a tmux pane all the time. This way newsboat will periodically fetch new content and update tmux counters.

FAQ

  • Q: I read all the articles in newsboat, but tmux counters are not all zero?
    A: tmux-newsboat counters are updated only when newsboat refreshes. That happens in two cases:

    • When newsboat periodically fetches new content. The interval is set with reload-time option (good value is 10 => 10 minutes).
    • Or when you manually refresh by hitting R.

    After reading all the articles, it is recommended to manually refresh by pressing R. The counters should update within a couple seconds.

  • Q: Tmux counters update only when I open newsboat?
    A: This plugin assumes you have newsboat open in a tmux pane all the time. It also requires newsboat option reload-time to be set (good value is 10 => 10 minutes) so that newsboat fetches new content periodically, and updates tmux counters.

License

MIT