feat: add rss_enabled user setting to toggle RSS functionality

RSS is now off by default. When disabled:
- Scheduler skips RSS feed sync during compilation slot
- Briefing pipeline skips RSS item gathering
- RSS LLM tools (get_rss_items, add_rss_feed) are hidden
- API routes return empty results for feeds/news
- Frontend hides News nav link, RSS Feeds and News Preferences in settings
- Briefing view hides news sidebar section

Toggle in Settings > Briefing > RSS / News.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { useTheme } from "@/composables/useTheme";
 import { useShortcuts } from "@/composables/useShortcuts";
 import { useAuthStore } from "@/stores/auth";
 import { useChatStore } from "@/stores/chat";
+import { useSettingsStore } from "@/stores/settings";
 import AppLogo from "@/components/AppLogo.vue";
 import NotificationBell from "@/components/NotificationBell.vue";
 
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ const { theme, toggleTheme } = useTheme();
 const { toggleShortcuts } = useShortcuts();
 const authStore = useAuthStore();
 const chatStore = useChatStore();
+const settingsStore = useSettingsStore();
 const router = useRouter();
 const route = useRoute();
 
@@ -78,7 +80,7 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
           <router-link to="/chat" :class="['nav-link', { 'router-link-active': isChatActive }]">Chat</router-link>
           <router-link to="/briefing" class="nav-link">Briefing</router-link>
           <router-link to="/calendar" class="nav-link">Calendar</router-link>
-          <router-link to="/news" class="nav-link">News</router-link>
+          <router-link v-if="settingsStore.rssEnabled" to="/news" class="nav-link">News</router-link>
           <router-link to="/projects" class="nav-link">Projects</router-link>
         </div>
       </div>
@@ -128,7 +130,7 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
       <router-link to="/briefing" class="nav-link">Briefing</router-link>
       <router-link to="/calendar" class="nav-link">Calendar</router-link>
       <router-link to="/projects" class="nav-link">Projects</router-link>
-      <router-link to="/news" class="nav-link">News</router-link>
+      <router-link v-if="settingsStore.rssEnabled" to="/news" class="nav-link">News</router-link>
       <router-link to="/shared" class="nav-link">Shared</router-link>
       <div class="mobile-divider"></div>
       <router-link to="/settings" class="nav-link">Settings</router-link>

frontend/src/stores/settings.ts

@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ export const useSettingsStore = defineStore("settings", () => {
     () => settings.value.default_model || ""
   );
 
+  const rssEnabled = computed(
+    () => settings.value.rss_enabled === "true"
+  );
+
   // Voice status — checked once on login, refreshable from Settings
   const voiceEnabled = ref(false);
   const voiceSttReady = ref(false);
@@ -62,6 +66,7 @@ export const useSettingsStore = defineStore("settings", () => {
     loading,
     assistantName,
     defaultModel,
+    rssEnabled,
     voiceEnabled,
     voiceSttReady,
     voiceTtsReady,

frontend/src/views/BriefingView.vue

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import { ref, computed, onMounted, onUnmounted, watch, nextTick } from 'vue'
 import { useBackgroundRefresh } from '@/composables/useBackgroundRefresh'
 import { useChatStore } from '@/stores/chat'
+import { useSettingsStore } from '@/stores/settings'
 import ChatPanel from '@/components/ChatPanel.vue'
 import WeatherCard from '@/components/WeatherCard.vue'
 import BriefingSetupWizard from '@/components/BriefingSetupWizard.vue'
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ interface WeatherData {
 }
 
 const chatStore = useChatStore()
+const settingsStore = useSettingsStore()
 
 // Setup wizard
 const showWizard = ref(false)
@@ -293,7 +295,7 @@ onMounted(async () => {
         </div>
 
         <!-- News section (scrollable) -->
-        <div class="news-section">
+        <div v-if="settingsStore.rssEnabled" class="news-section">
         <div class="panel-label-row">
           <div class="panel-label">Today's News</div>
           <span v-if="newsItems.length" class="news-count">{{ newsItems.length }} items</span>

frontend/src/views/SettingsView.vue

@@ -387,6 +387,14 @@ async function saveBriefingSettings() {
   }
 }
 
+async function toggleRss() {
+  try {
+    await store.updateSettings({ rss_enabled: store.rssEnabled ? "false" : "true" });
+  } catch {
+    toastStore.show("Failed to update RSS setting", "error");
+  }
+}
+
 async function addFeed() {
   if (!newFeedUrl.value.trim() || addingFeed.value) return;
   addingFeed.value = true;
@@ -2209,8 +2217,20 @@ function formatUserDate(iso: string): string {
         </p>
       </section>
 
-      <!-- RSS Feeds -->
+      <!-- RSS toggle -->
       <section class="settings-section full-width">
+        <h2>RSS / News</h2>
+        <div class="checkbox-field">
+          <label>
+            <input type="checkbox" :checked="store.rssEnabled" @change="toggleRss" />
+            Enable RSS feeds
+          </label>
+          <p class="field-hint">Subscribe to RSS/Atom feeds and include news in your briefings.</p>
+        </div>
+      </section>
+
+      <!-- RSS Feeds -->
+      <section v-if="store.rssEnabled" class="settings-section full-width">
         <div class="briefing-feeds-header">
           <div>
             <h2>RSS Feeds</h2>
@@ -2252,7 +2272,7 @@ function formatUserDate(iso: string): string {
       </section>
 
       <!-- News Preferences -->
-      <section class="settings-section full-width">
+      <section v-if="store.rssEnabled" class="settings-section full-width">
         <h2>News Preferences</h2>
         <p class="section-desc">
           Tell the briefing what topics you care about. Topics are matched against

src/fabledassistant/routes/briefing.py

@@ -54,11 +54,17 @@ async def put_config():
     return jsonify({"ok": True})
 
 
+async def _rss_enabled() -> bool:
+    return (await get_setting(g.user.id, "rss_enabled", "false")).lower() == "true"
+
+
 # ── RSS Feeds ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 @briefing_bp.route("/feeds", methods=["GET"])
 @_REQUIRE
 async def list_feeds():
+    if not await _rss_enabled():
+        return jsonify([])
     async with async_session() as session:
         result = await session.execute(
             select(RssFeed).where(RssFeed.user_id == g.user.id).order_by(RssFeed.id)
@@ -70,6 +76,8 @@ async def list_feeds():
 @briefing_bp.route("/feeds", methods=["POST"])
 @_REQUIRE
 async def add_feed():
+    if not await _rss_enabled():
+        return jsonify({"error": "RSS is disabled"}), 403
     data = await request.get_json()
     url = (data.get("url") or "").strip()
     if not url:
@@ -120,6 +128,8 @@ async def delete_feed(feed_id: int):
 @briefing_bp.route("/feeds/refresh", methods=["POST"])
 @_REQUIRE
 async def refresh_feeds():
+    if not await _rss_enabled():
+        return jsonify({"feeds_refreshed": 0, "new_items": 0})
     results = await rss_svc.refresh_all_feeds(g.user.id)
     total_new = sum(results.values())
     return jsonify({"feeds_refreshed": len(results), "new_items": total_new})
@@ -128,6 +138,8 @@ async def refresh_feeds():
 @briefing_bp.route("/feeds/recent", methods=["GET"])
 @_REQUIRE
 async def recent_items():
+    if not await _rss_enabled():
+        return jsonify({"items": []})
     limit = min(int(request.args.get("limit", 20)), 100)
     items = await rss_svc.get_recent_items(g.user.id, limit=limit)
     return jsonify({"items": items})
@@ -454,6 +466,9 @@ async def list_news():
       offset  — pagination offset (default 0)
       feed_id — optional integer filter by feed
     """
+    if not await _rss_enabled():
+        return jsonify({"items": [], "total": 0})
+
     from sqlalchemy import text as _text
 
     days = min(int(request.args.get("days", 2)), 90)

src/fabledassistant/services/briefing_pipeline.py

@@ -20,18 +20,26 @@ SLOT_NAMES = ("compilation", "morning", "midday", "afternoon")
 # ── External data gather ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 async def _gather_external(user_id: int) -> dict:
-    """Collect RSS items and weather."""
-    from fabledassistant.services.rss import get_recent_items
+    """Collect RSS items (when enabled) and weather."""
     from fabledassistant.services.weather import get_cached_weather
 
-    rss_items, weather = await asyncio.gather(
-        get_recent_items(user_id, limit=20),
-        get_cached_weather(user_id),
-        return_exceptions=True,
-    )
+    rss_on = (await get_setting(user_id, "rss_enabled", "false")).lower() == "true"
+    rss_items: list = []
+    if rss_on:
+        from fabledassistant.services.rss import get_recent_items
+        try:
+            rss_items = await get_recent_items(user_id, limit=20)
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
+    try:
+        weather = await get_cached_weather(user_id)
+    except Exception:
+        weather = []
+
     return {
-        "rss_items": rss_items if not isinstance(rss_items, Exception) else [],
-        "weather": weather if not isinstance(weather, Exception) else [],
+        "rss_items": rss_items,
+        "weather": weather,
     }
 
 

src/fabledassistant/services/briefing_scheduler.py

@@ -362,10 +362,12 @@ async def _run_slot_for_user(user_id: int, slot: str) -> None:
         # Refresh external data first
         try:
             import json
-            from fabledassistant.services.rss import refresh_all_feeds
             config_raw = await get_setting(user_id, "briefing_config", "{}")
             config = json.loads(config_raw) if isinstance(config_raw, str) else {}
-            await refresh_all_feeds(user_id)
+            rss_on = (await get_setting(user_id, "rss_enabled", "false")).lower() == "true"
+            if rss_on:
+                from fabledassistant.services.rss import refresh_all_feeds
+                await refresh_all_feeds(user_id)
             from fabledassistant.services import weather as wx
             for key, loc in config.get("locations", {}).items():
                 if loc.get("lat") and loc.get("lon"):

src/fabledassistant/services/tools/_registry.py

@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ async def _check_requires(user_id: int, requires: str) -> bool:
         return await is_caldav_configured(user_id)
     if requires == "searxng":
         return Config.searxng_enabled()
+    if requires == "rss":
+        from fabledassistant.services.settings import get_setting
+        return (await get_setting(user_id, "rss_enabled", "false")).lower() == "true"
     return True
 
 

src/fabledassistant/services/tools/rss.py

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
     },
     read_only=True,
     briefing=True,
+    requires="rss",
 )
 async def get_rss_items_tool(*, user_id, arguments, **_ctx):
     from fabledassistant.services.rss import get_recent_items
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ async def get_rss_items_tool(*, user_id, arguments, **_ctx):
         "category": {"type": "string", "description": "Optional category label (e.g. 'news', 'tech', 'reddit'). Omit if unsure."},
     },
     required=["url"],
+    requires="rss",
 )
 async def add_rss_feed_tool(*, user_id, arguments, **_ctx):
     import asyncio as _asyncio