Israelugwu/conflict-monitor-backend

AI-POWERED EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS FOR INTERCOMMUNITY CONFLICTS IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA: A PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR PEACEBUILDING IN RURAL SETTINGS # Conflict Monitor RSS Backend A tiny Express server that fetches and parses RSS feeds from HumAngle, Premium Times, TheCable, Daily Trust, and Vanguard **server-side**, so the dashboard never has to route through a public CORS proxy. ## What it does - `GET /api/rss` — returns the latest ~150 items across all five outlets, merged and sorted by date, plus a per-outlet error list if any feed failed. - `POST /api/rss/refresh` — forces a fresh fetch, bypassing the 3-minute cache. - `GET /api/health` — simple liveness check. Feeds are cached in memory for 3 minutes so repeated dashboard syncs don't hammer the news sites. ## Run it locally ```bash npm install npm start ``` The server listens on `localhost` by default (override with the `PORT` environment variable). Visit `localhost` to confirm it's up. If you only want to test locally, use a tunnel like `ngrok http 3001` to get a public HTTPS URL you can paste into the dashboard's Settings panel. ## Deploy it somewhere permanent Any Node host works. Easiest free/cheap options: - **Render** — "New Web Service" → connect this folder/repo → build command `npm install`, start command `npm start`. - **Railway** — `railway init`, then `railway up` from this folder. - **Fly.io** — `fly launch` from this folder, accept the Node defaults. Once deployed, you'll get a public URL like `your-app.onrender.com`. ## Connect it to the dashboard Open the dashboard, click the settings (gear) icon in the header, paste your backend's base URL (e.g. `your-app.onrender.com`, no trailing slash), and save. The dashboard will call `{that URL}/api/rss` on every sync instead of using a CORS proxy. ## Notes - This scrapes public RSS feeds only — no login, no paywalled content. - Respect each outlet's terms of use and robots.txt if you deploy this beyond a prototype; consider adding a lower polling frequency or attribution if this becomes a public-facing tool. - GDELT is still queried …