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Doctrine Receipt · 2026-05-12

Use requests not urllib when adding RSS feeds (Cloudflare WAF blocks urllib)

When fetching RSS/Atom feeds in news_radar.py or any new feed-puller, prefer the requests library over urllib. Many sites (StackExchange, others behind Cloudflare) return HTTP 403 to urllib but 200 to requests due to TLS handshake fingerprinting.

By PJ Zonis · Encinitas, CA · 2026-05-12 · operator-coined doctrine

01Why this matters

When adding any new RSS/Atom feed source, prefer requests over urllib.request.

02How to apply

Read the doctrine. Apply it on the next ship cycle.

03The closer

When fetching RSS/Atom feeds in news_radar.py or any new feed-puller, prefer the requests library over urllib. Many sites (StackExchange, others behind Cloudflare) return HTTP 403 to urllib but 200 to requests due to TLS handshake fingerprinting.

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