Usenet Reborn

The TUI client for Usenet enthusiasts

Author: Chris F.N. (aka ReK2)
License: GPLv3

Overview

Usenet Reborn is a terminal‑based NNTP client written in Rust, featuring:

• Browse Newsgroups: Navigate your subscriptions, view unread articles.
• Read Articles: Fetch and display article bodies in a scrollable UI.
• Compose & Reply: Create new posts or reply to existing ones using your configured $EDITOR.
• Manage Read Flags: Mark articles as read/unread; state persisted in SQLite.
• Signature Support: Automatically append a signature from $SIGNATURE_FILE or ~/.signature.
• Open links: Get a list of GOPHER,GEMINI,HTTPS,FTP,ETC links to send to xdg-open.

The application uses ratatui + crossterm for the UI, and rek2_nntp for NNTP interactions.

TODO

• See the full TODO List Here
• Add threaded view capability (display conversations as threads)
• Parse URLs in articles and allow opening them in the default browser
• Improve UI aesthetics and overall look-and-feel
• Add reload key, or auto reload option
• Create Project mailing list and tickets for patches and todo list
• Capable of reading configs from standard OS home directories path GNU/Linux and MacOS

Installation

1. Clone the repo

   git clone https://git.sr.ht/~rek2/usenet_reborn
   cd usenet_reborn
   

2. Build

   cargo build --release
   

3. Configuration
   • Create config.toml:
   • you can use the example file inside ./configs folder

     [usenet.server]
     username = "your_newsserver_username"
     password = ""            # leave blank to use `pass` or compatible like `gopass`
     server   = "news.example.com"
     
     [headers]
     from_header  = "Your Name"
     email_header = "you@example.com"
     
     [display]
     threaded_view = true
     

   • Create a subscriptions file listing one newsgroup per line:
   • you can use the example file inside ./configs folder

     alt.comp.lang.rust
     comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
     

   • (Optional) Add a signature file:
     • Set $SIGNATURE_FILE to point to your sig, or place ~/.signature.
     • Example ~/.signature:

       Chris F.N. (ReK2)
       https://rek2.hispagatos.org
       gemini://rek2.hispagatos.org
       

Arch Linux Package

You can also install via the Arch User Repository (AUR):

paru -S usenet_reborn-git

Usage

Before runing the client:

• EDITOR and SIGNATURE_FILE you should add and export these variables on your .bashrc or equivalent.

EDITOR=vim SIGNATURE_FILE="$HOME/.signature" ./target/release/usenet_reborn

• you can copy the resulting binary to somewhere in your $PATH like ~/bin/usenet_reborn or /usr/local/bin/usenet_reborn

Configuration & Paths

Usenet Reborn will look for its files in the standard OS locations first; if not found, it falls back to wherever you run the binary.

• Config file (config.toml):

  • Linux: ~/.config/usenet_reborn/config.toml
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/ReK2/usenet_reborn/config.toml
  • or in the current directory (./config.toml)

• Subscriptions (subscriptions):

  • Linux: ~/.config/usenet_reborn/subscriptions
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/ReK2/usenet_reborn/subscriptions
  • or in the current directory (./subscriptions)

• Cache database (cache.sqlite3):

  • Linux: ~/.cache/usenet_reborn/cache.sqlite3
  • macOS: ~/Library/Caches/ReK2/usenet_reborn/cache.sqlite3

If any required file is missing, Usenet Reborn will exit with an error telling you exactly where to place it.

Keybindings

Compose/Reply Popup

When composing a new post (n) or replying (r) inside Articles view:

You'll then be dropped into your configured $EDITOR to write the body of the post.

Configuration & Environment

• config.toml: Usenet server and headers settings.
• subscriptions: One newsgroup per line.
• Environment Variables:
  • EDITOR: Which editor to use (default: nano).
  • SIGNATURE_FILE: Path to signature file (defaults to ~/.signature).
• xdg-open: to open links on default external programs.

Data Persistence

• Uses SQLite (cache.sqlite3) to store:
  • Last seen article ID per newsgroup
  • Article cache (subjects, senders, dates, read flags)

Dependencies

• ratatui: Terminal UI toolkit
• crossterm: Cross‑platform terminal manipulation
• rek2_nntp: NNTP client library
• rusqlite: SQLite backend
• tokio: Async runtime
• tempfile: Temporary file management
• chrono: Date parsing/formatting

Patches and Suggestions

• First please read the email and todo etiquette
• Using Git Send-Email for sending patches, Interactive Tutorial
• Subscribe to mailing list for patches and discussion sending email to ~rek2/Usenet_Reborn+subscribe@lists.sr.ht keep the case as Usenet_Reborn.
• Send patches to ~rek2/Usenet_Reborn@lists.sr.ht after you subscribe! keep the case as Usenet_Reborn.

To report issues

• Please Open a ticket

License

This project is licensed under the GPLv3. See LICENSE for details.

Happy Usenet-ing!