Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents:

• Why are you not merging my pull request?
• Why are you not developing my feature request?
• Why is Feature X missing in Miniflux v2?
• Why does Miniflux store favicons in the database?
• How can I create themes for Miniflux 2?
• Why is there no plugin system?
• What does “Save this article” mean?
• How are items removed from the database?
• What does “Flush History” do?
• Which binary should I use on my Raspberry Pi?
• Which Debian package architecture should I use for my Raspberry Pi?
• Which binary should I use on Scaleway ARM machines?
• Which Docker architecture should I use?
• Why aren’t SQL migrations executed automatically?
• How do I back up my data?

Why are you not merging my pull request? ¶

Things to avoid:

• Making too many changes, which makes the pull request hard to review.
• Introducing breaking changes.
• Adding new bugs, regressions, or security issues.
• Adding unnecessary dependencies.
• Slowing down the software.
• Making changes that conflict with the software’s philosophy.
• Writing poor-quality code.
• Creating pull requests that depend on other pull requests.
• Making radical changes to the user interface.

Why are you not developing my feature request? ¶

• Developing software takes significant time.
• This is a free and open-source project; no one owes you anything.
• If you need a feature, consider contributing to the project.
• Don’t expect others to work for free.
• As mentioned earlier, the number of features is intentionally limited. Nobody likes bloatware.
• Improving existing features takes priority over adding new ones.

Why is Feature X missing in Miniflux v2? ¶

Miniflux 2 does not aim to reimplement all features from Miniflux 1. The minimalist approach has been taken further.

If you truly miss a feature, you must contribute to the project, but remember, you need to adhere to Miniflux’s minimalist philosophy.

Why does Miniflux store favicons in the database? ¶

Miniflux adheres to the Twelve-Factor App principles. Nothing is stored on the local file system. The application is designed to run on ephemeral containers without persistent storage.

How can I create themes for Miniflux 2? ¶

Currently, Miniflux 2 does not support loading external stylesheets to avoid dependencies. Themes are embedded into the binary.

If you want to submit a new official theme, you must create a pull request. However, keep in mind that you will need to maintain your theme over time; otherwise, it will be removed from the codebase.

Why is there no plugin system? ¶

• Because this software has a minimalist approach.
• Because implementing a plugin system increases the complexity of the software.
• Because people do not maintain their plugins after a while.

What does "Save this article" mean? ¶

“Save” sends the feed entry to third-party services like Pinboard or Instapaper if configured.

How are items removed from the database? ¶

Entry status in the database follows this flow: read -> unread -> removed.

Entries marked as removed are not visible in the web UI. They are deleted from the database only when they are no longer visible in the original feed.

Entries marked as favorites are never deleted (column starred in the entries table).

Data retention is also controlled with the variables CLEANUP_ARCHIVE_UNREAD_DAYS and CLEANUP_ARCHIVE_READ_DAYS.

Keep in mind that Postgres needs to run the VACUUM command to reclaim disk space.

What does "Flush History" do? ¶

“Flush History” changes the status of entries from “read” to “removed” (except for bookmarks). Entries with the status “removed” are not visible in the user interface.

Which binary should I use on my Raspberry Pi? ¶

Which Debian package architecture should I use for my Raspberry Pi? ¶

Which binary should I use on Scaleway ARM machines? ¶

Which Docker architecture should I use? ¶

Pulling the latest tag or a specific version should download the correct image according to your machine.

If you use the wrong architecture, Docker will returns an error like this one:

standard_init_linux.go:178: exec user process caused "exec format error"

Multi-arch Docker images are available only since Miniflux 2.0.12.

Why aren't SQL migrations executed automatically? ¶

• Because it’s a source of problems.
• Only one process should manipulate the database schema at once.
• If you run multiple containers with an orchestrator that may cause issues.
• You can still run the migrations by defining the variable RUN_MIGRATIONS=1.

How do I back up my data? ¶

Refer to the official Postgres documentation for details about backing up and restoring a Postgres database.

Basic SQL dump example:

# Backup
pg_dump miniflux2 -f miniflux.dump

# Restore
psql miniflux2 < miniflux.dump

There are many other options available, refer to the official documentation of pg_dump and pg_restore.