rootUpdates via RSS 2.0 == codecasting

Start with the described rootUpdates workflow and the rssCodeUpdate.root tool, then inspect the feed at frontier.root/rss.xml and the referenced codecasting parts. The issue documents a milestone but does not identify a concrete change, target file beyond rssCodeUpdate.root, or acceptance criteria, so a contributor would need clarification before defining done.

A few days ago I told Claude that I wanted to run from a virgin root, and explained what that meant.

We started with opml.root from the OPML Editor release, and I said to call that frontier.root.

Then I think that's when the light went on for Claude as to how all this stuff fits together. And for about a week or so, I couldn't get any work done because everything was broken, but the pieces came back together quickly and now we've reached the next milestone.

I can edit existing or add new objects to the odb via rootUpdates.

Of course there's a feed

https://bits.codecasting.org/frontier.root/rss.xml

To start there's just one item in the feed, workspace.userlandSamples.hellofrontier (screen shot below).

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss xmlns:source="https://source.scripting.com/" version="2.0">
     <channel>
        <title>frontier.root updates</title>
        <link>https://github.com/scripting/helloFrontier/issues/</link>
        <description>New features and fixes for Dave Winer&apos;s 2026 project to reboot UserLand Frontier on modern hardware, in an RSS 2.0 &apos;codecasting&apos; feed.</description>
        <language>en-us</language>
        <copyright>Copyright 2007-2026 Scripting News, Inc and Dave Winer.</copyright>
        <pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:50:21 GMT</pubDate>
        <lastBuildDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:50:21 GMT</lastBuildDate>
        <cloud domain="rpc.rsscloud.io" port="5337" path="/rsscloud/pleaseNotify" registerProcedure="" protocol="http-post" />
        <docs>http://scripting.com/stories/2007/02/16/whatIsCodecasting.html</docs>
        <generator>UserLand Frontier v11.0</generator>
        <item>
            <title>workspace.userlandSamples.hellofrontier</title>
            <description>Changed the cloud server to rpc.rsscloud.io. the old server rpc.rsscloud.org -- i let it lapse for some stupid reason or so it turns out. ;-)</description>
            <pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:50:20 GMT</pubDate>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bits.codecasting.org/frontier.root/00009.part</guid>
            <enclosure url="http://bits.codecasting.org/frontier.root/00009.part" length="1527" type="application/x-frontier-scpt"/>
            </item>
        </channel>
    </rss>

workspace.userlandSamples.hellofrontier

rssCodeUpdate.root

Quick tour

1. When there's an object i want to include in rootUpdates, I bring it to the front and choose the Publish Part command from my custom menu.
2. A confirmation dialog asks if I meant to do this.
3. An ask dialog appears with a suggested description pulled from the first comment under Changes. I can change it of course.
4. Then it does all that it needs to do to get the feed updated.

This was written before the cloud element was finished in 2009, probably in 2007. I called it "codecasting" because basically it was like podcasting except with code. ;-)

The code is in a Tool, rssCodeUpdate.root, as we defined it, see the screen shot above.

This was a milestone, today I did all my programming work today in Atlantis.