An open news platform.

"Open" is overloaded — it can mean open-source code, open data, open community, open API, open standards. WeSearch tries to be open in the ways that affect readers and integrators directly. This page is the inventory.

Open source list

Every source we pull from is published at /news-sources. The list is updated when sources get added or removed; adds and removes are recorded in a public changelog. You can see exactly which 850+ feeds the home feed is built on, classify them yourself, and verify our category assignments.

Open editorial standards

The criteria for adding and removing sources, the moderation policy for comments, the policy for AI-generated content, and the corrections process are all written down at /editorial-standards. Any reader can hold us accountable to those standards.

Open API

WeSearch is built on a Hono-based open API. Public read endpoints (catalog, RSS aggregate, news search, weather, currency, geo, crypto, time, knowledge) are free with generous rate limits. You can build your own news app, your own RSS reader, your own analytics dashboard on top of the API.

Open community

Comments are public. Reactions are public. Anyone can read the discussion under any story without logging in. Posting is anonymous, but participation is not gated. There is no invite-only tier, no early-access list, no whitelist for power users.

Open standards

We use standard protocols throughout: RSS/Atom for input, JSON-LD/NewsArticle schema for output, OpenGraph for sharing cards, IndexNow for crawler hints, VAPID for Web Push. Nothing vendor-locked. If WeSearch shut down tomorrow, the source catalog and API surface could be reproduced by another operator without hidden dependencies.

Where we're not yet open

• Source code. The project's source is publicly readable but we haven't yet set up a formal contributor program. Pull requests via /support are welcome.
• Operating budget. Donation totals are aggregate; we don't publish individual donor lists or running totals yet.
• Comment data. Comments are public, but we don't expose a bulk-export endpoint. (Use the per-story API to read.)

What "open" doesn't mean

It doesn't mean unmoderated. Comments that target individuals, dox non-public figures, post spam, or constitute incitement get hidden. Standards. Open is not an invitation to abuse.

Why "open" matters for news specifically

News platforms accumulate enormous power through scale: the algorithm that decides what 100 million readers see in a feed, the moderation layer that decides which voices participate, the recommendation system that channels a reader's attention. Power without accountability is the structural failure mode of every major modern social media platform. Openness is the corrective: when the source list, standards, API, and moderation rules are all published and auditable, readers can verify the platform's behavior matches its claims. They almost never do that audit, but the fact that they could keeps the operator's incentives healthier.

The honest acknowledgment is that no platform is fully open in every dimension. WeSearch is open in some ways and not others, and we publish the inventory above so readers can see exactly where. Other publishers operate further toward "open" (Wikipedia, Wikimedia projects), and others operate toward "closed" (most social-media platforms). WeSearch sits in the middle, leaning toward open in the dimensions that affect editorial accountability.

What integrators can build

• An RSS reader that consumes our category feeds (every category and source has its own RSS).
• A news app that proxies our public-read API for catalog and search.
• An analytics dashboard tracking publisher coverage of specific topics over time.
• A research tool comparing comment volume and sentiment across stories.
• A regional news app that pulls a subset of our catalog filtered to specific publishers.
• A federated bridge that re-publishes our story metadata into ActivityPub.

None of those require permission or special access. The public read API is documented and free at reasonable usage levels. Email /support if you're building something significant; we're happy to help.

Bottom line: who should care about openness

• If you're a developer building a news app or research tool → the open API and public source list are the foundation you need.
• If you're a journalist or media analyst studying how news flows → our catalog and category structure are auditable.
• If you're a regulator or policy professional → the source list, moderation rules, and funding disclosures are all public.
• If you're a reader who values verifiability over comfort → openness is the structural property that lets you verify our editorial claims rather than trust them.

Frequently asked