How to Auto-Post RSS to Rocket.Chat (Cloud or Self-Hosted)

Updated: 2026-09-28

Short answer: create an incoming webhook integration in your Rocket.Chat workspace administration, copy its URL, and paste it into PostRSS under Accounts → Add new Rocket.Chat account. Then open Targets → Add feed, choose Rocket.Chat in Target settings and add your feed under Add source (Type = RSS feed, Link = your feed address). Each new item is posted to the channel as a message with a link to the article. Rocket.Chat Cloud and self-hosted servers both work, as long as a self-hosted server is reachable over HTTPS on port 443. Rocket.Chat is included from the Professional plan.

Rocket.Chat is the chat platform organisations choose when they want to own the server. Governments, hospitals, universities and companies with data-residency rules run it on their own infrastructure precisely so that no conversation leaves the building. That changes what "connect an integration" means, and it is worth being precise about it. This guide is the long version; the auto-post RSS to Rocket.Chat page has the short one.

Self-hosted: the one requirement

PostRSS posts to your Rocket.Chat server over the internet, which means the server has to be reachable from outside: HTTPS on port 443. That is the standard configuration for any Rocket.Chat instance with a public address, and it is not an unusual demand.

What does not work is a server that is only reachable inside a corporate network, behind a VPN, or listening on a non-standard port. If your Rocket.Chat lives entirely on an internal network, no external service can reach it, and the honest answer is that this integration is not the right tool — a script running inside the same network is.

Rocket.Chat Cloud has none of these considerations, because the server is already public.

Creating the webhook

1. Open the workspace administration and go to the integrations section. You need administrator rights; this is not something an ordinary user can create.
2. Create a new incoming webhook, choose the channel it posts to, and give it a name your colleagues will recognise.
3. Copy the webhook URL. It is the whole credential — anyone holding it can post into that channel, so keep it out of tickets and shared documents.
4. In PostRSS, open Accounts and choose Add new Rocket.Chat account, then paste the URL.
5. Open Targets → Add feed, choose Rocket.Chat in Target settings, then Add source with Type = RSS feed and your feed address in Link. Save.

That the webhook is created by an administrator is worth noting for a different reason: in a self-hosted, security-conscious organisation, that is usually exactly the person who wants to know which external services can write into the chat. Having the answer be "one webhook, one channel, send-only" makes the conversation short.

What the channel sees, and what PostRSS cannot do

Each new feed item arrives as a message with a link to the article. Traffic is strictly one way: an incoming webhook sends, and that is all it does. PostRSS cannot read the channel, cannot see who is in it, and cannot respond to anything written there. For an organisation that chose self-hosting for privacy reasons, that is the important property.

One behaviour to know before connecting anything: PostRSS publishes items that appear in the feed after the Target starts running. It does not import the back catalogue, which is deliberate — the alternative is a channel flooded with years of archive on its first day.

Where it earns its place

• Internal status and monitoring feeds. Self-hosted Rocket.Chat is common in operations teams, and incident feeds belong next to the people on call.
• Release notes for an internal product. The channel is already the place where the team coordinates.
• Regulatory and advisory feeds. Vendor security advisories have feeds; a compliance channel is where they should land.
• Your public blog, for the people who sell and support it. The team that talks to customers should not find out about a new article from a customer.

Which plan includes it

Rocket.Chat is included from the Professional plan, together with the other team-chat destinations. Each channel you connect is one Target, and your plan sets how many Targets and how many posts a month you get. The current limits are on the pricing page, and the full lineup of 66 networks is on the supported networks page. The Rocket.Chat page has the short version.

Troubleshooting

• Nothing arrives and the server is self-hosted. Check that it answers on HTTPS over port 443 from outside your network. This is the most common cause by a wide margin.
• The webhook was disabled or deleted. Integrations can be switched off in administration without deleting them, and delivery stops either way.
• The channel was archived or renamed. The webhook points at one channel.
• A certificate problem. An expired or self-signed certificate will stop an external service connecting, even when browsers have been told to accept it.
• Nothing new in the feed. Items that appear after the Target starts running are the ones that get posted.

Rocket.Chat next to Mattermost and the hosted tools

Rocket.Chat and Mattermost are the two serious open-source, self-hostable chat platforms, and organisations usually choose between them for reasons that have nothing to do with RSS: licensing, compliance certifications, the shape of the admin interface. From an integration point of view they are close to identical — both use an incoming webhook, both need the server reachable over HTTPS on port 443 when self-hosted, and both are on the Professional plan.

The bigger difference is against the hosted tools. Google Chat, Webex and Zoom Team Chat give you a webhook in a few clicks and no infrastructure questions at all, because the server is somebody else's. Rocket.Chat gives you the opposite trade: you answer the infrastructure questions, and in exchange the conversation never leaves hardware you control.

For a team that deliberately made that trade, the one thing worth checking before connecting a feed is whether an external service is allowed to write into the chat at all. A send-only webhook to one channel is usually the easiest version of that conversation to have.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does self-hosted Rocket.Chat work, or only the cloud version?

Both work. A self-hosted server needs to be reachable over HTTPS on port 443, which is the normal configuration for an instance with a public address. A server that is only reachable inside a private network cannot receive posts from an external service.

Who can create the incoming webhook?

An administrator of the workspace, in the integrations section of the administration area. It is not something a regular user can set up, which is usually appropriate in the kind of organisation that self-hosts.

Can PostRSS read messages in our channels?

No. An incoming webhook is send-only. PostRSS cannot read the channel, see its members or reply to anything in it.

Is the webhook URL sensitive?

Yes. It is the entire authorisation, so anyone who has it can post into that channel. Keep it out of public repositories, shared documents and support tickets.

Can we send different feeds to different channels?

Yes. Each channel has its own webhook and is a separate Target, so an operations feed and a marketing feed can go to different places.

Which plan includes Rocket.Chat?

The Professional plan, alongside the other team-chat destinations such as Mattermost, Zulip, Google Chat, Webex and Zoom Team Chat.

The bottom line

Rocket.Chat connects the same way as any other webhook destination, with one question to settle first: whether your server is reachable from the internet over HTTPS. If it is, the setup is an administrator creating one send-only integration, and your feed lands in the channel minutes after publication. It is included from the Professional plan.