Every Ghost site already has a public RSS feed – but it only includes the full content for public posts. Member-only and paid content is stripped out – members that subscribed to your blog via RSS had to manually open the posts in their browsers.
A new feature on Magic Pages – Private RSS feeds – fixes that. Each member gets a unique, personal feed URL that includes the full text of every post they have access to – including member-only and paid content.
What it does
When you enable private RSS feeds, Magic Pages generates a personal feed URL for each eligible member. That feed delivers full-text posts straight to apps like NetNewsWire, Feedly, or Inoreader – including the gated content that Ghost's public feed leaves out.
You choose who gets access:
- All members: every free and paid member receives a private feed via email, after they sign up. Free members see your public and member-level posts in full. Paid members additionally see paid and tier-gated content.
- Paid members only – only paying and comped members get a private feed. Their feed includes everything they have access to based on their membership tier.
Why it matters
Ghost's built-in RSS feed is public. That's by design − it serves your public content to anyone. But it means your members who prefer reading in an RSS app are stuck with excerpts or nothing at all for the content behind your membership wall.
Private feeds close that gap. Your paid members get the full reading experience in whatever app they prefer, without depending on email delivery or visiting your site directly.
It's also a genuine membership perk. "Paid members get a full-text RSS feed" is the kind of concrete benefit that helps convert free readers into paying supporters – especially for audiences that tend to be more technical or privacy-conscious.
How it works
The entire feature is managed from your Magic Pages Customer Portal. You flip one setting, optionally customize the feed title and the welcome email your members receive, and you're done. No Ghost configuration, no theme changes, no webhooks to set up.
Each member's feed URL is unique and cryptographically signed. If someone cancels their membership, their feed stops working automatically. You don't have to manage access lists or revoke anything manually.
Your members receive their feed URL via a welcome email sent from your own sending domain. We re-use the setting you've already made to deliver newsletters via Ghost − so, the communication comes from you, not from Magic Pages.
The email templates are fully customisable, too 😉
New members receive their URL automatically. If you want to send links to existing members, you can do so from the Customer Portal as well.
Coming soon – looking for beta testers
Private RSS feeds are technically ready and will be available to all Pro and Custom plan customers. Before we open it up to everyone, we're looking for a small group of publishers to try it out and give us feedback.
If you'd like to be one of the first to offer private RSS feeds to your members, reach out to [email protected], and we'll get you set up for a test drive.
