Triangledesk Content API

Superdesk's content API is one of its best features, at least in theory, because it allows any frontend to consume Superdesk articles in a sensible and standard way. In practice, however, it's wonky, kind of outdated, and misses some of the main advantages of NewsML. That can be said for most of Superdesk actually. This project, a part of the Triangledesk fork of Superdesk, aims to correct that by being a Subscriber Destination that serves ninjs over both REST and GraphQL with rNews linked data schema metadata. Currently partially functional; see issues for ways to contribute.

Install

Docker

In docker-compose.yaml, put the following in capi's environment:

• UPLOADER_IPS: your Superdesk instance's IP
• TRUSTED_PROXIES: if running behind a proxy, the proxy's IP or range

Spin up the containers:

• docker compose build
• docker compose up -d

Custom

Note: a .env file, if provided, is parsed for environment variables

Create a MongoDB instance:

• database content
  • collection items

Put the connection URL in the MONGODB_URI environment variable.

Add your Superdesk instance's IP in the UPLOADER_IPS environment variable.

If running behind a proxy, add the proxy's IP or range to TRUSTED_PROXIES

Run the webserver on localhost:52892 with cargo run. Set up Apache, port-forwarding, or some other way to make your API publicly accessible.

Setup

Superdesk

Add a subscriber destination to Superdesk:

• Format: NINJS
• Delivery Type: HTTP Push
• Resource URL: [capi-endpoint]/upload

Apache

Set up a VirtualHost as usual, or open an already set up config, and add the following proxy pass:

    ProxyPass /capi/ http://localhost:52892/

Your virtual host can use SSL as usual, and host something else at root (like a Superdesk instance or a website that consumes this API).

Infrastructure

• MongoDB stores ninjs+LD items and media files
  • URL provided in environment variable MONGODB_URI
• Webserver binary that serves all endpoints
  • /swagger-ui endpoint that serves API docs powered by OpenAPI
  • GraphQL endpoint that resolves queries to json with formulated @context at root of response, adjacent to data
  • REST API endpoints that serve items from MongoDB (see OpenAPI reference for details)
  • /upload endpoint where Superdesk pushes published articles, which are then decorated with rNews types and saved to MongoDB, along with media which is downloaded'

Contributions

Some remaining important features are described in this repo's issues