Definition
XML validity in feed operations means the document is well formed and parseable with matching tags, escaped entities, and valid syntax.
XML validity
Why clean XML is required before any feed field can be trusted.
Checked by FeedInspector
Why it matters
If XML parsing fails, every downstream check fails too. Readers may ignore the feed entirely, and ingestion jobs may drop updates.
How FeedInspector checks it
FeedInspector runs strict XML parsing first. The technical capability key tech.xml is marked invalid when parsing fails.
Common problems and fixes
Problem: Unescaped ampersand in titles or descriptions.
Fix: Escape as & or wrap long HTML in CDATA blocks.
Problem: Missing closing tags after template changes.
Fix: Validate generated XML in CI before publishing.
Minimal example
Valid minimal RSS structure
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>Valid Feed</title>
<item>
<title>First item</title>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>