[maxbond]

The thing that's different with this proposal is that it's specified to be a one-shot notification. If RSS is a channel/topic than "let me know" is a rendezvous. You could build it on top of RSS (or ActivityPub, XMPP, webhooks, ...).

[nickelpro]

Then it's not a missing protocol. The protocol is RSS. They want some specific app that is doing a thing with RSS.

[maxbond]

Protocols are normally built on top of other protocols. RSS could be the transport for "let me know." (Though my recommendation would be ActivityPub, XMPP, or email.)

Whether that is a protocol or an application running over a protocol is semantics, either interpretation is valid.

[yunwal]

No need for a separate protocol here. You can just read an rss feed until you get a hit on your filter and then stop reading it. Same data over the wire, just a different client.

[deathanatos]

Any bog standard RSS app should work here.

RSS, literally and with no modifications, solves the use-case outlined in the article. The URL is just a specific one-shot feed, and TFA's request is just a request for such a convention of one-shot feeds.