diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 67ac748..671774f 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
     <meta charset="UTF-8">
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
     <title>Hex Studios</title>
+    <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Hex Studios RSS Feed" href="posts/feed.php">
 
     <script>
         (function() {
@@ -32,17 +33,18 @@
 
     <div id="links-section">
         <h2>Links</h2>
-        <ul>
+        <ul class="custom-list">
             <li><a href="https://git.bellsworne.tech/">Git repos</a></li>
             <li><a href="https://youtube.com/c/hexstudios">YouTube</a></li>
             <li><a href="https://bellsworne.com">My company - Bellsworne</a></li>
             <li><a href="https://git.bellsworne.tech/chrisbell/hexstudios-co">Page source code (git)</a></li>
+            <li><a href="posts/feed.php">RSS feed</a></li>
         </ul>
     </div>
 
     <div id="sticky-posts-section">
         <h2>Pinned posts</h2>
-        <ul>
+        <ul class="custom-list">
             <li><a href="post.html?file=about.md">About <i class="post-link-date">August 13, 2026</i></a></li>
             <li><a href="post.html?file=projects.md">Projects <i class="post-link-date">August 13, 2026</i></a></li>
         </ul>
@@ -50,40 +52,80 @@
 
     <div id="posts-section">
         <h2>Posts</h2>
-        <ul id="posts-list"></ul>
+        <ul id="tags-list"></ul>
+        <ul class="custom-list" id="posts-list"></ul>
     </div>
-    
+
     <script>
+        let allPosts = [];
+        let activeTag = null;
+
         async function loadPosts() {
             const list = document.getElementById('posts-list');
             try {
                 const res = await fetch('posts/list.php');
-                const posts = await res.json();
-
-                if (!posts.length) {
-                    list.innerHTML = '<li>No posts yet.</li>';
-                    return;
-                }
-
-                posts.forEach(post => {
-                    const li = document.createElement('li');
-                    const a = document.createElement('a');
-                    const i = document.createElement('i');
-                    a.textContent = post.title;
-                    i.textContent = post.date;
-                    a.href = post.type === 'html'
-                    ? 'posts/' + post.file
-                    : 'post.html?file=' + encodeURIComponent(post.file);
-                    li.appendChild(a);
-                    a.appendChild(i);
-                    i.classList.add("post-link-date");
-                    list.appendChild(li);
-                });
+                allPosts = await res.json();
+                renderTags();
+                renderPosts();
             } catch (err) {
                 list.innerHTML = '<li>Couldn\u2019t load posts.</li>';
             }
         }
 
+        function renderTags() {
+            const tagsList = document.getElementById('tags-list');
+            const tags = [...new Set(allPosts.flatMap(p => p.tags || []))].sort();
+
+            tagsList.innerHTML = '';
+            if (!tags.length) return;
+
+            const makeTagButton = (label, tagValue) => {
+                const li = document.createElement('li');
+                const btn = document.createElement('button');
+                btn.textContent = label;
+                btn.className = 'tag-btn' + (activeTag === tagValue ? ' active' : '');
+                btn.onclick = () => {
+                    activeTag = tagValue;
+                    renderTags();
+                    renderPosts();
+                };
+                li.appendChild(btn);
+                tagsList.appendChild(li);
+            };
+
+            makeTagButton('all', null);
+            tags.forEach(tag => makeTagButton(tag, tag));
+        }
+
+        function renderPosts() {
+            const list = document.getElementById('posts-list');
+            const posts = activeTag
+                ? allPosts.filter(p => (p.tags || []).includes(activeTag))
+                : allPosts;
+
+            list.innerHTML = '';
+
+            if (!posts.length) {
+                list.innerHTML = '<li>No posts' + (activeTag ? ' tagged \u201c' + activeTag + '\u201d' : '') + '.</li>';
+                return;
+            }
+
+            posts.forEach(post => {
+                const li = document.createElement('li');
+                const a = document.createElement('a');
+                const i = document.createElement('i');
+                a.textContent = post.title;
+                i.textContent = post.date;
+                a.href = post.type === 'html'
+                    ? 'posts/' + post.file
+                    : 'post.html?file=' + encodeURIComponent(post.file);
+                li.appendChild(a);
+                a.appendChild(i);
+                i.classList.add("post-link-date");
+                list.appendChild(li);
+            });
+        }
+
         document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', loadPosts);
     </script>
 </body>
diff --git a/posts/feed.php b/posts/feed.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6121550
--- /dev/null
+++ b/posts/feed.php
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+<?php
+require __DIR__ . '/posts.php';
+
+$siteUrl   = 'https://hexstudios.co';
+$siteTitle = 'Hex Studios';
+$siteDesc  = 'Developer, biker, musician, engineer, and an unapologetic centrist in the deep red south.';
+
+$posts = getPosts(__DIR__);
+
+function xmlEscape($str) {
+    return htmlspecialchars($str, ENT_XML1 | ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
+}
+
+header('Content-Type: application/rss+xml; charset=UTF-8');
+echo '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>' . "\n";
+?>
+<rss version="2.0">
+    <channel>
+        <title><?= xmlEscape($siteTitle) ?></title>
+        <link><?= xmlEscape($siteUrl) ?></link>
+        <description><?= xmlEscape($siteDesc) ?></description>
+        <language>en-us</language>
+        <lastBuildDate><?= date(DATE_RSS) ?></lastBuildDate>
+        <?php foreach ($posts as $post):
+            $postUrl = $post['type'] === 'html'
+                ? $siteUrl . '/posts/' . $post['file']
+                : $siteUrl . '/post.html?file=' . urlencode($post['file']);
+        ?>
+        <item>
+            <title><?= xmlEscape($post['title']) ?></title>
+            <link><?= xmlEscape($postUrl) ?></link>
+            <guid isPermaLink="true"><?= xmlEscape($postUrl) ?></guid>
+            <pubDate><?= date(DATE_RSS, $post['created']) ?></pubDate>
+            <description><?= xmlEscape($post['excerpt']) ?></description>
+            <?php foreach ($post['tags'] as $tag): ?>
+                <category><?= xmlEscape($tag) ?></category>
+            <?php endforeach; ?>
+        </item>
+        <?php endforeach; ?>
+    </channel>
+</rss>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/posts/list.php b/posts/list.php
index 6d5dba8..33e08bd 100644
--- a/posts/list.php
+++ b/posts/list.php
@@ -1,49 +1,12 @@
 <?php
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
+require __DIR__ . '/posts.php';
 
-$dir = __DIR__;
-$files = array_diff(scandir($dir), ['.', '..', 'list.php']);
+$posts = getPosts(__DIR__);
 
-function parseFrontMatter($raw) {
-    if (preg_match('/^---\r?\n(.+?)\r?\n---\r?\n(.*)$/s', $raw, $m)) {
-        $meta = [];
-        foreach (preg_split('/\r?\n/', $m[1]) as $line) {
-            if (strpos($line, ':') === false) continue;
-            [$key, $value] = explode(':', $line, 2);
-            $meta[trim($key)] = trim($value, " \t\"'");
-        }
-        return $meta;
-    }
-    return [];
-}
-
-$posts = [];
-foreach ($files as $file) {
-    $ext = strtolower(pathinfo($file, PATHINFO_EXTENSION));
-    if (!in_array($ext, ['html', 'md'])) continue;
-
-    $path = $dir . '/' . $file;
-    $fallbackTitle = ucwords(str_replace(['-', '_'], ' ', pathinfo($file, PATHINFO_FILENAME)));
-    $created = filectime($path); // fallback if no front matter date
-
-    $meta = [];
-    if ($ext === 'md') {
-        $raw = file_get_contents($path, false, null, 0, 4096); // just need the header
-        $meta = parseFrontMatter($raw);
-    }
-
-    $title = $meta['title'] ?? $fallbackTitle;
-    $date  = isset($meta['date']) ? strtotime($meta['date']) : $created;
-
-    $posts[] = [
-        'file'    => $file,
-        'title'   => $title,
-        'type'    => $ext,
-        'created' => $date ?: $created,
-        'date'    => date('F j, Y', $date ?: $created),
-    ];
-}
-
-usort($posts, fn($a, $b) => $b['created'] - $a['created']); // newest first
+$posts = array_map(function ($p) {
+    unset($p['excerpt']);
+    return $p;
+}, $posts);
 
 echo json_encode($posts);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/posts/posts.php b/posts/posts.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a00bac8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/posts/posts.php
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+<?php
+
+function parseFrontMatter($raw) {
+    if (preg_match('/^---\r?\n(.+?)\r?\n---\r?\n(.*)$/s', $raw, $m)) {
+        $meta = [];
+        foreach (preg_split('/\r?\n/', $m[1]) as $line) {
+            if (strpos($line, ':') === false) continue;
+            [$key, $value] = explode(':', $line, 2);
+            $meta[trim($key)] = trim($value, " \t\"'");
+        }
+        return [$meta, $m[2]];
+    }
+    return [[], $raw];
+}
+
+function makeExcerpt($body, $length = 220) {
+    $text = preg_replace('/```.*?```/s', '', $body);   // code blocks
+    $text = preg_replace('/[#>*_`~\[\]]/', '', $text);  // markdown symbols
+    $text = preg_replace('/\(.*?\)/', '', $text);       // link targets
+    $text = preg_replace('/\s+/', ' ', $text);          // collapse whitespace
+    $text = trim($text);
+    if (mb_strlen($text) > $length) {
+        $text = mb_substr($text, 0, $length) . '…';
+    }
+    return $text;
+}
+
+function getPosts($dir) {
+    $skip = ['.', '..', 'list.php', 'feed.php', 'posts.php'];
+    $files = array_diff(scandir($dir), $skip);
+
+    $posts = [];
+    foreach ($files as $file) {
+        $ext = strtolower(pathinfo($file, PATHINFO_EXTENSION));
+        if (!in_array($ext, ['html', 'md'])) continue;
+
+        $path = $dir . '/' . $file;
+        $fallbackTitle = ucwords(str_replace(['-', '_'], ' ', pathinfo($file, PATHINFO_FILENAME)));
+        $created = filectime($path);
+
+        $meta = [];
+        $body = '';
+        if ($ext === 'md') {
+            $raw = file_get_contents($path);
+            [$meta, $body] = parseFrontMatter($raw);
+        }
+
+        $title = $meta['title'] ?? $fallbackTitle;
+        $date  = isset($meta['date']) ? strtotime($meta['date']) : $created;
+        $tags  = isset($meta['tags']) && trim($meta['tags']) !== ''
+            ? array_map('trim', explode(',', $meta['tags']))
+            : [];
+
+        $posts[] = [
+            'file'    => $file,
+            'title'   => $title,
+            'type'    => $ext,
+            'created' => $date ?: $created,
+            'date'    => date('F j, Y', $date ?: $created),
+            'tags'    => $tags,
+            'excerpt' => $body ? makeExcerpt($body) : '',
+        ];
+    }
+
+    usort($posts, fn($a, $b) => $b['created'] - $a['created']); // newest first
+
+    return $posts;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/styles/main.css b/styles/main.css
index a3ac734..550ff88 100644
--- a/styles/main.css
+++ b/styles/main.css
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   --background-color: #1a1a1a;
   --foreground-color: #f0f0ea;
   --soft-color: #8a8a82;
-  --accent-color: #a5453a;
+  --accent-color: #197aa7;
   --rule-color: #333330;
   --code-bg: #242422;
 }
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
   --background-color: #f2f0ea;
   --foreground-color: #1a1a1a;
   --soft-color: #6b6a63;
-  --accent-color: #921b0e;
+  --accent-color: #197aa7;
   --rule-color: #d8d5cb;
   --code-bg: #e8e5da;
 }
@@ -60,28 +60,48 @@ hr {
   border-color: var(--accent-color);
 }
 
+/* tag filter row */
+#tags-list {
+  list-style: none;
+  padding: 0;
+  display: flex;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  gap: 1em;
+  margin: 0.5em 0 1.5em;
+}
+.tag-btn {
+  background: none;
+  border: none;
+  color: var(--soft-color);
+  font-size: 11pt;
+  font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  padding: 0;
+}
+.tag-btn:hover {
+  color: var(--accent-color);
+}
+.tag-btn.active {
+  color: var(--accent-color);
+  text-decoration: underline;
+}
+
 /* post lists on the main page */
-#posts-section ul,
-#sticky-posts-section ul,
-#links-section ul {
+.custom-list {
   list-style: none;
   padding: 0;
 }
-#posts-section li,
-#sticky-posts-section li,
-#links-section li {
+
+.custom-list li {
   margin: 0.5em 0;
 }
-
-#posts-section li::before,
-#sticky-posts-section li::before,
-#links-section li::before {
-    content: "> ";
+.custom-list li::before {
+  content: "> ";
 }
 
 i.post-link-date {
   font-style: italic;
-  color: #6b6b65;
+  color: var(--soft-color);
   font-size: 11pt;
   text-decoration: none;
 }
@@ -89,6 +109,7 @@ i.post-link-date::before {
   content: " // ";
 }
 
+
 /* post.html */
 .back-link {
   display: inline-block;