diff --git a/packages/api/package.json b/packages/api/package.json
index 34d9b24fb..75cecca83 100644
--- a/packages/api/package.json
+++ b/packages/api/package.json
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@
     "pg": "^8.3.3",
     "postgrator": "^4.2.0",
     "private-ip": "^2.3.3",
+    "redis": "^4.3.1",
     "rss-parser": "^3.13.0",
     "sanitize-html": "^2.3.2",
     "sax": "^1.3.0",
diff --git a/packages/api/src/redis.ts b/packages/api/src/redis.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..14559c0be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/api/src/redis.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { createClient } from 'redis'
+import { env } from './env'
+
+export const redisClient = createClient({
+  url: env.redis.url,
+  socket: {
+    tls: env.redis.url?.startsWith('rediss://'), // rediss:// is the protocol for TLS
+    cert: env.redis.cert?.replace(/\\n/g, '\n'), // replace \n with new line
+    rejectUnauthorized: false, // for self-signed certs
+    connectTimeout: 10000, // 10 seconds
+    reconnectStrategy(retries: number): number | Error {
+      if (retries > 10) {
+        return new Error('Retries exhausted')
+      }
+      return 1000
+    },
+  },
+})
diff --git a/packages/api/src/server.ts b/packages/api/src/server.ts
index 1bb75a085..a6458730f 100755
--- a/packages/api/src/server.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/server.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { config, loggers } from 'winston'
 import { makeApolloServer } from './apollo'
 import { appDataSource } from './data_source'
 import { env } from './env'
+import { redisClient } from './redis'
 import { articleRouter } from './routers/article_router'
 import { authRouter } from './routers/auth/auth_router'
 import { mobileAuthRouter } from './routers/auth/mobile/mobile_auth_router'
@@ -157,6 +158,16 @@ const main = async (): Promise<void> => {
   // as healthy.
   await appDataSource.initialize()
 
+  // redis is optional
+  if (env.redis.url) {
+    redisClient.on('error', (err) => {
+      console.error('Redis Client Error', err)
+    })
+
+    await redisClient.connect()
+    console.log('Redis Client Connected:', env.redis.url)
+  }
+
   const { app, apollo, httpServer } = createApp()
 
   await apollo.start()
diff --git a/packages/api/src/services/library_item.ts b/packages/api/src/services/library_item.ts
index d6944af12..8478f33f3 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/services/library_item.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/services/library_item.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { EntityLabel } from '../entity/entity_label'
 import { Highlight } from '../entity/highlight'
 import { Label } from '../entity/label'
 import { LibraryItem, LibraryItemState } from '../entity/library_item'
+import { env } from '../env'
 import { BulkActionType, InputMaybe, SortParams } from '../generated/graphql'
 import { createPubSubClient, EntityType } from '../pubsub'
 import {
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ import {
   valuesToRawSql,
 } from '../repository'
 import { libraryItemRepository } from '../repository/library_item'
-import { wordsCount } from '../utils/helpers'
+import { setRecentlySavedItemInRedis, wordsCount } from '../utils/helpers'
 import { parseSearchQuery } from '../utils/search'
 
 enum ReadFilter {
@@ -818,6 +819,11 @@ export const createLibraryItem = async (
     userId
   )
 
+  // set recently saved item in redis if redis is enabled
+  if (env.redis.url) {
+    await setRecentlySavedItemInRedis(userId, newLibraryItem.originalUrl)
+  }
+
   if (skipPubSub) {
     return newLibraryItem
   }
diff --git a/packages/api/src/services/save_page.ts b/packages/api/src/services/save_page.ts
index 442dcea93..0cded9a52 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/services/save_page.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/services/save_page.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
   SavePageInput,
   SaveResult,
 } from '../generated/graphql'
+import { redisClient } from '../redis'
 import { authTrx } from '../repository'
 import { enqueueThumbnailTask } from '../utils/createTask'
 import {
diff --git a/packages/api/src/util.ts b/packages/api/src/util.ts
index c056d17cd..f37b51587 100755
--- a/packages/api/src/util.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/util.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ interface BackendEnv {
       max: number
     }
   }
+  redis: {
+    url?: string
+    cert?: string
+  }
 }
 
 /***
@@ -173,6 +177,8 @@ const nullableEnvVars = [
   'INTEGRATION_EXPORTER_URL',
   'INTEGRATION_IMPORTER_URL',
   'SUBSCRIPTION_FEED_MAX',
+  'REDIS_URL',
+  'REDIS_CERT',
 ] // Allow some vars to be null/empty
 
 /* If not in GAE and Prod/QA/Demo env (f.e. on localhost/dev env), allow following env vars to be null */
@@ -316,6 +322,10 @@ export function getEnv(): BackendEnv {
         : 256, // default to 256
     },
   }
+  const redis = {
+    url: parse('REDIS_URL'),
+    cert: parse('REDIS_CERT'),
+  }
 
   return {
     pg,
@@ -338,6 +348,7 @@ export function getEnv(): BackendEnv {
     gcp,
     pocket,
     subscription,
+    redis,
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/api/src/utils/helpers.ts b/packages/api/src/utils/helpers.ts
index df6537996..cf179fd35 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/utils/helpers.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/utils/helpers.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
   SearchItem,
 } from '../generated/graphql'
 import { createPubSubClient } from '../pubsub'
+import { redisClient } from '../redis'
 import { Claims, WithDataSourcesContext } from '../resolvers/types'
 import { validateUrl } from '../services/create_page_save_request'
 import { updateLibraryItem } from '../services/library_item'
@@ -407,3 +408,23 @@ export const isRelativeUrl = (url: string): boolean => {
 export const getAbsoluteUrl = (url: string, baseUrl: string): string => {
   return new URL(url, baseUrl).href
 }
+
+export const setRecentlySavedItemInRedis = async (
+  userId: string,
+  url: string
+) => {
+  // save the url in redis for 8 hours so rss-feeder won't try to re-save it
+  const redisKey = `recent-saved-item:${userId}:${url}`
+  const ttlInSeconds = 60 * 60 * 8
+  try {
+    return redisClient.set(redisKey, 1, {
+      EX: ttlInSeconds,
+      NX: true,
+    })
+  } catch (error) {
+    logger.error('error setting recently saved item in redis', {
+      redisKey,
+      error,
+    })
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/api/test/global-setup.ts b/packages/api/test/global-setup.ts
index d4a56e120..b36cfa15b 100644
--- a/packages/api/test/global-setup.ts
+++ b/packages/api/test/global-setup.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { env } from '../src/env'
+import { redisClient } from '../src/redis'
 import { createTestConnection } from './db'
 import { startApolloServer } from './util'
 
@@ -5,6 +7,11 @@ export const mochaGlobalSetup = async () => {
   await createTestConnection()
   console.log('db connection created')
 
+  if (env.redis.url) {
+    await redisClient.connect()
+    console.log('redis connection created')
+  }
+
   await startApolloServer()
   console.log('apollo server started')
 }
diff --git a/packages/api/test/global-teardown.ts b/packages/api/test/global-teardown.ts
index ec201d2db..2d11b2a62 100644
--- a/packages/api/test/global-teardown.ts
+++ b/packages/api/test/global-teardown.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import { appDataSource } from '../src/data_source'
+import { env } from '../src/env'
+import { redisClient } from '../src/redis'
 import { stopApolloServer } from './util'
 
 export const mochaGlobalTeardown = async () => {
@@ -7,4 +9,9 @@ export const mochaGlobalTeardown = async () => {
 
   await appDataSource.destroy()
   console.log('db connection closed')
+
+  if (env.redis.url) {
+    await redisClient.disconnect()
+    console.log('redis connection closed')
+  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/rss-handler/package.json b/packages/rss-handler/package.json
index 49452e22e..728cd9b82 100644
--- a/packages/rss-handler/package.json
+++ b/packages/rss-handler/package.json
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
     "dotenv": "^16.0.1",
     "jsonwebtoken": "^8.5.1",
     "linkedom": "^0.16.4",
+    "redis": "^4.3.1",
     "rss-parser": "^3.13.0"
   },
   "volta": {
diff --git a/packages/rss-handler/src/index.ts b/packages/rss-handler/src/index.ts
index a615fa675..b3636e41c 100644
--- a/packages/rss-handler/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/rss-handler/src/index.ts
@@ -4,11 +4,15 @@ import crypto from 'crypto'
 import * as dotenv from 'dotenv' // see https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv#how-do-i-use-dotenv-with-import
 import * as jwt from 'jsonwebtoken'
 import { parseHTML } from 'linkedom'
+import { createClient } from 'redis'
 import Parser, { Item } from 'rss-parser'
 import { promisify } from 'util'
+import { createRedisClient } from './redis'
 import { CONTENT_FETCH_URL, createCloudTask } from './task'
 
 type FolderType = 'following' | 'inbox'
+// explicitly create the return type of RedisClient
+type RedisClient = ReturnType<typeof createClient>
 
 interface RssFeedRequest {
   subscriptionIds: string[]
@@ -39,9 +43,10 @@ type RssFeed = Parser.Output<{
 type RssFeedItemMedia = {
   $: { url: string; width?: string; height?: string; medium?: string }
 }
-type RssFeedItem = Item & {
+export type RssFeedItem = Item & {
   'media:thumbnail'?: RssFeedItemMedia
   'media:content'?: RssFeedItemMedia[]
+  link: string
 }
 
 export const isOldItem = (item: RssFeedItem, lastFetchedAt: number) => {
@@ -53,6 +58,40 @@ export const isOldItem = (item: RssFeedItem, lastFetchedAt: number) => {
   )
 }
 
+const feedFetchFailedRedisKey = (feedUrl: string) =>
+  `feed-fetch-failure:${feedUrl}`
+
+const isFeedBlocked = async (feedUrl: string, redisClient: RedisClient) => {
+  const key = feedFetchFailedRedisKey(feedUrl)
+  try {
+    const result = await redisClient.get(key)
+    // if the feed has failed to fetch more than certain times, block it
+    const maxFailures = parseInt(process.env.MAX_FEED_FETCH_FAILURES ?? '10')
+    if (result && parseInt(result) > maxFailures) {
+      console.log('feed is blocked: ', feedUrl)
+      return true
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('Failed to check feed block status', feedUrl, error)
+  }
+
+  return false
+}
+
+const blockFeed = async (feedUrl: string, redisClient: RedisClient) => {
+  const key = feedFetchFailedRedisKey(feedUrl)
+  try {
+    const result = await redisClient.incr(key)
+    // expire the key in 1 day
+    await redisClient.expire(key, 24 * 60 * 60, 'NX')
+
+    return result
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('Failed to block feed', feedUrl, error)
+    return null
+  }
+}
+
 export const isContentFetchBlocked = (feedUrl: string) => {
   if (feedUrl.startsWith('https://arxiv.org/')) {
     return true
@@ -214,13 +253,34 @@ const sendUpdateSubscriptionMutation = async (
   }
 }
 
+const isItemRecentlySaved = async (
+  redisClient: RedisClient,
+  userId: string,
+  url: string
+) => {
+  const key = `recent-saved-item:${userId}:${url}`
+  const result = await redisClient.get(key)
+  return !!result
+}
+
 const createTask = async (
   userId: string,
   feedUrl: string,
   item: RssFeedItem,
   fetchContent: boolean,
-  folder: FolderType
+  folder: FolderType,
+  redisClient: RedisClient
 ) => {
+  const isRecentlySaved = await isItemRecentlySaved(
+    redisClient,
+    userId,
+    item.link
+  )
+  if (isRecentlySaved) {
+    console.log('Item recently saved', item.link)
+    return true
+  }
+
   if (folder === 'following' && !fetchContent) {
     return createItemWithPreviewContent(userId, feedUrl, item)
   }
@@ -363,7 +423,7 @@ const getUpdatePeriodInHours = (feed: RssFeed) => {
 }
 
 // get link following the order of preference: via, alternate, self
-const getLink = (links: RssFeedItemLink[]) => {
+const getLink = (links: RssFeedItemLink[]): string | undefined => {
   // sort links by preference
   const sortedLinks: string[] = []
 
@@ -398,10 +458,11 @@ const processSubscription = async (
   lastFetchedChecksum: string,
   fetchContent: boolean,
   folder: FolderType,
-  feed: RssFeed
+  feed: RssFeed,
+  redisClient: RedisClient
 ) => {
   let lastItemFetchedAt: Date | null = null
-  let lastValidItem: Item | null = null
+  let lastValidItem: RssFeedItem | null = null
 
   if (fetchResult.checksum === lastFetchedChecksum) {
     console.log('feed has not been updated', feedUrl, lastFetchedChecksum)
@@ -425,7 +486,7 @@ const processSubscription = async (
   // save each item in the feed
   for (const item of feed.items) {
     // use published or updated if isoDate is not available for atom feeds
-    item.isoDate =
+    const isoDate =
       item.isoDate || item.published || item.updated || item.created
     console.log('Processing feed item', item.links, item.isoDate, feed.feedUrl)
 
@@ -434,21 +495,28 @@ const processSubscription = async (
       continue
     }
 
-    item.link = getLink(item.links)
-    if (!item.link) {
+    const link = getLink(item.links)
+    if (!link) {
       console.log('Invalid feed item links', item.links)
       continue
     }
 
-    console.log('Fetching feed item', item.link)
+    console.log('Fetching feed item', link)
+    const feedItem = {
+      ...item,
+      isoDate,
+      link,
+    }
 
-    const publishedAt = item.isoDate ? new Date(item.isoDate) : new Date()
+    const publishedAt = feedItem.isoDate
+      ? new Date(feedItem.isoDate)
+      : new Date()
     // remember the last valid item
     if (
       !lastValidItem ||
       (lastValidItem.isoDate && publishedAt > new Date(lastValidItem.isoDate))
     ) {
-      lastValidItem = item
+      lastValidItem = feedItem
     }
 
     // Max limit per-feed update
@@ -457,20 +525,21 @@ const processSubscription = async (
     }
 
     // skip old items
-    if (isOldItem(item, lastFetchedAt)) {
-      console.log('Skipping old feed item', item.link)
+    if (isOldItem(feedItem, lastFetchedAt)) {
+      console.log('Skipping old feed item', feedItem.link)
       continue
     }
 
     const created = await createTask(
       userId,
       feedUrl,
-      item,
+      feedItem,
       fetchContent,
-      folder
+      folder,
+      redisClient
     )
     if (!created) {
-      console.error('Failed to create task for feed item', item.link)
+      console.error('Failed to create task for feed item', feedItem.link)
       continue
     }
 
@@ -496,7 +565,8 @@ const processSubscription = async (
       feedUrl,
       lastValidItem,
       fetchContent,
-      folder
+      folder,
+      redisClient
     )
     if (!created) {
       console.error('Failed to create task for feed item', lastValidItem.link)
@@ -536,6 +606,12 @@ export const rssHandler = Sentry.GCPFunction.wrapHttpFunction(
         return res.status(400).send('INVALID_REQUEST_BODY')
       }
 
+      // create redis client
+      const redisClient = await createRedisClient(
+        process.env.REDIS_URL,
+        process.env.REDIS_CERT
+      )
+
       const {
         feedUrl,
         subscriptionIds,
@@ -548,10 +624,17 @@ export const rssHandler = Sentry.GCPFunction.wrapHttpFunction(
       } = req.body
       console.log('Processing feed', feedUrl)
 
+      const isBlocked = await isFeedBlocked(feedUrl, redisClient)
+      if (isBlocked) {
+        console.log('feed is blocked: ', feedUrl)
+        return res.sendStatus(200)
+      }
+
       const fetchResult = await fetchAndChecksum(feedUrl)
       const feed = await parseFeed(feedUrl, fetchResult.content)
       if (!feed) {
         console.error('Failed to parse RSS feed', feedUrl)
+        await blockFeed(feedUrl, redisClient)
         return res.status(500).send('INVALID_RSS_FEED')
       }
 
@@ -563,22 +646,22 @@ export const rssHandler = Sentry.GCPFunction.wrapHttpFunction(
 
       console.log('Fetched feed', feed.title, new Date())
 
-      await Promise.all(
-        subscriptionIds.map((_, i) =>
-          processSubscription(
-            subscriptionIds[i],
-            userIds[i],
-            feedUrl,
-            fetchResult,
-            lastFetchedTimestamps[i],
-            scheduledTimestamps[i],
-            lastFetchedChecksums[i],
-            fetchContents[i] && allowFetchContent,
-            folders[i],
-            feed
-          )
+      // process each subscription sequentially
+      for (let i = 0; i < subscriptionIds.length; i++) {
+        await processSubscription(
+          subscriptionIds[i],
+          userIds[i],
+          feedUrl,
+          fetchResult,
+          lastFetchedTimestamps[i],
+          scheduledTimestamps[i],
+          lastFetchedChecksums[i],
+          fetchContents[i] && allowFetchContent,
+          folders[i],
+          feed,
+          redisClient
         )
-      )
+      }
 
       res.send('ok')
     } catch (e) {
diff --git a/packages/rss-handler/src/redis.ts b/packages/rss-handler/src/redis.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..350cb09f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/rss-handler/src/redis.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import { createClient } from 'redis'
+
+export const createRedisClient = async (url?: string, cert?: string) => {
+  const redisClient = createClient({
+    url,
+    socket: {
+      tls: url?.startsWith('rediss://'), // rediss:// is the protocol for TLS
+      cert: cert?.replace(/\\n/g, '\n'), // replace \n with new line
+      rejectUnauthorized: false, // for self-signed certs
+      connectTimeout: 10000, // 10 seconds
+      reconnectStrategy(retries: number): number | Error {
+        if (retries > 10) {
+          return new Error('Retries exhausted')
+        }
+        return 1000
+      },
+    },
+  })
+
+  redisClient.on('error', (err) => console.error('Redis Client Error', err))
+
+  await redisClient.connect()
+  console.log('Redis Client Connected:', url)
+
+  return redisClient
+}
diff --git a/packages/rss-handler/test/index.test.ts b/packages/rss-handler/test/index.test.ts
index 5abf0b77c..b43cf7973 100644
--- a/packages/rss-handler/test/index.test.ts
+++ b/packages/rss-handler/test/index.test.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 import { expect } from 'chai'
 import 'mocha'
-import { Item } from 'rss-parser'
-import { isOldItem } from '../src'
+import { isOldItem, RssFeedItem } from '../src'
 
 describe('isOldItem', () => {
   it('returns true if item is older than 1 day', () => {
     const item = {
       pubDate: '2020-01-01',
-    } as Item
+    } as RssFeedItem
     const lastFetchedAt = Date.now()
 
     expect(isOldItem(item, lastFetchedAt)).to.be.true
@@ -17,7 +16,7 @@ describe('isOldItem', () => {
     const lastFetchedAt = Date.now()
     const item = {
       pubDate: new Date(lastFetchedAt).toISOString(),
-    } as Item
+    } as RssFeedItem
 
     expect(isOldItem(item, lastFetchedAt)).to.be.true
   })