Despite the availability of mashup editors, people without programming knowledge cannot easily access the data sources to create data feeds. A data feed engine allows a user to create a data feed without protocol and/or formatting knowledge for the data source. The data feed engine automatically builds a search command with search parameters and a data source identity (e.g., server name, network address, port number, etc.). The data feed engine also encodes the built search command as a data feed and publishes a link for the data feed in a data feed catalog. After publication, users can access the catalog to combine data feeds, edit data feeds, etc., and create mashups.