# Apple Podcasts Search: shows by keyword with RSS feed URL (`steadydata/apple-podcasts-search`) Actor Search Apple Podcasts by keyword, up to 200 queries per run: one row per show with rank, title, publisher, RSS feed URL, genre, episode count, latest episode date and store link, from Apple's official search API. Pay per show. - **URL**: https://apify.com/steadydata/apple-podcasts-search.md - **Developed by:** [Steadydata Team](https://apify.com/steadydata) (community) - **Categories:** News, Business, Automation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $0.65 / 1,000 podcast listeds This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md. ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run. For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below. Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`). # README ## Apple Podcasts Search: shows by keyword with RSS feed URL Search Apple Podcasts by keyword, up to 200 queries per run: one row per show with rank, title, publisher, RSS feed URL, genre, episode count, latest episode date and store link, from Apple's official search API. Pay per show. ### Why this scraper - **Only delivered results are charged.** Inputs that fail come back as clear error records at no cost. - Apple's own search API, not a scraped page: one request per query answers with up to 200 shows in Apple's ranking order, in well under a second. Measured on "true crime" in the US store: 25 of 25 shows with feed URL, genre, episode count and latest episode date. - The RSS feed URL on every row. That is the key to a show's episodes, and the reason to search a podcast directory in the first place; feed it to the RSS feed reader actor below to read the episodes. Plus publisher, genre, episode count, latest episode date and explicit flag, per storefront. ### Who this is for Type your queries in `queries` (a topic, a show name or a publisher; up to 200 per run), choose the `country` storefront and set `maxResultsPerQuery` (default 25, ceiling 200). Every row carries the query, Apple's rank, the show's id, title, publisher, RSS feed URL, primary genre, all genres, episode count, latest episode date, explicit flag, artwork and store link. ### Who this is not for This actor lists shows, not episodes; read the episodes through the feed URL with the RSS feed reader. Results are Apple's for the chosen storefront, so a show that is not published in that country does not appear. Niche terms return few shows (7 for "lean manufacturing" in the US store on 16-09-2026); that is Apple's catalogue, not a cut. `publisher` is empty when Apple lists the show without one. ### Input example ```json { "queries": [ "lean manufacturing", "true crime" ], "country": "us", "maxResultsPerQuery": 25 } ``` ### Output example - `query` - `country` - `rank` - `podcastId` - `title` - `publisher` - `feedUrl` - `genre` - `genres` - `episodeCount` - `latestEpisodeDate` - `isExplicit` - `artworkUrl` - `url` Error codes: `INVALID_QUERY`, `INVALID_COUNTRY`, `NO_RESULTS`, `BLOCKED`. One delivered row looks like this: ```json { "query": "lean manufacturing", "country": "US", "rank": 1, "podcastId": "1332946249", "title": "Lean Smarts Podcast: Lean Manufacturing | Leadership", "publisher": "Lean Smarts Podcast: Lean Manufacturing | Leadership", "feedUrl": "https://feeds.captivate.fm/lean-smarts-podcast/", "genre": "Management", "genres": [ "Management", "Business", "Entrepreneurship" ], "episodeCount": 10, "latestEpisodeDate": "2021-06-29", "isExplicit": false, "artworkUrl": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts115/v4/e4/f5/a9/e4f5a996-0655-74f6-92e0-530687a7406e/mza_4934195302621478112.jpg/600x600bb.jpg", "url": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lean-smarts-podcast-lean-manufacturing-leadership/id1332946249", "status": "ok" } ``` ### Related actors from steadydata - [rss-feed-reader](https://apify.com/steadydata/rss-feed-reader): the episodes of any show, read from its RSS feed URL - [app-store-search](https://apify.com/steadydata/app-store-search): the same search API for apps - [app-store-top-charts](https://apify.com/steadydata/app-store-top-charts): Apple's top charts per country ### Pricing Pay per event: one `podcast-listed` event per delivered result. No charge for inputs that fail, no separate platform-usage surcharge. **Free Apify plan:** this actor delivers up to 25 rows per run for accounts on the Apify free plan, and then stops with a message. That limit is set by us, not by Apify. It exists so the actor keeps paying for itself for the people who do pay. Any paid Apify plan runs it at full size, billed per delivered row, with failed rows never charged. **Reviews:** if this actor saves you time, a short review on this page is the one thing that helps most. Ratings are what other buyers look at first, and we have no other way to ask. ### FAQ **Do I pay for a query without results?** No. A query that returns nothing comes back as one free error row. **Can I get the episodes too?** Not from this actor. Take the `feedUrl` of the show and run it through the RSS and Atom Feed Reader from the related actors below; that gives every episode with title, date, summary and audio link. **Which countries can I search?** Any Apple Podcasts storefront by its two-letter code: us, gb, ca, au, de, fr, nl, es, it, jp and the rest. One country per run; run the actor again for another. **How is the ranking decided?** It is Apple's own relevance order for the query, the same order the Podcasts app shows. **Is `episodeCount` exact?** It is the number of episodes Apple has indexed for the show; the feed itself may hold a few more or fewer. **Is personal data collected?** `latestEpisodeDate` is the date of the most recent episode Apple has indexed, as an ISO date; a show with an old date is likely dormant. **What happens when the source changes?** Sources change from time to time; that is the nature of this work. The actor is monitored daily and fixed fast, and while it is broken you are not charged, because only delivered results cost anything. # Changelog This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/steadydata/apple-podcasts-search/changelog.md # Actor input Schema ## `queries` (type: `array`): One per row, up to 200: a topic, a show name or a publisher. ## `country` (type: `string`): Two-letter storefront code that decides which shows Apple lists: us, gb, nl, de. ## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`): Cost ceiling per query, in Apple's ranking order. ## Actor input object example ```json { "queries": [ "lean manufacturing", "true crime" ], "country": "us", "maxResultsPerQuery": 25 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "queries": [ "lean manufacturing", "true crime" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("steadydata/apple-podcasts-search").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "queries": [ "lean manufacturing", "true crime", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("steadydata/apple-podcasts-search").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}") for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "queries": [ "lean manufacturing", "true crime" ] }' | apify call steadydata/apple-podcasts-search --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,steadydata/apple-podcasts-search" } } } ``` The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer ` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations). ## OpenAPI specification Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/mggjUSSMAfGrpAxhw/builds/TRe5gtign7oFfPHo2/openapi.json