Apple Podcasts Search API | Shows + Episodes

Search Apple Podcasts via the iTunes Search API. Extract show details, episode lists, genres, ratings, and release schedules — at scale.

Store Quickstart

• Start with store-input.example.json for the cheapest first successful run.
• If that matches your workflow, switch to store-input.templates.json and pick one of:
• Quickstart (Dataset) for a fast smoke test
• Topic Research (Episodes Included) for deeper episode analysis
• Webhook Alert for automated downstream delivery

The Store example input stays intentionally small so first-time users get a clean success before increasing limit or enabling episode fetches.

What does this actor do?

Queries the official iTunes Search API (free, no authentication required) to find podcasts matching your search terms. Optionally fetches recent episodes from each podcast's RSS feed for deeper analysis.

Key Features

• 🎙️ Podcast search — Search by keyword across all Apple Podcasts
• 🌍 Country targeting — Search within specific country stores (US, JP, GB, etc.)
• 📻 Episode extraction — Fetch recent episodes with titles, dates, and durations
• 🎨 Artwork URLs — High-resolution podcast cover images included
• 📊 Genre classification — Full genre/category tagging
• 🔗 Feed URLs — Direct RSS feed URLs for further processing

Use Cases

Who	Why
Podcast agencies	Market research — find competitor shows
Advertisers	Discover podcasts in specific niches for sponsorship
Content creators	Analyze what's popular before launching a show
Market researchers	Track podcast trends by category and country

Input Example

{
  "searchTerm": "technology startups",
  "country": "us",
  "limit": 50,
  "includeEpisodes": true
}

Output Example

{
  "collectionId": 1234567890,
  "name": "StartupTech Weekly",
  "artist": "Tech Media Inc.",
  "genres": ["Technology", "Business"],
  "trackCount": 245,
  "artworkUrl": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/...",
  "feedUrl": "https://feeds.example.com/startuptech",
  "itunesUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/...",
  "episodes": [
    {
      "title": "AI Agents Are Changing Everything",
      "pubDate": "Mon, 17 Feb 2026 06:00:00 GMT",
      "duration": "45:32"
    }
  ]
}

A fuller ready-to-share payload is available in sample-output.example.json for Store and README proof.

Cost

Zero external costs. Uses the free iTunes Search API — no API keys, no proxies. A search for 50 podcasts takes ~3 seconds.

Commercial Ops

Set up .env first:

$cp -n .env.example .env

Cloud Task/Schedule setup (idempotent):

$npm run apify:cloud:setup

Daily reliability checks:

npm run canary:check
npm run contract:test:live

OpenClaw cron commands:

• openclaw-cron-commands.md

Related actors

• tech-events-intelligence — extend speaker and topic research into conferences and CFPs.
• procurement-intel-actor — monitor public-sector buyers or organizations you discover through podcast research.
• uspto-patent-scraper — add patent signals for the same companies, founders, or product themes.