# Podcast Directory & Episode Scraper (Apple Podcasts) (`thriftykiwi/podcast-directory-scraper`) Actor

Search the Apple Podcasts directory by keyword for shows, then read each show's public RSS feed for its latest episodes. One row per podcast with publisher, genre, episode count, artwork and recent episodes. No API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thriftykiwi/podcast-directory-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thrifty Kiwi](https://apify.com/thriftykiwi) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 result items

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

**Podcast Directory & Episode Scraper (Apple Podcasts)** pulls structured data from Apple Podcasts directory & podcast RSS feeds and returns it as a clean dataset you can export as JSON, CSV or Excel. It queries the Apple Podcasts directory for podcasts matching a keyword and, for each show, reads the show's public RSS feed to pull recent episode titles and dates, so a media list can be built in a single run.

No API key, no login. Click **Start** and it works with the prefilled input.

### What does Podcast Directory & Episode Scraper (Apple Podcasts) do?

It queries [Apple Podcasts directory & podcast RSS feeds](https://podcasts.apple.com) and returns one row per record, with only the fields that matter. Runs on the Apify platform, so you get an API endpoint, scheduling, monitoring and integrations (Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, webhooks) without maintaining any infrastructure.

### Why use it?

- **Apple Podcasts directory & podcast RSS feeds data without the plumbing**: no proxy setup, no pagination code, no scraping maintenance.
- **Schedule it** to monitor changes daily or weekly and trigger alerts on new records.
- **Feed it straight into** a spreadsheet, database, or an AI agent via the Apify API or MCP server.
- Runs in seconds and returns a typed dataset that is ready for analysis.

### How to use it

1. Click **Try for free** / **Start**.
2. Leave the default input to see a sample run, or type your own values (see Input below).
3. Press **Start** and wait a few seconds.
4. Open the **Output** tab and download as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| `query` | string | `"artificial intelligence"` | Keyword, topic or show name to search for in the Apple Podcasts directory. |
| `includeEpisodes` | string | `"yes"` | Read each show's RSS feed and add its most recent episodes to the row. One of: 'yes', 'no'. |
| `episodesPerFeed` | integer | `3` | How many recent episodes to read from each show's RSS feed. |
| `feedLimit` | integer | `3` | Maximum number of shows whose RSS feed is fetched for episodes. |
| `maxResults` | integer | `25` | Maximum number of podcasts to return. |

Example input:

```json
{
  "query": "artificial intelligence",
  "includeEpisodes": "yes",
  "episodesPerFeed": 3,
  "feedLimit": 3,
  "maxResults": 5
}
```

### Output

One item per record. Sample:

```json
{
  "podcast_name": "Bloomberg Tech",
  "publisher": "Bloomberg",
  "feed_url": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/...mp3",
  "genre": "Technology",
  "genres": "Technology | News",
  "episode_count": 620
}
```

You can download the dataset in various formats such as JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel.

### Data fields

| Field | Type | Meaning |
|-------|------|---------|
| `podcast_name` | string | Podcast |
| `publisher` | string | Publisher |
| `feed_url` | string | RSS Feed |
| `genre` | string | Genre |
| `genres` | string | All Genres |
| `episode_count` | number | Episodes |
| `country` | string | Country |
| `content_advisory` | string | Advisory |
| `artwork_url` | string | Artwork |
| `apple_url` | string | Apple Podcasts |
| `latest_episode_title` | string | Latest Episode |
| `latest_episode_date` | string | Latest Episode Date |
| `recent_episodes` | string | Recent Episodes |
| `episodes_fetched` | number | Episodes Read |
| `retrieved_at` | string | Retrieved At |

### How much does it cost to run?

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing: you pay per result item pushed to the dataset, and nothing for an empty run. Each run is a few seconds of compute, so typical costs are fractions of a cent per run, and the Apify free tier covers plenty of testing.

### Tips and advanced options

- Raise `maxResults` for a bigger pull; the Actor pages through the source for you.
- Schedule it (e.g. every morning) and combine with a webhook to get only the new records.
- Add the Actor to an AI agent through the Apify MCP server for natural-language queries.

### FAQ, disclaimers and support

- **Is this legal?** It uses publicly available data from Apple Podcasts directory & podcast RSS feeds. You are responsible for how you use the data and for complying with the source's terms.
- **It returned nothing?** Try a broader keyword such as 'technology', 'news' or 'comedy'. Turn episodes off for a faster, metadata-only run.
- **Something broken?** Open an issue on the Actor's **Issues** tab. Data sources change and get fixed quickly.
- Need a custom variant (extra fields, a different source, a scheduled report)? Get in touch through the Issues tab.

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Keyword, topic or show name to search for in the Apple Podcasts directory.

## `includeEpisodes` (type: `string`):

Read each show's RSS feed and add its most recent episodes to the row.

## `episodesPerFeed` (type: `integer`):

How many recent episodes to read from each show's RSS feed.

## `feedLimit` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of shows whose RSS feed is fetched for episodes.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of podcasts to return.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "artificial intelligence",
  "includeEpisodes": "yes",
  "episodesPerFeed": 3,
  "feedLimit": 3,
  "maxResults": 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "query": "artificial intelligence",
    "includeEpisodes": "yes",
    "episodesPerFeed": 3,
    "feedLimit": 3,
    "maxResults": 25
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thriftykiwi/podcast-directory-scraper").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "query": "artificial intelligence",
    "includeEpisodes": "yes",
    "episodesPerFeed": 3,
    "feedLimit": 3,
    "maxResults": 25,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thriftykiwi/podcast-directory-scraper").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 '{
  "query": "artificial intelligence",
  "includeEpisodes": "yes",
  "episodesPerFeed": 3,
  "feedLimit": 3,
  "maxResults": 25
}' |
apify call thriftykiwi/podcast-directory-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thriftykiwi/podcast-directory-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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 <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` 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/pT45eZ2uplEdHQ8Vw/builds/2YuDkybokO3SYoVvk/openapi.json