# Podcast Episodes from RSS: Search & List Episodes (`ucchiii/podcast-rss-episodes`) Actor

Find podcasts by search term, Apple Podcasts URL / iTunes ID or RSS feed URL and list all podcast episodes, one row each: title, date, duration, audio URL, season, episode number. No audio download. Empty input = free demo. $1 per 1,000 episodes.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ucchiii/podcast-rss-episodes.md
- **Developed by:** [Actor Factory](https://apify.com/ucchiii) (community)
- **Categories:** News, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.70 / 1,000 episodes

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

## Podcast Episodes from RSS — search shows, list every episode

**For podcast researchers, PR and outreach teams, media monitors and developers building podcast tools.** Find shows by keyword (Apple Podcasts directory), by Apple Podcasts URL / iTunes ID, or by RSS feed URL, and get **one clean row per episode**: title, publish date, duration, audio URL, season and episode number. **Audio is never downloaded** — you get the link only.

**Try it free: leave input empty and press Start.** The demo is not charged and its rows carry `_demo: true`.

**Price: $0.001 per episode — 1,000 episodes cost $1.** Failed feeds, empty searches and the demo cost nothing.

### Sample output

| podcastTitle | episodeTitle | publishedAt | durationSeconds | season | episode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example History Show | The Fall of Rome, Part 2 | 2026-10-20T07:00:00Z | 2710 | 3 | 12 |
| Example History Show | The Fall of Rome, Part 1 | 2026-10-13T07:00:00Z | 2655 | 3 | 11 |
| Tech Talk Weekly | Shipping AI features | 2026-10-18T05:30:00Z | 3602 | null | null |

### What you can do

- **Search**: `searchTerms` runs the iTunes Search API (country selectable) and reads the top shows' feeds
- **Resolve Apple links**: paste `https://podcasts.apple.com/.../id1234567890` or just the ID (iTunes Lookup API)
- **Read feeds directly**: any public podcast RSS URL
- Limits: **max podcasts** (1–50, default 2), **max episodes per podcast** (1–1000, default 5, newest first), **published after** date
- Fields: `podcastTitle`, `podcastAuthor`, `feedUrl`, `appleUrl`, `episodeTitle`, `publishedAt` (ISO 8601 UTC), `durationSeconds`, `audioUrl`, `audioType`, `audioBytes`, `episodeUrl`, `season`, `episode`, `explicit`, `descriptionText` (plain text, first 500 characters)
- Safe by design: hosts that resolve to internal addresses are never contacted (including redirect targets); feeds are limited to 15 MB and 30 s per request, max 3 in parallel with 0.5 s between requests

### Use cases

- Build a list of shows and guests for outreach or sponsorship research
- Monitor new episodes of competitor or industry podcasts on a schedule
- Feed episode titles and descriptions to an LLM or search index
- Import episodes into your own podcast app or catalogue

### Input

```json
{ "searchTerms": ["python programming"], "appleUrlsOrIds": ["https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428"],
  "feedUrls": ["https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"], "country": "US",
  "maxPodcasts": 5, "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 20, "publishedAfter": "2026-01-01" }
```

### Output

```json
{ "podcastTitle": "Example History Show", "podcastAuthor": "Example Media", "feedUrl": "https://example.com/feed.xml",
  "appleUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/example/id123456789", "episodeTitle": "The Fall of Rome, Part 2",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-20T07:00:00Z", "durationSeconds": 2710, "audioUrl": "https://example.com/ep12.mp3",
  "audioType": "audio/mpeg", "audioBytes": 43360000, "episodeUrl": "https://example.com/episodes/12",
  "season": 3, "episode": 12, "explicit": false, "descriptionText": "Plain-text description..." }
```

A per-podcast summary (status, episodes found, unresolved inputs) is saved as `SUMMARY`. Feed email addresses are not output.
Episodes and shows belong to their publishers; check their terms before republishing. Not affiliated with Apple.

### More tools from the same developer

- [RSS Feed Reader & Aggregator](https://apify.com/ucchiii/rss-feed-reader) — many RSS / Atom feeds merged into one clean article list
- [Hacker News API](https://apify.com/ucchiii/hacker-news-api) — Hacker News stories, comments and 'Who is hiring' posts via the official APIs
- [RAG Chunker](https://apify.com/ucchiii/rag-chunker) — split scraped pages into chunks for RAG and vector stores
- [Google Sheets Export](https://apify.com/ucchiii/google-sheets-export) — export an Apify dataset to Google Sheets

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

Words to search for in the Apple Podcasts directory (iTunes Search API), for example a topic, a show name or a host. Leave all three inputs empty to run a free demo (not charged).

## `appleUrlsOrIds` (type: `array`):

Apple Podcasts show URLs (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/.../id1234567890) or bare iTunes IDs (1234567890). Each is resolved to its public RSS feed.

## `feedUrls` (type: `array`):

Public podcast RSS feed URLs to read directly, without the iTunes directory.

## `country` (type: `string`):

Two-letter country code of the Apple Podcasts store used for search and lookup, for example US, GB, DE or JP (default US).

## `maxPodcasts` (type: `integer`):

Total number of podcasts to read across all inputs (direct feeds first, then Apple IDs, then search results). 1 to 50. If empty, 2 are read.

## `maxEpisodesPerPodcast` (type: `integer`):

Newest episodes to output from each podcast. 1 to 1000. If empty, 5 are output.

## `publishedAfter` (type: `string`):

Only episodes published on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD, UTC). Episodes without a date are dropped when this is set. Empty = no date filter.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "python programming"
  ],
  "country": "US",
  "maxPodcasts": 2,
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One item per episode: podcastTitle, podcastAuthor, feedUrl, appleUrl, episodeTitle, publishedAt (UTC), durationSeconds, audioUrl, audioType, audioBytes, episodeUrl, season, episode, explicit, descriptionText.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Record SUMMARY: per-podcast status, episodes found and output, and inputs that could not be resolved.

# 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "python programming"
    ],
    "maxPodcasts": 2,
    "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 5
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ucchiii/podcast-rss-episodes").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 = {
    "searchTerms": ["python programming"],
    "maxPodcasts": 2,
    "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 5,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ucchiii/podcast-rss-episodes").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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "python programming"
  ],
  "maxPodcasts": 2,
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 5
}' |
apify call ucchiii/podcast-rss-episodes --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/f1Vbk6D1Mi2uVgQWp/builds/GSq6Gx9dMQnCCzfbF/openapi.json