# Podcast Episodes Scraper (`wearefluent/podcast-episodes-scraper`) Actor

Apple Podcasts scraper: search podcasts and pull episode lists from the public RSS feed (title, pubDate, duration, audio URL). No API key. Outputs JSON rows.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/wearefluent/podcast-episodes-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Fluent](https://apify.com/wearefluent) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

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

## Apple Podcasts & RSS Podcast Episodes Scraper

Get a clean table of podcast episodes: show, episode title, publish date, duration, audio URL, GUID and description. The actor finds shows with Apple's official public iTunes Search/Lookup API, then reads each show's public RSS feed. No login, no API key, no proxies.

### Who it's for

- Podcast marketers and sponsors building lists of shows and recent episodes
- Researchers and journalists tracking what a set of shows published, and when
- Developers building podcast monitors, transcription pipelines or episode archives

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| `searchTerms` | string list | `["indie hacking"]` | Topics or show names, resolved with iTunes search |
| `podcasts` | string list | `[]` | Apple Podcasts URLs or numeric show ids |
| `feedUrls` | string list | `[]` | Direct public RSS feed URLs |
| `maxShowsPerTerm` | integer | 5 | Shows taken per search term (1-50) |
| `maxEpisodesPerShow` | integer | 20 | Newest episodes per show (1-500) |
| `country` | string | `us` | Apple storefront for search |

Example input:

```json
{
  "searchTerms": ["indie hacking"],
  "podcasts": ["https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/accidental-tech-podcast/id1040005940"],
  "maxShowsPerTerm": 3,
  "maxEpisodesPerShow": 10
}
```

Example output row:

```json
{"show": "Example Show", "showFeedUrl": "https://example.com/feed.xml", "showAppleId": "1234567890", "showAuthor": "Example Media", "title": "Episode 42: Pricing", "pubDate": "2026-10-20T09:00:00+00:00", "duration": "00:41:12", "audioUrl": "https://example.com/ep42.mp3", "guid": "ep-42", "episodeType": "full", "description": "This week we talk about pricing...", "link": "https://example.com/ep42"}
```

### Pricing

Pay per result: $0.0005 per episode row (plus a small per-run start fee). A 20-episode run for 5 shows costs about $0.05.

### FAQ

**Where does the data come from?** Show search and feed URLs come from Apple's public iTunes Search/Lookup API. Episodes come from each show's own public RSS feed, the same feed Apple Podcasts reads.

**How many episodes can I get?** Up to 500 per show, limited by what the show's feed publishes (most feeds list their full back catalog).

**Does it download audio?** No. It returns the audio URL only.

### Other actors by wearefluent

- [App Store Scraper: app search, keyword rank & app details](https://apify.com/wearefluent/appstore-app-search): keyword rank and app details via Apple's iTunes API
- [App Store Reviews Scraper](https://apify.com/wearefluent/appstore-reviews-scraper): customer reviews across storefronts via Apple's RSS feed
- [Docker Hub Repo Info & Tag List](https://apify.com/wearefluent/dockerhub-repo-info): stars, pulls and tags for public Docker images

# Actor input Schema

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

Podcast topics or names, e.g. "indie hacking", "python". Shows returned by Apple's iTunes search.

## `podcasts` (type: `array`):

Apple Podcasts show URLs or numeric ids, e.g. 1011668855.

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

Direct public RSS feed URLs (optional).

## `maxShowsPerTerm` (type: `integer`):

How many shows to take from each search term (1-50).

## `maxEpisodesPerShow` (type: `integer`):

Newest episodes to return per show (1-500).

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

Two-letter Apple storefront code for search, e.g. us, gb.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "indie hacking"
  ],
  "podcasts": [],
  "feedUrls": [],
  "maxShowsPerTerm": 5,
  "maxEpisodesPerShow": 20,
  "country": "us"
}
```

# 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "indie hacking"
    ],
    "podcasts": [],
    "feedUrls": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("wearefluent/podcast-episodes-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 = {
    "searchTerms": ["indie hacking"],
    "podcasts": [],
    "feedUrls": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("wearefluent/podcast-episodes-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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "indie hacking"
  ],
  "podcasts": [],
  "feedUrls": []
}' |
apify call wearefluent/podcast-episodes-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,wearefluent/podcast-episodes-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/ePjxZgQUN2zxcCQdm/builds/WR1Ji1sHdTHQp8TNl/openapi.json