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podcast-dl

A humble CLI for downloading and archiving podcasts.

How to Use

npx

Node Required

npx podcast-dl --url <PODCAST_RSS_URL>

Binaries

Visit the releases page and download the latest binary for your system.

podcast-dl --url <PODCAST_RSS_URL>

Options

Either --url or --file must be provided.

Type values surrounded in square brackets ([]) can be used as used as boolean options (no argument required).

Option Type Required Description
--url String true* URL to podcast RSS feed.
--file String true* Path to local RSS file.
--out-dir String false Specify output directory for episodes and metadata. Defaults to "./{{podcast_title}}". See "Template Options" for more details.
--threads Number false Determines the number of downloads that will happen concurrently. Default is 1.
--attempts Number false Sets the number of download attempts per individual file. Default is 3.
--archive [String] false Download or write out items not listed in archive file. Generates archive file at path if not found. Defaults to "./{{podcast_title}}/archive.json" when used as a boolean option. See "Template Options" for more details.
--episode-template String false Template for generating episode related filenames. See "Template Options" for details.
--episode-custom-template-options <String...> false Provide custom options for the episode template. See "Template Options" for details.
--include-meta false Write out podcast metadata to JSON.
--include-episode-meta false Write out individual episode metadata to JSON.
--include-episode-images false Download found episode images.
--include-episode-transcripts false Download found episode transcripts.
--offset Number false Offset starting download position. Default is 0.
--limit Number false Max number of episodes to download. Downloads all by default.
--after String false Only download episodes after this date (i.e. MM/DD/YYY, inclusive).
--before String false Only download episodes before this date (i.e. MM/DD/YYY, inclusive)
--episode-regex String false Match episode title against provided regex before starting download.
--episode-digits Number false Minimum number of digits to use for episode numbering (e.g. 3 would generate "001" instead of "1"). Default is 0.
--episode-num-offset Number false Offset the acquired episode number. Default is 0.
--episode-source-order String false Attempted order to extract episode audio URL from RSS feed. Default is "enclosure,link".
--episode-transcript-types String false List of allowed transcript types in preferred order. Default is "application/json,application/x-subrip,application/srr,application/srt,text/vtt,text/html,text/plain".
--add-mp3-metadata false Attempts to add a base level of episode metadata to each episode. Recommended only in cases where the original metadata is of poor quality. (ffmpeg required)
--adjust-bitrate String (e.g. "48k") false Attempts to adjust bitrate of episodes. (ffmpeg required)
--mono false Attempts to force episodes into mono. (ffmpeg required)
--override false Override local files on collision.
--always-postprocess false Always run additional tasks on the file regardless if the file already exists. This includes --add-mp3-metadata, --adjust-bitrate, --mono, and --exec.
--reverse false Reverse download direction and start at last RSS item.
--info false Print retrieved podcast info instead of downloading.
--list [String] false Print episode list instead of downloading. Defaults to "table" when used as a boolean option. "json" is also supported.
--exec String false Execute a command after each episode is downloaded. See "Template Options" for more details.
--parser-config String false Path to JSON file that will be parsed and used to override the default config passed to rss-parser.
--proxy false Enable proxy support. Specify environment variables listed by global-agent.
--help false Output usage information.

Archive

  • If passed the --archive [path] option, podcast-dl will generate/use a JSON archive at the provided path.
  • Before downloading an episode or writing out metadata, it'll check if the item was saved previously and abort the save if found.

Template Options

Options that support templates allow users to specify a template for the generated filename(s) or option. The provided template will replace all matched keywords with the related data described below. Each keyword must be wrapped in two braces like so:

--out-dir "./{{podcast_title}}"

--episode-template "{{release_date}}-{{title}}"

--out-dir & --archive

  • podcast_title: Title of the podcast feed.
  • podcast_link: link value provided for the podcast feed. Typically the homepage URL.

--episode-template

  • title: The title of the episode.
  • release_date: The release date of the episode in YYYYMMDD format.
  • release_year: The release year (YYYY) of the episode.
  • release_month: The release month (MM) of the episode.
  • release_day: The release day (DD) of the episode.
  • episode_num: The location number of where the episodes appears in the feed.
  • url: URL of episode audio file.
  • duration: Provided mm:ss duration (if found).
  • podcast_title: Title of the podcast feed.
  • podcast_link: link value provided for the podcast feed. Typically the homepage URL.
  • guid: The GUID of the episode.

--episode-custom-template-options

Each matcher provided will be used to extract a value from the episode title. Access these values in the template using the custom_<n> keyword where <n> is the index of the matcher provided (starting from 0).

If no match is found, the custom_<n> keyword will be replaced with an empty string.

--exec

  • episode_path: The path to the downloaded episode.
  • episode_path_base: The path to the folder of the downloaded episode.
  • episode_filename: The filename of the episode.
  • episode_filename_base: The filename of the episode without its extension.
  • url: URL of episode audio file.

Log Levels

By default, all logs and errors are outputted to the console. The amount of logs can be controlled using the environment variable LOG_LEVEL with the following options:

  • static: All logs and errors are outputted to the console, but disables any animations.
  • quiet: Only important info and non-critical errors will be logged (e.g. episode download started).
  • silent: Only critical error messages will be be logged.

OS Filename Limits

By default, the max length of a generated filename is 255. If your OS has different limitations, or if you're running into issues with non-standard feeds, you can adjust the limit via the environment variable MAX_LENGTH_FILENAME.