From apple-podcasts
This skill should be used when the user asks to "download an Apple Podcast episode", "get podcast audio from Apple Podcasts", "fetch podcast MP3", "extract audio URL from Apple Podcasts link", provides an Apple Podcasts URL (podcasts.apple.com), or mentions downloading or extracting audio from Apple Podcasts. Provides the complete iTunes API + RSS feed workflow to resolve episode audio download URLs without a browser.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/apple-podcasts:apple-podcasts-fetchThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Fetch audio download URLs from Apple Podcasts episodes using only HTTP APIs. No browser, no scraping — just iTunes Lookup API and RSS feed parsing.
Fetch audio download URLs from Apple Podcasts episodes using only HTTP APIs. No browser, no scraping — just iTunes Lookup API and RSS feed parsing.
Apple Podcasts does not expose direct audio URLs on its web pages. To obtain the audio file URL for a specific episode, follow a three-step API pipeline:
show_id and track_idepisodeGuid, then fetch the RSS feed and match the guid to extract the audio <enclosure> URLApple Podcasts episode URLs follow this structure:
https://podcasts.apple.com/{region}/podcast/{slug}/id{show_id}?i={track_id}
Example:
https://podcasts.apple.com/tw/podcast/ep640/id1500839292?i=1000752065662
^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
show_id track_id
Extract two values:
show_id: The numeric ID after id in the URL path (e.g., 1500839292)track_id: The value of the ?i= query parameter (e.g., 1000752065662)Both values are required. If the URL lacks ?i=, prompt the user to provide a URL that includes the episode-specific ?i= parameter, or use the iTunes Episode Lookup (Step 3a) to list recent episodes for the user to choose from.
Make a GET request:
GET https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id={show_id}
The response JSON contains a results array. The first result includes:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
feedUrl | The podcast's RSS feed URL |
collectionName | Podcast title |
trackCount | Total episode count |
Extract the feedUrl value for Step 3.
Example using curl:
curl -s "https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1500839292" | jq '.results[0].feedUrl'
This step has two sub-steps: first get the episodeGuid from iTunes, then match it in the RSS feed.
Make a GET request:
GET https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id={show_id}&entity=podcastEpisode&limit=200
The response results array contains the podcast info (index 0) followed by episode objects. Each episode includes:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
trackId | iTunes track ID — match this against track_id from the URL |
episodeGuid | The RSS <guid> value for this episode |
trackName | Episode title |
episodeUrl | Audio file URL (try this first; fall back to RSS if missing or broken) |
Find the episode where trackId equals the track_id from Step 1. Extract its episodeGuid.
Example using curl + jq:
curl -s "https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1500839292&entity=podcastEpisode&limit=200" \
| jq '.results[] | select(.trackId == 1000752065662) | .episodeGuid'
Fetch the RSS feed URL obtained in Step 2. Parse the XML to find the <item> whose <guid> matches the episodeGuid from Step 3a.
From the matching <item>, extract:
| XML Element | Data |
|---|---|
<title> | Episode title |
<pubDate> | Publication date |
<enclosure url="..."> | Audio file download URL |
<guid> | Episode unique identifier |
Example using curl + xmllint:
FEED_URL="https://feeds.soundon.fm/podcasts/..."
GUID="360acf81-2bca-4f2f-b2b7-11647b8f10d4"
curl -s "$FEED_URL" | xmllint --xpath \
"//item[guid='$GUID']/enclosure/@url" - 2>/dev/null
Alternatively, use Python with xml.etree.ElementTree or a simple grep/sed approach on the raw XML, since RSS feeds are well-structured.
Apple Podcasts URL
│
├── Extract show_id (from path: id{show_id})
└── Extract track_id (from query: ?i={track_id})
│
▼
iTunes Lookup API: /lookup?id={show_id}
→ feedUrl (RSS feed URL)
│
▼
iTunes Episode Lookup: /lookup?id={show_id}&entity=podcastEpisode&limit=200
→ Match trackId == track_id
→ episodeGuid
│
▼
Fetch RSS Feed (feedUrl)
→ Match <guid> == episodeGuid
→ <enclosure url="..."> = audio download URL
limit parameter: iTunes Episode Lookup returns at most ~50 recent episodes. Older episodes may not appear. Increase limit up to 200 if needed, but very old episodes may still be unreachable via this API./lookup?id={track_id} for individual episodes — it returns empty results.?i= parameter: Without the track_id query parameter, a specific episode cannot be identified. The URL must include ?i=.episodeUrl shortcut: The iTunes Episode Lookup response includes an episodeUrl field that often contains the direct audio URL. Try this first as a shortcut before fetching the full RSS feed. Fall back to RSS if the URL is missing or returns an error.When executing this workflow in Claude Code:
curl for RSS feed fetching (RSS/XML is too large for WebFetch in many cases)xmllint, grep, or Python for XML parsing of the RSS feednpx claudepluginhub musingfox/cc-plugins --plugin apple-podcastsExtracts transcripts from podcasts or YouTube videos and synthesizes actionable takeaways, core arguments, and guest insights into scannable show notes.
Generates publication-ready podcast show notes including episode summary, timestamped chapter markers, key takeaways, guest bio, and links, formatted for hosting platforms and listener discovery.
Generates Korean podcast episodes from URLs, tweets, articles, PDFs: analyzes sources, writes script, OpenAI TTS audio, MP4 conversion, YouTube auto-upload. Partial execution supported.