Podcast Manager

Find, subscribe to, track, and summarize podcast episodes using public RSS feeds and lightweight local tracking files. Use when a user asks to add/manage podcast subscriptions, list new episodes, mark episodes as listened, catch up on a show, or get quick episode summaries/action items.

Manage podcast workflows with predictable steps and low token overhead.

Working Files

Use these workspace files by default:

• memory/podcasts/subscriptions.json — list of subscribed shows
• memory/podcasts/state.json — per-show progress (last checked, listened episodes)
• memory/podcasts/notes.md — summaries and action notes

If files or parent directories do not exist, create them.

Data Model

Keep subscriptions.json as:

json

{
  "shows": [
    {
      "title": "Example Show",
      "feedUrl": "https://example.com/feed.xml",
      "homepage": "https://example.com",
      "tags": ["ai", "business"]
    }
  ]
}

Keep state.json as:

json

{
  "shows": {
    "https://example.com/feed.xml": {
      "lastChecked": "2026-03-12T20:00:00Z",
      "listenedGuids": [],
      "bookmarkedGuids": []
    }
  }
}

Core Workflow

1. Resolve the show and RSS feed URL.
2. Fetch and parse recent episodes from the feed.
3. Compare feed entries with local state.
4. Return a concise update (new/unheard episodes first).
5. Apply requested mutations (subscribe/unsubscribe/listened/bookmark/note).
6. Persist changes in the tracking files.

Feed Discovery

When feed URL is not provided:

1. Use web_search with query format: "<podcast name> official rss feed".
2. Open top candidates with web_fetch.
3. Prefer canonical feed URLs from official sites or known podcast hosts.
4. Confirm before subscribing if multiple plausible feeds remain.

Episode Retrieval Rules

• Parse RSS/Atom entries by stable identifiers in this order: guid, id, link, then title+pubDate fallback.
• Normalize publication time to ISO-8601 when possible.
• Keep responses compact: newest 3–10 episodes unless user asks for more.
• When audio URL exists, include it only when requested.

Commands to Support (Intent-Level)

Handle these intent families:

• Subscribe: add show/feed to subscriptions.json
• Unsubscribe: remove show/feed from subscriptions.json
• Check updates: list unheard episodes since last check
• Mark listened: add episode guid to listenedGuids
• Bookmark: add episode guid to bookmarkedGuids
• Catch up summary: summarize N latest unheard episodes
• Show notes/action items: append concise bullets to memory/podcasts/notes.md

Summary Style

For episode summaries:

• Use 3–6 bullets: main topic, key claims, practical takeaways.
• Add a Questions to revisit bullet if uncertainty exists.
• Avoid fabricating details; say when metadata is incomplete.

Error Handling

• If feed is unreachable, report status and keep existing state unchanged.
• If parsing fails, return a short diagnostic and propose one fallback source.
• On ambiguous show matches, ask one disambiguation question with 2–4 options.

Safety and UX

• Do not auto-subscribe/unsubscribe without explicit user intent.
• Do not expose private local paths unless the user asks.
• Prefer deterministic updates to local files over ephemeral memory.