video2podcast

Convert bookmarked videos from YouTube, X (Twitter), and other sites into a podcast RSS feed hosted on Cloudflare R2. Use when the user says things like "add this to my podcast feed", "add this video to my podcast", "sync my podcast feed", "put this YouTube video in my podcast", or "subscribe to this playlist as a podcast". Manages a persistent episode list and hosts audio files + feed.xml on Cloudflare R2.

video-podcast

Turn any video URL into a podcast episode. Publishes a valid RSS feed to Cloudflare R2 that can be subscribed to in Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and any podcast app.

Supports YouTube, X (Twitter), and the ~1,000 other sites that yt-dlp supports.

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First-time Setup

1. Install dependencies

bash

# Python packages
pip3 install yt-dlp boto3

# ffmpeg (required for audio conversion)
brew install ffmpeg        # macOS
sudo apt install ffmpeg    # Linux

2. Create a Cloudflare R2 bucket

1. Sign up at cloudflare.com (free tier is sufficient)
2. Go to R2 Object Storage → Create bucket
3. Name it anything — e.g. podcast-feed
4. Enable Public access on the bucket (R2 → bucket → Settings → Public Access → Enable)
5. Note the r2.dev public URL shown (e.g. https://pub-abc123.r2.dev)

3. Create an R2 API token

1. R2 → Manage R2 API Tokens → Create token
2. Set permissions: Object Read & Write on your bucket
3. Note the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key
4. Note your Account ID from the dashboard top-right

4. Configure the skill

Run the interactive setup:

bash

python3 /path/to/skills/video-podcast/scripts/video_podcast.py setup

Or add these to ~/.openclaw/.env manually:

text

VIDPOD_R2_ACCESS_KEY=your_access_key_id
VIDPOD_R2_SECRET=your_secret_access_key
VIDPOD_R2_ENDPOINT=https://<account_id>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com
VIDPOD_R2_BUCKET=podcast-feed
VIDPOD_PUBLIC_BASE=https://pub-<hash>.r2.dev

# Optional
VIDPOD_FEED_TITLE=My Video Podcast
VIDPOD_FEED_AUTHOR=Your Name

5. Add a cover image (optional but recommended)

Podcast apps display a 1400×1400px JPEG as artwork. Upload one to your bucket:

bash

# Using AWS CLI (if installed)
aws s3 cp cover.jpg s3://podcast-feed/cover.jpg \
  --endpoint-url https://<account_id>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com \
  --content-type image/jpeg

# Or via the Cloudflare R2 dashboard — drag and drop cover.jpg into the bucket

The image must be named cover.jpg in the root of your bucket.

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Usage

Add a single video

bash

python3 video_podcast.py add "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."
python3 video_podcast.py add "https://x.com/user/status/123456789"
python3 video_podcast.py add "https://vimeo.com/..."

Sync a YouTube playlist

Add all videos from a playlist that aren't already in the feed:

bash

python3 video_podcast.py sync-youtube PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The playlist ID is the part after list= in the YouTube URL.

List episodes

bash

python3 video_podcast.py list

Get the RSS feed URL

bash

python3 video_podcast.py feed

Remove an episode

bash

python3 video_podcast.py remove "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."

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How It Works

1. yt-dlp fetches the best available audio stream from the source URL — no browser automation, no screen capture.
2. ffmpeg converts the audio to MP3 (VBR ~130kbps).
3. The MP3 is uploaded to your Cloudflare R2 bucket with a 7-day public cache header.
4. feed.xml is rebuilt and uploaded with no-cache headers so podcast apps always see the latest version.
5. Your podcast app polls the feed URL periodically and downloads new episodes automatically.

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Storage & State

Location	Purpose
~/.openclaw/video-podcast-state.json	Episode list + processed URL GUIDs (deduplication)
R2 <guid>.mp3	Audio files (public, 7-day cache)
R2 feed.xml	Podcast RSS feed (public, no-cache)
R2 cover.jpg	Podcast artwork (optional)

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Supported Sources

Any URL that yt-dlp supports, including:

• YouTube — videos and playlists
• X (Twitter) — public video tweets
• Vimeo, SoundCloud, Twitch clips, Reddit videos
• Full list of 1,000+ supported sites

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Troubleshooting

ffmpeg not found

bash

brew install ffmpeg   # macOS
sudo apt install ffmpeg  # Linux

SSL errors with R2 Make sure you're using Python 3.10+ with OpenSSL 3.x. On macOS the system Python (/usr/bin/python3) uses LibreSSL which may not work. Install Python via Homebrew:

bash

brew install python@3.13

Age-restricted YouTube videos yt-dlp needs your browser cookies:

bash

yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."

Then run add again — yt-dlp caches the cookies.

X/Twitter videos fail Public tweets work without auth. Private accounts require cookies:

bash

yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome "https://x.com/user/status/..."

Episode not appearing in podcast app Most podcast apps cache the feed for 1–24 hours. Force a refresh in the app, or check the feed directly: python3 video_podcast.py feed

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OpenClaw Agent Usage

When used via the OpenClaw agent, trigger phrases include:

• "Add this to my podcast feed: [URL]"
• "Add this video to my podcast"
• "Sync my podcast from playlist [ID]"
• "What's in my podcast feed?"
• "Remove [URL] from my podcast"

The agent will run the appropriate subcommand and report back the result.