musingfox/Apple Podcasts Fetch

Apple Podcasts Episode Audio Fetch

Fetch audio download URLs from Apple Podcasts episodes using only HTTP APIs. No browser, no scraping — just iTunes Lookup API and RSS feed parsing.

Overview

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:

1. Parse the Apple Podcasts URL to extract show_id and track_id
2. Call iTunes Lookup API to get the podcast's RSS feed URL
3. Call iTunes Episode Lookup to get the episodeGuid, then fetch the RSS feed and match the guid to extract the audio <enclosure> URL

Step 1: Parse the Apple Podcasts URL

Apple 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.

Step 2: Get RSS Feed URL via iTunes Lookup API

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'

Step 3: Get Episode Audio URL

This step has two sub-steps: first get the episodeGuid from iTunes, then match it in the RSS feed.

3a: Get episodeGuid via iTunes Episode Lookup

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'

3b: Fetch RSS Feed and Match guid

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.

Complete Workflow Summary

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

Limitations and Edge Cases

• 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.
• No direct episode lookup: iTunes API does not support /lookup?id={track_id} for individual episodes — it returns empty results.
• Missing ?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.
• Large RSS feeds: Some podcasts have hundreds of episodes. The RSS feed may be several MB. Consider streaming or partial parsing for efficiency.

Tool Selection

When executing this workflow in Claude Code:

• Use WebFetch to call the iTunes API endpoints and parse the JSON responses
• Use Bash with curl for RSS feed fetching (RSS/XML is too large for WebFetch in many cases)
• Use Bash with xmllint, grep, or Python for XML parsing of the RSS feed