PodcastIndex MCP Server

PodcastIndex MCP Server

An MCP server for the PodcastIndex API. Gives AI agents native access to podcast search, discovery, episode lookup, trending feeds, and Value4Value monetisation data — so agents can research, cite, and reason about podcasts the same way they access any other tool. Built to work with Claude, Claude Code, and any MCP-aware agent.

Features

• 25+ MCP Tools covering all major PodcastIndex API endpoints
• Search - Find podcasts by term, title, or person (hosts/guests)
• Podcasts - Get details by feed ID, URL, iTunes ID, GUID, or browse trending/dead feeds
• Episodes - Fetch by feed, episode ID, GUID, or discover live/random episodes
• Recent - Get recently updated episodes, feeds, and new feeds
• Value4Value - Explore podcast monetization info (no auth required)
• Stats & Categories - Current index statistics and category listings
• Hub Notifications - PubSubHubbub notifications

Quick Start

Get API Credentials (Free)

1. Visit https://api.podcastindex.org/
2. Create a free account
3. Generate your API Key and Secret

Install for Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "podcastindex": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "github:cclawton/podcastindex-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "PODCASTINDEX_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "PODCASTINDEX_API_SECRET": "your-api-secret-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

This installs directly from GitHub - no npm registry needed.

Restart Claude Desktop after adding the configuration.

Install from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/cclawton/podcastindex-mcp-server.git
cd podcastindex-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Set environment variables
export PODCASTINDEX_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export PODCASTINDEX_API_SECRET="your-api-secret"

# Run
npm start

For Claude Desktop with local installation:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "podcastindex": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/podcastindex-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PODCASTINDEX_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "PODCASTINDEX_API_SECRET": "your-api-secret-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Search Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | podcast_search_byterm | Search podcasts across title, author, owner, and description | | podcast_search_bytitle | Search podcasts by title only | | podcast_search_byperson | Find episodes featuring a specific person | | podcast_search_music | Search for music podcasts |

Podcast Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | podcast_get_byfeedid | Get podcast by PodcastIndex feed ID | | podcast_get_byfeedurl | Get podcast by feed URL | | podcast_get_byitunesid | Get podcast by iTunes/Apple Podcasts ID | | podcast_get_byguid | Get podcast by GUID | | podcast_get_trending | Get trending podcasts (filter by language/category) | | podcast_get_dead | Get list of dead/inactive podcast feeds |

Episode Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | episodes_get_byfeedid | Get episodes by podcast feed ID | | episodes_get_byfeedurl | Get episodes by podcast feed URL | | episodes_get_byid | Get a single episode by ID | | episodes_get_byguid | Get episode by GUID | | episodes_get_live | Get currently live streaming episodes | | episodes_get_random | Get random episodes |

Recent Content Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | recent_episodes | Get recently updated episodes | | recent_feeds | Get recently updated podcast feeds | | recent_newfeeds | Get newly added podcast feeds |

Value4Value Tools (No Auth Required)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | value_get_byfeedid | Get Value4Value info by feed ID | | value_get_byfeedurl | Get Value4Value info by feed URL | | value_get_bypodcastguid | Get Value4Value info by podcast GUID |

Stats & Categories

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | stats_current | Get current PodcastIndex statistics | | categories_list | List all podcast categories |

Hub Notifications (No Auth Required)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | hub_pubnotify | Send PubSubHubbub notification |

Environment Variables

| Variable | Required | Description | |----------|----------|-------------| | PODCASTINDEX_API_KEY | Yes | Your PodcastIndex API key | | PODCASTINDEX_API_SECRET | Yes | Your PodcastIndex API secret | | PODCASTINDEX_USER_AGENT | No | Custom user agent (default: "PodcastIndexMCPServer/1.0.0") |

*Required for authenticated endpoints. Value4Value and Hub tools work without credentials.

Example Usage in Claude

Once configured, you can ask Claude things like:

• "Search for podcasts about AI and machine learning"
• "What are the trending podcasts right now?"
• "Find episodes featuring Joe Rogan"
• "Get the Value4Value information for podcast ID 920666"
• "Show me recently updated podcast feeds"
• "What are all the podcast categories available?"

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build TypeScript
npm run build

# Watch mode for development
npm run dev

# Clean build artifacts
npm run clean

Requirements

• Node.js 18.0.0 or higher
• npm 9.0.0 or higher

Part of a connected stack

• supervisor — agentic systems architecture
• bullpen — content pipeline (podcast research use case)
• hexapla — AI evaluation
• github.com/cclawton — profile

License

MIT

Links

• PodcastIndex.org
• PodcastIndex API Documentation
• Get Free API Credentials
• Model Context Protocol