# Podcast Guru API Scraper (`rl1987/podcastguru-api-scraper`) Actor

Scrape podcasts, episodes, the featured/genre directory and Podchaser ratings & reviews via the Podcast Guru app's backends (Podcast Index, Firestore, Podchaser). Read-only public data, no account.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/rl1987/podcastguru-api-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [R.L.](https://apify.com/rl1987) (community)
- **Categories:**
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 records

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Podcast Guru Scraper 🎙️ — podcasts, episodes, the featured/genre directory & Podchaser ratings

**Podcast Guru Scraper** reads the Podcast Guru app's own backends directly — Podcast Index (the
catalogue), Google Firestore (the featured & by-genre directory) and Podchaser (the social layer) —
so it's **fast, reliable and complete**, with no HTML parsing or headless browser. Read-only public
data, **no account required**. Export to **JSON, CSV, Excel, or an API**.

#### Modes

- **Search podcasts** — find podcasts by keyword.
- **Show detail** — full metadata for one show (by iTunes ID or feed URL).
- **Episodes of a show** — the episode list for one show (title, date, duration, audio URL, GUID).
- **Featured directory** — the featured-podcasts chart for a country.
- **Browse a genre** — top podcasts in a genre for a country (Arts, Comedy, True Crime, …).
- **Trending episodes** — what's trending right now (via Podchaser).

Turn on **Include Podchaser ratings & reviews** to attach each podcast's Podchaser rating average,
rating count and review count — the "meta-social" layer over the raw catalogue. Turn on **Include
podcaster contacts** to attach each show's owner email, owner name and website (from the feed's
`<itunes:owner>`) — ready for outreach and PR lists.

```jsonc
{ "mode": "search", "searchTerm": "true crime", "includePodchaser": true }
{ "mode": "episodes", "itunesId": 917918570 }          // Serial
{ "mode": "genre", "genreId": "1488", "country": "US" } // True Crime
```

Every row shares one flat schema (podcast / episode / featured / trending), so a mixed export stays
a single table; fields that don't apply to a row type are `null`. Descriptions are returned as clean
plain text (HTML stripped).

### ⚙️ Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `mode` | string | `search` | Search · Show detail · Episodes · Featured · Genre · Trending. |
| `searchTerm` | string | – | Search mode: keyword. |
| `itunesId` | integer | – | Show/Episodes mode: Apple Podcasts collection id (e.g. 917918570). |
| `feedUrl` | string | – | Show/Episodes mode: RSS feed URL (alternative to iTunes ID). |
| `country` | string | `US` | Featured/Genre mode: storefront country. |
| `genreId` | string | `Technology` | Genre mode: which genre to browse. |
| `includePodchaser` | boolean | `false` | Attach Podchaser rating/review counts to each podcast. |
| `includeContacts` | boolean | `false` | Attach the podcast's owner email, owner name and website (from the RSS `<itunes:owner>`) — for outreach/PR. |
| `includeReviews` | boolean | `false` | Also fetch Podchaser review TEXT (author, date, rating, text) per podcast. Billed per review. |
| `maxReviews` | integer | `3` | Reviews to fetch per podcast when review text is on. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `100` | 0 = all results. |

### 📤 Output

Podcast rows: `title`, `author`, `feed_url`, `itunes_id`, `podcast_guid`, `image`, `description`,
`language`, `explicit`, `categories`, `episode_count`, and (with Podchaser on)
`podchaser_rating_average` / `podchaser_rating_count` / `podchaser_review_count` / `podchaser_url`.
Episode rows: `episode_title`, `episode_guid`, `published`, `duration_seconds`, `enclosure_url`,
`description`. Trending rows add the parent `podcast_title`.

### 📌 Good to know

- **No account, no sign-in** — every credential the app uses for these read paths is app-embedded or
  a client-credentials token obtained before any user logs in. Write actions (rate/review/follow)
  and user-owned data are out of scope.
- Data comes from Podcast Index, the app's Firestore directory, and Podchaser — the same sources the
  app shows a signed-out user.

### 💰 Pricing — pay per result

Charged per record returned (podcast, episode or directory row).

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to scrape. Search podcasts, list a show's episodes, get one show's detail, browse the featured directory or a genre, or list trending episodes.

## `searchTerm` (type: `string`):

SEARCH mode. Keyword to search podcasts for.

## `podcast` (type: `string`):

SHOW / EPISODES mode. The podcast by name (e.g. "Serial") or its Apple Podcasts URL. Resolved to the show automatically.

## `country` (type: `string`):

FEATURED / GENRE mode. Storefront country for the directory.

## `genreId` (type: `string`):

GENRE mode. Which genre to browse.

## `includePodchaser` (type: `boolean`):

Attach Podchaser rating average, rating count and review count to each podcast row (search / show / featured / genre modes).

## `includeContacts` (type: `boolean`):

Attach the podcast's owner email, owner name and website (from the RSS feed's <itunes:owner>) to each podcast row — for outreach/PR. Adds one lookup per podcast.

## `includeReviews` (type: `boolean`):

Also fetch Podchaser review text (author, date, rating, text) for each podcast. Billed per review returned.

## `maxReviews` (type: `integer`):

When 'Include review text' is on, how many reviews to fetch per podcast (0 = none).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

0 = all results.

## `itunesId` (type: `integer`):

Optional advanced override for SHOW / EPISODES mode — the raw Apple Podcasts collection id, e.g. 917918570. Normally use "Podcast" instead.

## `feedUrl` (type: `string`):

Optional advanced override — an RSS feed URL for SHOW / EPISODES mode. Normally use "Podcast" instead.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional. These APIs are not geo/bot-gated, so a proxy is not required.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "searchTerm": "true crime",
  "country": "US",
  "genreId": "1318",
  "includePodchaser": false,
  "includeContacts": false,
  "includeReviews": false,
  "maxReviews": 3,
  "maxItems": 100,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchTerm": "true crime",
    "podcast": "",
    "feedUrl": "",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("rl1987/podcastguru-api-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchTerm": "true crime",
    "podcast": "",
    "feedUrl": "",
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("rl1987/podcastguru-api-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchTerm": "true crime",
  "podcast": "",
  "feedUrl": "",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call rl1987/podcastguru-api-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,rl1987/podcastguru-api-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/gN0qCwghyfyX9GDvC/builds/ZfwPgzMx0QZY8kq2L/openapi.json