Podcast Manager

---

name: podcast-manager description: 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.

---

Podcast Manager

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:

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

Keep state.json as:

{
  "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: " 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.