| name | pp-podscan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| description | Search 51M+ podcast episodes and 4.4M+ podcasts via Podscan — full transcripts, AI-extracted entities, mentions, and brand-safety analysis. Trigger phrases: `search podcast transcripts`, `find podcasts mentioning`, `who's talked about <topic> on podcasts`, `use podscan`. | |||||||
| author | Greg Van Horn | |||||||
| license | Apache-2.0 | |||||||
| argument-hint | <command> [args] | install cli|mcp | |||||||
| allowed-tools | Read Bash | |||||||
| metadata |
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This skill drives the podscan-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:
- Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to
$HOME/.local/binon macOS/Linux and%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\binon Windows:npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install podscan --cli-only
- Verify:
podscan-pp-cli --version - Ensure the reported install directory is on
$PATHfor the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.
If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.4 or newer):
go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/podscan/cmd/podscan-pp-cli@latestIf --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.
alerts — Manage alerts
podscan-pp-cli alerts create— Create a new alertpodscan-pp-cli alerts delete— Delete an alertpodscan-pp-cli alerts get— Get an alertpodscan-pp-cli alerts list— List configured alerts
categories — Manage categories
podscan-pp-cli categories— List all podcast categories
episodes — Manage episodes
podscan-pp-cli episodes get— Get an episode by IDpodscan-pp-cli episodes search— Search episodes by transcript content
exports — Manage exports
podscan-pp-cli exports download— Download an export filepodscan-pp-cli exports list-episode— List daily episode export filespodscan-pp-cli exports list-podcast— List podcast catalog export files
podcasts — Manage podcasts
podscan-pp-cli podcasts get— Get a podcast by IDpodscan-pp-cli podcasts search— Search podcasts by name or description
When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:
podscan-pp-cli which "<capability in your own words>"which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match — fall back to --help or use a narrower query.
Store your access token:
podscan-pp-cli auth set-token YOUR_TOKEN_HEREOr set PODSCAN_BEARER_AUTH as an environment variable.
Run podscan-pp-cli doctor to verify setup.
Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.
-
Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr
-
Filterable —
--selectkeeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:podscan-pp-cli alerts list --agent --select id,name,status
-
Previewable —
--dry-runshows the request without sending -
Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available
-
Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag
-
Explicit retries — use
--idempotentonly when an already-existing create should count as success, and--ignore-missingonly when a missing delete target should count as success
Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:
{
"meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
"results": <data>
}Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal — piped/agent consumers get pure JSON on stdout.
When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:
podscan-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
podscan-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
podscan-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10
Entries are stored locally at ~/.podscan-pp-cli/feedback.jsonl. They are never POSTed unless PODSCAN_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or PODSCAN_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.
Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.
Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:
| Sink | Effect |
|---|---|
stdout |
Default; write to stdout only |
file:<path> |
Atomically write output to <path> (tmp + rename) |
webhook:<url> |
POST the output body to the URL (application/json or application/x-ndjson when --compact) |
Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.
A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.
podscan-pp-cli profile save briefing --json
podscan-pp-cli --profile briefing alerts list
podscan-pp-cli profile list --json
podscan-pp-cli profile show briefing
podscan-pp-cli profile delete briefing --yes
Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Success |
| 2 | Usage error (wrong arguments) |
| 3 | Resource not found |
| 4 | Authentication required |
| 5 | API error (upstream issue) |
| 7 | Rate limited (wait and retry) |
| 10 | Config error |
Parse $ARGUMENTS:
- Empty,
help, or--help→ showpodscan-pp-cli --helpoutput - Starts with
install→ ends withmcp→ MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above - Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with
--agent)
Install the MCP binary from this CLI's published public-library entry or pre-built release, then register it:
claude mcp add podscan-pp-mcp -- podscan-pp-mcpVerify: claude mcp list
- Check if installed:
which podscan-pp-cliIf not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill). - Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.
- Execute with the
--agentflag:podscan-pp-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent
- If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help:
podscan-pp-cli <command> --help.