Core API

This is the primary public API for podcast_scraper. Use these functions for programmatic access.

Quick Start

import podcast_scraper

# Create configuration
cfg = podcast_scraper.Config(
    rss="https://example.com/feed.xml",
    output_dir="./transcripts",
    max_episodes=10
)

# Run the pipeline
count, summary = podcast_scraper.run_pipeline(cfg)
print(f"Downloaded {count} transcripts: {summary}")

API Reference

run_pipeline

run_pipeline(cfg: Config) -> Tuple[int, str]

Execute the main podcast scraping pipeline.

This is the primary entry point for programmatic use of podcast_scraper. It orchestrates the complete workflow from RSS feed fetching to transcript generation and optional metadata/summarization.

The pipeline executes the following stages:

1. Setup output directory (with optional run ID subdirectory)
2. Fetch and parse RSS feed
3. Detect speakers (if auto-detection enabled)
4. Process episodes concurrently:
5. Download published transcripts
6. Or queue media for Whisper transcription
7. Transcribe queued media files sequentially (if Whisper enabled)
8. Generate metadata documents (if enabled)
9. Generate episode summaries (if enabled)
10. Clean up temporary files

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
cfg	Config	Configuration object with all pipeline settings. See Config for available options. Download resilience (HTTP/RSS urllib3 retries, optional episode-level retries, and optional Issue #522 fair-HTTP fields) is controlled via http_retry_*, rss_retry_*, episode_retry_*, host_*, circuit_breaker_*, rss_conditional_get, and rss_cache_dir (defaults and CLI flags are documented in CONFIGURATION.md / CLI.md).	required

Returns:

Type	Description
Tuple[int, str]	Tuple[int, str]: A tuple containing: count (int): Number of episodes processed (transcripts saved or planned) summary (str): Human-readable summary message describing the run

Raises:

Type	Description
RuntimeError	If output directory cleanup fails when clean_output=True
ValueError	If RSS URL is invalid or feed cannot be parsed
FileNotFoundError	If configuration file references missing files
OSError	If file system operations fail

Example

from podcast_scraper import Config, run_pipeline

cfg = Config( ... rss="https://example.com/feed.xml", ... output_dir="./transcripts", ... max_episodes=10 ... ) count, summary = run_pipeline(cfg) print(f"Downloaded {count} transcripts: {summary}") Downloaded 10 transcripts: Processed 10/50 episodes

Example with Whisper transcription

cfg = Config( ... rss="https://example.com/feed.xml", ... transcribe_missing=True, ... whisper_model="base", ... screenplay=True, ... num_speakers=2 ... ) count, summary = run_pipeline(cfg)

Example with metadata and summaries

cfg = Config( ... rss="https://example.com/feed.xml", ... generate_metadata=True, ... generate_summaries=True ... ) count, summary = run_pipeline(cfg)

Note

For non-interactive use (daemons, services), consider using the service.run() function instead, which provides structured error handling and return values.

See Also

• Config: Configuration model with all available options
• service.run(): Service API with structured error handling
• load_config_file(): Load configuration from JSON/YAML file

Source code in src/podcast_scraper/workflow/orchestration.py

def run_pipeline(cfg: config.Config) -> Tuple[int, str]:
    """Execute the main podcast scraping pipeline.

    This is the primary entry point for programmatic use of podcast_scraper. It orchestrates
    the complete workflow from RSS feed fetching to transcript generation and optional
    metadata/summarization.

    The pipeline executes the following stages:

    1. Setup output directory (with optional run ID subdirectory)
    2. Fetch and parse RSS feed
    3. Detect speakers (if auto-detection enabled)
    4. Process episodes concurrently:
       - Download published transcripts
       - Or queue media for Whisper transcription
    5. Transcribe queued media files sequentially (if Whisper enabled)
    6. Generate metadata documents (if enabled)
    7. Generate episode summaries (if enabled)
    8. Clean up temporary files

    Args:
        cfg: Configuration object with all pipeline settings. See `Config` for available options.
            Download resilience (HTTP/RSS urllib3 retries, optional episode-level retries,
            and optional Issue #522 fair-HTTP fields) is controlled via ``http_retry_*``,
            ``rss_retry_*``, ``episode_retry_*``, ``host_*``, ``circuit_breaker_*``,
            ``rss_conditional_get``, and ``rss_cache_dir`` (defaults and CLI flags are
            documented in CONFIGURATION.md / CLI.md).

    Returns:
        Tuple[int, str]: A tuple containing:

            - count (int): Number of episodes processed (transcripts saved or planned)
            - summary (str): Human-readable summary message describing the run

    Raises:
        RuntimeError: If output directory cleanup fails when `clean_output=True`
        ValueError: If RSS URL is invalid or feed cannot be parsed
        FileNotFoundError: If configuration file references missing files
        OSError: If file system operations fail

    Example:
        >>> from podcast_scraper import Config, run_pipeline
        >>>
        >>> cfg = Config(
        ...     rss="https://example.com/feed.xml",
        ...     output_dir="./transcripts",
        ...     max_episodes=10
        ... )
        >>> count, summary = run_pipeline(cfg)
        >>> print(f"Downloaded {count} transcripts: {summary}")
        Downloaded 10 transcripts: Processed 10/50 episodes

    Example with Whisper transcription:
        >>> cfg = Config(
        ...     rss="https://example.com/feed.xml",
        ...     transcribe_missing=True,
        ...     whisper_model="base",
        ...     screenplay=True,
        ...     num_speakers=2
        ... )
        >>> count, summary = run_pipeline(cfg)

    Example with metadata and summaries:
        >>> cfg = Config(
        ...     rss="https://example.com/feed.xml",
        ...     generate_metadata=True,
        ...     generate_summaries=True
        ... )
        >>> count, summary = run_pipeline(cfg)

    Note:
        For non-interactive use (daemons, services), consider using the `service.run()`
        function instead, which provides structured error handling and return values.

    See Also:
        - `Config`: Configuration model with all available options
        - `service.run()`: Service API with structured error handling
        - `load_config_file()`: Load configuration from JSON/YAML file
    """
    # GitHub #562: reset gates before setup (setup is outside try/finally below).
    try:
        config.reset_screenplay_issue_562_gates()
    except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - defensive import/cleanup
        logger.debug("reset_screenplay_issue_562_gates (startup) failed", exc_info=True)

    # Step 1: Setup pipeline environment
    effective_output_dir, run_suffix, full_config_string, pipeline_metrics = (
        _setup_pipeline_environment(cfg)
    )

    # GitHub #557: structured incident log (episode/feed scope); default beside run artifacts.
    if not (cfg.incident_log_path or "").strip():
        cfg = cfg.model_copy(
            update={
                "incident_log_path": str(Path(effective_output_dir) / "corpus_incidents.jsonl"),
            }
        )

    monitor_proc: Optional[Any] = None
    py_spy_stop: Optional[Callable[[], None]] = None
    if cfg.monitor:
        from ..monitor.py_spy_listener import start_py_spy_stdin_listener
        from ..monitor.runner import start_monitor_subprocess

        monitor_proc = start_monitor_subprocess(
            pipeline_pid=os.getpid(),
            output_dir=effective_output_dir,
        )
        py_spy_stop = start_py_spy_stdin_listener(
            output_dir=effective_output_dir,
            enabled=True,
        )

    try:
        from ..gi.deps import validate_gil_grounding_dependencies

        validate_gil_grounding_dependencies(cfg)

        # Initialize JSONL emitter if enabled
        jsonl_emitter = _setup_jsonl_emitter(cfg, effective_output_dir, pipeline_metrics)

        # Step 1.5: Preload ML models if configured
        wf_stages.setup.preload_ml_models_if_needed(cfg)

        # Step 1.6: Create all providers once (singleton pattern per run)
        # Providers are created here and passed to stages to avoid redundant initialization
        transcription_provider, speaker_detector, summary_provider = _create_all_providers(cfg)

        # Step 1.7-1.8: Setup logging and device tracking
        _setup_logging_and_devices(
            cfg, transcription_provider, speaker_detector, summary_provider, pipeline_metrics
        )

        # Step 1.5: Create run manifest
        run_manifest = _create_run_manifest(cfg, effective_output_dir)

        # Step 2-4: Fetch and prepare episodes
        maybe_update_pipeline_status(cfg, effective_output_dir, stage="rss_feed_fetch")
        feed, rss_bytes, feed_metadata, episodes = _fetch_and_prepare_episodes(
            cfg, pipeline_metrics
        )

        # Step 5-6.5: Setup pipeline resources
        normalizing_start, host_detection_result, transcription_resources, processing_resources = (
            _setup_pipeline_resources(
                cfg,
                feed,
                episodes,
                effective_output_dir,
                transcription_provider,
                speaker_detector,
                pipeline_metrics,
            )
        )

        # Wrap processing + finalize: JSONL must stay open until _finalize_pipeline
        # calls emit_run_finished (see _finalize_emit_and_save). Closing the emitter in
        # the inner finally was too early and broke run_finished emission.
        interim_checkpoint_manager = _InterimCheckpointManager(
            cfg=cfg,
            output_dir=effective_output_dir,
            pipeline_metrics=pipeline_metrics,
        )
        try:
            try:
                saved = _process_episodes_with_threading(
                    cfg=cfg,
                    episodes=episodes,
                    feed=feed,
                    effective_output_dir=effective_output_dir,
                    run_suffix=run_suffix,
                    feed_metadata=feed_metadata,
                    host_detection_result=host_detection_result,
                    transcription_resources=transcription_resources,
                    processing_resources=processing_resources,
                    pipeline_metrics=pipeline_metrics,
                    summary_provider=summary_provider,
                    transcription_provider=transcription_provider,
                    normalizing_start=normalizing_start,
                    interim_checkpoint_manager=interim_checkpoint_manager,
                )

            finally:
                interim_checkpoint_manager.stop()
                # Step 9.5: Unload models to free memory
                _cleanup_providers(transcription_resources, summary_provider)

            # Step 10-15: Finalize pipeline (metrics, JSONL run_finished, index, …)
            result = _finalize_pipeline(
                cfg=cfg,
                saved=saved,
                transcription_resources=transcription_resources,
                effective_output_dir=effective_output_dir,
                run_suffix=run_suffix,
                pipeline_metrics=pipeline_metrics,
                episodes=episodes,
                jsonl_emitter=jsonl_emitter,
                run_manifest=run_manifest,
                summary_provider=summary_provider,
                transcription_provider=transcription_provider,
            )
        except BaseException:
            if jsonl_emitter is not None:
                try:
                    jsonl_emitter.__exit__(None, None, None)
                except Exception:
                    pass
            raise

        maybe_update_pipeline_status(cfg, effective_output_dir, stage="done")
        return result
    finally:
        # GitHub #562: allow coercion INFO + screenplay warnings on the next Config / run.
        try:
            config.reset_screenplay_issue_562_gates()
        except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - defensive import/cleanup
            logger.debug("reset_screenplay_issue_562_gates failed", exc_info=True)
        if py_spy_stop is not None:
            py_spy_stop()
        if monitor_proc is not None:
            monitor_proc.join(timeout=30)
            if monitor_proc.is_alive():
                monitor_proc.terminate()
                monitor_proc.join(timeout=5)

load_config_file

load_config_file(path: str) -> Dict[str, Any]

Load configuration from a JSON or YAML file.

This function reads a configuration file and returns a dictionary of configuration values. The file format is auto-detected from the file extension (.json, .yaml, or .yml).

The returned dictionary can be unpacked into the Config constructor to create a configuration object.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
path	str	Path to configuration file (JSON or YAML). Supports tilde expansion for home directory (e.g., "~/config.yaml").	required

Returns:

Type	Description
Dict[str, Any]	Dict[str, Any]: Dictionary containing configuration values from the file. Keys correspond to Config field names (using aliases where applicable).

Raises:

Type	Description
ValueError	If any of the following occur: Config path is empty Config file does not exist File format is invalid (not JSON or YAML) JSON parsing fails YAML parsing fails
OSError	If file cannot be read due to permissions or I/O errors

Example

from podcast_scraper import Config, load_config_file, run_pipeline

Load from YAML file

config_dict = load_config_file("config.yaml") cfg = Config(**config_dict) count, summary = run_pipeline(cfg)

Example with JSON

config_dict = load_config_file("config.json") cfg = Config(**config_dict)

Example with direct usage

from podcast_scraper import load_config_file, service

Service API provides load_config_file convenience

result = service.run_from_config_file("config.yaml")

Supported Formats

JSON (.json):

{
  "rss": "https://example.com/feed.xml",
  "output_dir": "./transcripts",
  "max_episodes": 50
}

YAML (.yaml, .yml):

rss: https://example.com/feed.xml
output_dir: ./transcripts
max_episodes: 50

Note

• Field aliases are supported (e.g., both "rss" and "rss_url" work)
• See Config documentation for all available configuration options
• Configuration files should not contain sensitive data (API keys, passwords)

See Also

• Config: Configuration model and field documentation
• service.run_from_config_file(): Direct service API from config file
• Configuration examples: config/examples/config.example.json, config/examples/config.example.yaml

Source code in src/podcast_scraper/config.py

def load_config_file(
    path: str,
) -> Dict[str, Any]:  # noqa: C901 - file parsing handles multiple formats
    """Load configuration from a JSON or YAML file.

    This function reads a configuration file and returns a dictionary of configuration values.
    The file format is auto-detected from the file extension (`.json`, `.yaml`, or `.yml`).

    The returned dictionary can be unpacked into the `Config` constructor to create a
    configuration object.

    Args:
        path: Path to configuration file (JSON or YAML). Supports tilde expansion for
              home directory (e.g., "~/config.yaml").

    Returns:
        Dict[str, Any]: Dictionary containing configuration values from the file.
            Keys correspond to `Config` field names (using aliases where applicable).

    Raises:
        ValueError: If any of the following occur:

            - Config path is empty
            - Config file does not exist
            - File format is invalid (not JSON or YAML)
            - JSON parsing fails
            - YAML parsing fails

        OSError: If file cannot be read due to permissions or I/O errors

    Example:
        >>> from podcast_scraper import Config, load_config_file, run_pipeline
        >>>
        >>> # Load from YAML file
        >>> config_dict = load_config_file("config.yaml")
        >>> cfg = Config(**config_dict)
        >>> count, summary = run_pipeline(cfg)

    Example with JSON:
        >>> config_dict = load_config_file("config.json")
        >>> cfg = Config(**config_dict)

    Example with direct usage:
        >>> from podcast_scraper import load_config_file, service
        >>>
        >>> # Service API provides load_config_file convenience
        >>> result = service.run_from_config_file("config.yaml")

    Supported Formats:
        **JSON** (`.json`):

            {
              "rss": "https://example.com/feed.xml",
              "output_dir": "./transcripts",
              "max_episodes": 50
            }

        **YAML** (`.yaml`, `.yml`):

            rss: https://example.com/feed.xml
            output_dir: ./transcripts
            max_episodes: 50

    Note:
        - Field aliases are supported (e.g., both "rss" and "rss_url" work)
        - See `Config` documentation for all available configuration options
        - Configuration files should not contain sensitive data (API keys, passwords)

    See Also:
        - `Config`: Configuration model and field documentation
        - `service.run_from_config_file()`: Direct service API from config file
        - Configuration examples: `config/examples/config.example.json`,
          `config/examples/config.example.yaml`
    """
    if not path:
        raise ValueError("Config path cannot be empty")

    cfg_path = Path(path).expanduser()
    try:
        resolved = cfg_path.resolve()
    except (OSError, RuntimeError) as exc:
        raise ValueError(f"Invalid config path: {path} ({exc})") from exc

    if not resolved.exists():
        raise ValueError(f"Config file not found: {resolved}")

    suffix = resolved.suffix.lower()
    try:
        text = resolved.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
    except OSError as exc:
        raise ValueError(f"Failed to read config file {resolved}: {exc}") from exc

    if suffix == ".json":
        try:
            data = json.loads(text)
        except json.JSONDecodeError as exc:
            raise ValueError(f"Invalid JSON config file {resolved}: {exc}") from exc
    elif suffix in (".yaml", ".yml"):
        try:
            data = yaml.safe_load(text)
        except yaml.YAMLError as exc:  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
            raise ValueError(f"Invalid YAML config file {resolved}: {exc}") from exc
    else:
        raise ValueError(f"Unsupported config file type: {resolved.suffix}")

    if not isinstance(data, dict):
        raise ValueError("Config file must contain a mapping/object at the top level")

    return data

Package Information

Versioning

__version__ module-attribute

__version__ = '2.6.0'

__api_version__ module-attribute

__api_version__ = __version__

Related

• Configuration - Detailed configuration options
• Service API - Non-interactive service interface
• CLI Interface - Command-line interface