MCP Podcast Scraper

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that scrapes and transcribes podcast episodes. Designed to work with Claude Code or Claude Desktop - you provide the podcast, the MCP transcribes it, and Claude summarizes it.

What It Does

🎙️ Scrapes podcasts from YouTube videos or RSS feeds
🎯 Transcribes audio using Deepgram's fast Nova-2 model
📁 Organizes files by podcast name and episode date
🔄 Tracks podcasts for new episodes
⏭️ Skips duplicates - won't re-scrape already processed episodes
📋 Finds incomplete work - lists episodes that need summarization
✏️ Custom summary prompts - customize how Claude summarizes for your needs

How It Works

You: "Check for new episodes and summarize them"
         ↓
Claude: Calls check_new_episodes() → Finds new episodes
         ↓
Claude: Calls scrape_podcast() → Downloads & transcribes
         ↓
Claude: Calls get_summary_prompt() → Reads your custom instructions
         ↓
Claude: Calls get_transcript() → Reads the transcript
         ↓
Claude: Summarizes following your prompt
         ↓
Claude: Calls save_summary() → Saves the .md file
         ↓
Done! transcript.md + summary.md saved

Installation Guide

Step 1: Prerequisites

Install required system tools (macOS):

# Install Homebrew if you don't have it
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install yt-dlp (for YouTube) and ffmpeg (for audio)
brew install yt-dlp ffmpeg

Step 2: Clone & Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/wkoleilat-happytitan/mcp-podcast-scraper.git
cd mcp-podcast-scraper

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

Step 3: Get a Deepgram API Key

Go to https://console.deepgram.com/
Sign up (free tier includes $200 credit - enough for ~300 hours of audio)
Create an API key
Copy the key

Step 4: Configure

Copy the example config file and add your API key:

# Copy the example config
cp config.example.json config.json

# Edit config.json and add your Deepgram API key

Your config.json should look like:

{
  "outputDirectory": "./podcasts",
  "deepgramApiKey": "YOUR_ACTUAL_DEEPGRAM_API_KEY",
  "tempDirectory": "./temp"
}

⚠️ Important: Never commit config.json to git - it contains your API key! The .gitignore already excludes it.

Step 5: Add to Claude Code

Add this to your Claude Code MCP settings (~/.cursor/mcp.json or via Settings → MCP):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "podcast-scraper": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/FULL/PATH/TO/mcp-podcast-scraper/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Important: Replace /FULL/PATH/TO/ with the actual path to your installation.

Step 5 (Alternative): Add to Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "podcast-scraper": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/FULL/PATH/TO/mcp-podcast-scraper/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Then restart Claude Desktop.

File Structure

mcp-podcast-scraper/
├── config.example.json     # Template - copy to config.json
├── config.json             # Your config (git-ignored, contains API key)
├── tracking.example.json   # Example tracking file
├── tracking.json           # Your tracked podcasts (git-ignored)
├── prompts/
│   └── summary-prompt.md   # Customize how Claude summarizes (editable)
├── podcasts/               # Your transcripts & summaries (git-ignored)
├── src/                    # Source code
├── dist/                   # Compiled code (git-ignored)
└── node_modules/           # Dependencies (git-ignored)

Usage Examples

Scrape a Specific Episode

"Scrape this YouTube podcast: https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."

"Find and scrape the latest Lex Fridman episode"

Track Podcasts for New Episodes

"Track the Huberman Lab podcast: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/hubermanlab"

"Check my tracked podcasts for new episodes"

"List all podcasts I'm tracking"

Find Incomplete Work

"Show me episodes that need summaries"

"List incomplete episodes"

MCP Tools Reference

Tool	Description
`scrape_podcast`	Scrape & transcribe an episode. Returns file path and preview.
`get_transcript`	Read the full transcript of a scraped episode.
`get_summary_prompt`	Get your custom summarization instructions.
`save_summary`	Save your generated summary to a markdown file.
`check_new_episodes`	Check tracked podcasts for new (unscraped) episodes.
`list_incomplete`	Find episodes with transcripts but no summaries.
`search_podcast`	Search YouTube or parse RSS feeds to find episodes.
`add_tracking`	Add a podcast RSS feed to your tracking list.
`list_tracking`	List all podcasts you're tracking.
`remove_tracking`	Remove a podcast from your tracking list.

Workflow

Typical Session

Check for new episodes:

"Check my tracked podcasts for new episodes"

Scrape each new episode:
```
"Scrape the first one"
```
Get transcript and summarize:
```
"Get the transcript and summarize it"
```
Repeat for remaining episodes

Resume Incomplete Work

If you stopped mid-session:

"Show me episodes that need summaries"

Then for each incomplete episode:

"Get the transcript for [episode] and summarize it"

Output Structure

Files are organized by podcast and episode:

podcasts/
├── Huberman Lab/
│   ├── 2024-12-10 - Episode Title/
│   │   ├── transcript.md
│   │   └── summary.md
│   └── 2024-12-05 - Another Episode/
│       ├── transcript.md
│       └── summary.md
└── Lex Fridman Podcast/
    └── 2024-12-08 - Guest Name/
        ├── transcript.md
        └── summary.md

Configuration Options

Option	Description	Default
`outputDirectory`	Where to save transcripts and summaries. Can be relative or absolute path.	`./podcasts`
`deepgramApiKey`	Your Deepgram API key for transcription	Required
`tempDirectory`	Temporary directory for audio files (auto-cleaned on startup)	`./temp`

Environment variables (optional alternative to config.json):

DEEPGRAM_API_KEY
OUTPUT_DIRECTORY
TEMP_DIRECTORY

Customizing Summary Prompts

Control how Claude summarizes your podcasts by editing prompts/summary-prompt.md.

The default prompt is tailored for Product Managers and includes:

🎯 Episode Overview
💡 Key Insights for Product Managers
🧠 Mental Models & Frameworks
📈 Personal Development Takeaways
✅ Action Items
💬 Notable Quotes
🔗 Related Topics

Customize for Your Needs

Edit prompts/summary-prompt.md to:

Change the target audience (engineer, designer, founder, etc.)
Add/remove sections
Adjust the summary length
Focus on specific topics
Change the formatting style

Example customizations:

For Engineers:

Focus on:
- Technical concepts and architecture decisions
- Implementation details worth noting
- Tools and technologies mentioned
- Code patterns and best practices

For Founders:

Focus on:
- Business strategy insights
- Fundraising advice
- Growth tactics
- Leadership lessons
- Mistakes to avoid

Claude will read this prompt before generating each summary, ensuring consistent, personalized output.

Development

# Watch mode (auto-rebuild on changes)
npm run dev

# Build once
npm run build

# Run MCP server directly
npm start

# Clean build artifacts and temp files
npm run clean

# Test with MCP Inspector (interactive UI)
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

Troubleshooting

"ffprobe and ffmpeg not found"

brew install ffmpeg

"Deepgram API key not configured"

Make sure you've copied config.example.json to config.json and added your API key.

MCP server not connecting

Run npm run build
Verify path in MCP config is correct
Restart Claude Code/Desktop

"YouTube URLs not supported for tracking"

Use RSS feeds instead. Find podcast RSS feeds at https://getrssfeed.com/

License

MIT