rss-publish

name	rss-publish
description	Generate or update a podcast RSS 2.0 + iTunes feed from a channel config and a new episode item. Dedupes by guid, preserves existing items, newest-first ordering. Use from any podcast distribution directive.
metadata	{"clawdbot":{"emoji":"📡","requires":["node"],"credentials":"none — writes a local feed.xml file. Separate upload step publishes the feed to your host."}}

RSS Publish

Generic podcast RSS feed generator. Every podcast distribution directive that needs to add an episode to a feed calls this skill.

When to use

• You have produced an episode MP3 and its metadata (title, description, duration, audio URL) and need to add it to a feed.xml that hosts the podcast.
• You want to keep the existing items in the feed and add (or replace, by guid) a single new item.

Not when

• You need to upload the feed to a host (Spotify for Podcasters, Transistor, Buzzsprout, your own CDN). This skill only writes the feed.xml — the caller is responsible for publishing it.

Install

cd ~/clawd/skills/rss-publish
pnpm install
pnpm run build

Usage

rss-publish \
  --channel /path/to/channel.json \
  --episode /path/to/episode.json \
  --audio /path/to/full.mp3 \
  --feed /path/to/existing-or-new/feed.xml \
  --output /path/to/write/feed.xml

• --channel — channel-level metadata (below)
• --episode — episode-level metadata (below)
• --audio — (optional) the local MP3; used to measure bytes if audioBytes isn't provided in --episode
• --feed — the existing feed XML to merge into. If the file doesn't exist, starts fresh.
• --output — where to write the updated feed. Defaults to the --feed path (in-place update).

Channel JSON

{
  "title": "Example Podcast Title",
  "link": "https://mani.plus",
  "description": "A British, heartfelt podcast about kidney disease, transplant, dialysis, and thriving beyond chronic illness.",
  "author": "Example Author",
  "email": "[e-mail]",
  "language": "en-GB",
  "category": "Health & Fitness",
  "imageUrl": "https://mani.plus/cover.png",
  "explicit": "false",
  "type": "episodic"
}

Episode JSON

{
  "episodeId": "2026-04-22-pregnancy-after-transplant",
  "title": "A New Beginning",
  "description": "Assalamu alaikum — this week we sit with a story about pregnancy after transplant ...",
  "audioUrl": "https://mani.plus/episodes/2026-04-22.mp3",
  "durationSeconds": 762,
  "pubDate": "2026-04-22T08:00:00Z",
  "episodeNumber": 8
}

Optional fields: audioBytes, link, guid, imageUrl, season.

Output (stdout JSON)

{
  "ok": true,
  "feed": "/path/to/feed.xml",
  "totalItems": 8,
  "newItem": { "episodeId": "...", "title": "...", "audioBytes": 6123456, "durationSeconds": 762 }
}

Dedup rules

If an existing item in the feed has the same guid as the new item, the existing one is removed and the new one takes its place at the top. Order: newest first.

If no guid is provided in the episode JSON, guid defaults to the episode link ({channel.link}/episodes/{episodeId}).