| name | podcast-setup |
| description | Set up or troubleshoot access to the LangTalks podcast MCP server (langrag).
Use when the user says "set up langrag", "podcast key", "langrag api key",
"connect to the podcasts", right after installing the langrag-podcasts
plugin, or when mcp__langrag__* tools fail with 401/unauthorized or
quota/rate-limit errors.
|
LangTalks Podcast MCP — Setup and Troubleshooting
The plugin connects to the public MCP server at https://mcp.langrag.ai/mcp
(Streamable HTTP). No API key is required: keyless access works out of the
box with a daily per-IP quota. An optional free API key (read from the
LANGRAG_MCP_API_KEY environment variable) raises the daily limit. The
podcast content lives on the server and is updated there when new episodes are
released — the plugin never needs a content update.
First-time setup (keyless — the default)
Nothing to configure. After installing the plugin:
- Verify. Call the
mcp__langrag__list_podcasts tool. A successful
response lists the available podcasts with chunk counts and date coverage.
Then try a real query via mcp__langrag__search_podcasts.
Optional: get an API key (higher daily limits)
Walk the user through these steps, running the local ones for them:
-
Get a key. Open https://langrag.ai/podcasts, enter an email address,
and click the verification link that arrives (valid for a limited time).
The page then shows the API key ONCE — tell the user to copy it immediately.
-
Set the environment variable. Append to the user's shell profile
(ask which shell if unclear; never overwrite the file):
export LANGRAG_MCP_API_KEY="<the key>"
Remind the user the key is a secret: shell profile or a secrets manager,
never committed to a repo.
-
Restart Claude Code (or run /mcp and reconnect) so the new
environment variable is picked up by the MCP connection.
-
Verify with mcp__langrag__list_podcasts as above.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|
| 401 / "Invalid or missing MCP API key" | A key IS set but mistyped/revoked (an unset variable falls back to keyless access, so a 401 always means a bad presented key) | Fix or unset LANGRAG_MCP_API_KEY and restart; if the key is lost, redo the email verification at https://langrag.ai/podcasts — re-verifying ROTATES the key (the old one stops working) |
| Keyless quota error ("per IP") | The daily keyless per-IP budget is exhausted | Get a free key at https://langrag.ai/podcasts for the higher per-key budget, or wait for the UTC day to roll over |
| Quota error from a tool call | The per-key daily query budget is exhausted | Wait for the UTC day to roll over; budgets are per key |
| Rate-limit error | Too many queries per minute | Slow down; retry after a short pause |
| Tools not listed at all | Plugin's MCP server not connected | Run /mcp to check the langrag server status; confirm the plugin is enabled in /plugin |
| Date-range validation error | Malformed or inverted date_start/date_end | Use YYYY-MM-DD and ensure start <= end |
Notes
- The key is scoped to podcast search only (
search_podcasts,
list_podcasts). It cannot access any other langrag.ai functionality.
- Searches run on the server; answers are composed by YOUR agent on YOUR
model. The server never spends its own LLM tokens generating answers.
