podfeeds

This is an HTTP server-based podcast aggregator. Just as other aggregators use Chrome to present a GUI, this one uses Lynx to present a TUI.

Setting Up Lynx

Set Lynx up to open media files in your favorite media player. For example, I have the following ~/.mailcap to get Lynx to open them in mpv:

audio/*; mpv %s
video/*; mpv %s
application/vnd.rn-realmedia; mpv %s

Setting Lynx to always accept cookies will also save a few manual steps. Set the following (make sure they're not commented out) in lynx.cfg:

FORCE_SSL_COOKIES_SECURE:TRUE
SET_COOKIES:TRUE
ACCEPT_ALL_COOKIES:TRUE

I like to set Lynx to use BASH-like keybindings (in the options menu you get with "o"). If a download URL has GET parameters, it makes it easier to delete them from the filename (press Ctrl-A to go to the beginning of the line, cursor to the question mark, Ctrl+K to delete to the end of the line).

Remember that Lynx caches everything. If you want to check for updates, you need to refresh manually (Ctrl+R, or by following links with "x").

Gathering Feed URLs

Gather your podcast feed URLs. One way to find them is to use the "podfeed" script I posted here:

CLI app to get podcast feed URLs

Paste them into a file in the root directory (the one with files like go.mod), named "podcasts.yaml". Separate each line with a hyphen and a space. For example:

- https://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/wr.xml
- https://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/frontburner.xml
- https://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/current.xml
- https://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/asithappens.xml

Running Podfeeds

Start the server:

go run .

By default, the server will listen on port 8080. Set the PORT environment variable to override it. Set it to port 0 to let it pick the port.

Load the server's index page in Lynx:

lynx http://localhost:8080

That will get your subscriptions:

Following each link gets you the page for that podcast:

Follow "Enclosure" links to play them.

Or press "d" to download them or whatever; Lynx is very powerful.