The Python module designed for downloading files from given RSS feeds, particularly targeted at podcasts. It does not use any sort of database but requires a configuration file.
The script is intended to be run periodically. Upon starting, it analyzes the directory where it previously stored downloaded files. It then compares these files with those listed in the RSS feed, identifying any missing ones and downloading them.
The files searched by default are mp3.
The result of using the example below, on empty directories, will be:
dplocki@ghost-wheel:~$ python -m podcast_downloader
[2024-04-08 21:19:10] Loading configuration (from file: "~/.podcast_downloader_config.json")
[2024-04-08 21:19:15] Checking "The Skeptic Guide"
[2024-04-08 21:19:15] Last downloaded file "<none>"
[2024-04-08 21:19:15] The Skeptic Guide: Downloading file: "https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/skepticsguide/skepticast2024-04-06.mp3" saved as "skepticast2024-04-06.mp3"
[2024-04-08 21:19:41] Checking "The Real Python Podcast"
[2024-04-08 21:19:41] Last downloaded file "<none>"
[2024-04-08 21:19:41] The Real Python Podcast: Downloading file: "https://chtbl.com/track/92DB94/files.realpython.com/podcasts/RPP_E199_03_Calvin.eef1db4d6679.mp3" saved as "[20240405] rpp_e199_03_calvin.eef1db4d6679.mp3"
[2024-04-08 21:20:04] Finished
The result:
dplocki@ghost-wheel:~$ tree podcasts/
podcasts/
├── RealPython
│  └── [20240405] rpp_e199_03_calvin.eef1db4d6679.mp3
└── SGTTU
└── skepticast2024-04-06.mp3
2 directories, 2 files
Installation from PyPI:
pip install podcast_downloaderThe script requires configuration file in order to work. After installation, the script can be run as any Python module:
python -m podcast_downloaderIt is also possible to run the script with given configuration file:
python -m podcast_downloader --config my_config.jsonAn example of configuration file
{
"if_directory_empty": "download_from_4_days",
"podcasts": [
{
"name": "The Skeptic Guide",
"rss_link": "https://feed.theskepticsguide.org/feed/rss.aspx",
"path": "~/podcasts/SGTTU"
},
{
"rss_link": "https://realpython.com/podcasts/rpp/feed",
"path": "~/podcasts/RealPython",
"file_name_template": "[%publish_date%] %file_name%.%file_extension%"
}
]
}By default the configuration file is placed in home directory. It's file name is: .podcast_downloader_config.json.
The config file is format in JSON. The expected encoding is utf-8.
The path to configuration file can be specified by script argument.
The script replaces default values by those read from configuration file. Those will be overload by values given from command line.
command line parameters > configuration file > default values
| Property | Type | Required? | Default | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
downloads_limit |
number | no | infinity | |
if_directory_empty |
string | no | download_last | See In case of empty directory |
podcast_extensions |
key-value | no | {".mp3": "audio/mpeg"} |
See File types filter |
podcasts |
subsection | yes | [] |
See Podcasts sub category |
http_headers |
key-value | no | {"User-Agent": "podcast-downloader"} |
See HTTP request headers |
fill_up_gaps |
boolean | no | false | See Download files from gaps |
download_delay |
number | no | 0 |
See Download delay |
The podcasts segment is the part of configuration file where you provide the array of objects with fallowing content:
| Property | Type | Required | Default | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
name |
string | yes | - | The name of channel (use in logger) |
rss_link |
string | yes | - | The URL of RSS feed |
path |
string | yes | - | The path to directory, where podcast are stored, will be downloaded |
file_name_template |
string | no | %file_name%.%file_extension% |
The template for the downloaded files, see File name template |
disable |
boolean | no | false |
This podcast will be ignored |
podcast_extensions |
key-value | no | {".mp3": "audio/mpeg"} |
The file filter |
if_directory_empty |
string | no | download_last |
See In case of empty directory |
require_date |
boolean | no | false |
Deprecated Is date of podcast should be added into name of file - use the file_name_template: [%publish_date%] %file_name%.%file_extension%" |
http_headers |
key-value | no | {"User-Agent": "podcast-downloader"} |
See HTTP request headers |
fill_up_gaps |
boolean | no | false | See Download files from gaps |
Some servers may not like how the urllib is presenting itself to them (the HTTP User-Agent header). This may lead into problems like: urllib.error.HTTPError: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden. That is why, there is a possibility for the script to pose as something else: by specifying the HTTP headers during downloading files.
Use the http_headers option in the configuration file. The value should be a dictionary object where each header is presented as a key-value pair. The key being the header title and the value being the header value.
By default the value is: {"User-Agent": "podcast-downloader"}. Providing anything else for http_headers will override all the default values (they do not merge).
On other hand in the podcast sub-configuration, the http_headers will be merged with the global http_headers. In case of a conflict (same key name), the vale from podcast sub-configuration will override the global one.
Example:
{
"http_headers": {
"User-Agent": "podcast-downloader"
},
"podcasts": [
{
"name": "Unua Podcast",
"rss_link": "http://www.unuapodcast.org/feed.rss",
"path": "~/podcasts/unua_podcast",
"https_headers": {
"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0"
}
},
{
"name": "Dua Podcast",
"rss_link": "http://www.duapodcast.org/feed.rss",
"path": "~/podcasts/dua_podcast",
"https_headers": {
"Authorization": "Basic QWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuIHNlc2FtZQ=="
}
}
]
}In this example, the Unua Podcast will be download just with the header: User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0, and the Dua Podcast with: User-Agent: podcast-downloader and Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuIHNlc2FtZQ==.
When you had a lot of files to download from a single server, it may be better to set up the small delay between downloads to avoid being recognized as an attacker by the server. In the script there is an option called download_delay, which represents the number of seconds the script will wait between downloads.
The default value is 0.
Notes:
- this delay applies per podcast, not between two different podcasts
- the value can be provided as script argument
The script accepts following command line arguments:
| Short version | Long name | Parameter | Default | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
--config |
string | ~/.podcast_downloader_config.json |
The placement of the configuration file | |
--downloads_limit |
number | infinity | The maximum number of downloaded mp3 files | |
--if_directory_empty |
string | download_last |
The general approach on empty directory | |
--download_delay |
number | 0 |
The waiting time (seconds) between downloads |
Use to adjust the file name after downloading.
Default value (the %file_name%.%file_extension%) will simple save up the file as it was uploaded by original creator. The file name and its extension is based on the link to podcast file.
Template values:
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
%file_name% |
The file name from the link, without extension |
%file_extension% |
The extension for the file, from link |
%publish_date% |
The publish date of the RSS entry |
%title% |
The title of the RSS entry |
The %publish_date% by default gives result in format YEARMMDD. In order to change it you can provide the new one after the colon (the : character). The script respect the codes of the 1989 C standard, but the percent sign (%) must be replaced by dollar sign ($). This is because of my unfortunate decision to use the percent character as marker of the code.
| The standard code | The script code | Notes |
|---|---|---|
%Y%m%d |
$Y$m$d |
The default value of the %publish_date% |
%A |
$A |
Adds the weekday (local language settings) |
%x |
$x |
The local date represent. Warning: in some settings, the / is used here, so it may caused problem in the file name |
[%publish_date%] %file_name%.%file_extension%[%publish_date%] %title%.%file_extension%
Podcasts are mostly stored as *.mp3 files. By default Podcast Downloader looks just for them, ignoring all others types.
If your podcast supports other types of media files, you can specified the file filters. Provide the extension of the file (like .mp3) and type of link in RSS feed itself (for mp3 it is audio/mpeg).
If you don't know the type of the file, you can look for it in the RSS file. Seek for enclosure tags, should looks like this:
<enclosure url="https://www.vidocast.url/podcast/episode23.m4a"
length="14527149"
type="audio/x-m4a" />Note: the dot on the file extension is require.
"podcast_extensions": {
".mp3": "audio/mpeg",
".m4a": "audio/x-m4a"
}If a directory for podcast is empty, the script needs to know what to do. Due to lack of database, you can:
- download all episodes from feed
- download only the last episode
- download last n episodes
- download all new episode from last n days
- download all new episode since day after, the last episode should appear
Default behavior is: download_last
The script will download all episodes from the feed.
Set by download_all_from_feed.
The script will download only the last episode from the feed. It is also default approach of the script.
Set by download_last.
The script will download exactly the given number of episodes from the feed.
Set by download_last_n_episodes. The n must be replaced by a number of episodes, which you wanted to have downloaded. For example: download_last_5_episodes means that five most recent episodes will be downloaded.
The script will download all episodes which appear in recent n days. It can be use when you are downloading on regular schedule.
The n number is given within the setup value: download_from_n_days. For example: download_from_3_days means download all episodes from last 3 days.
The script will download all episodes which appear after the day of release of last episode.
The n number is the day of the normal episode. You can provide here week days as word (size of the letters is ignored)
| Full week day | Shorten name |
|---|---|
| Monday | Mon |
| Tuesday | Tues |
| Wednesday | Weds |
| Thursday | Thurs |
| Friday | Fri |
| Saturday | Sat |
| Sunday | Sun |
You can provide the number, it will means the day of the month. The script accepts only number from 1 to 28.
Set by download_from_.
Examples:
| Example value | Meaning |
|---|---|
download_from_monday |
New episodes appear in Monday. The script will download all episodes since last Tuesday (including it) |
download_from_Fri |
New episodes appear in Friday. The script will download all episodes since last Saturday (including it) |
download_from_12 |
New episodes appear each 12th of month. The script will download all episodes since 13 month before |
The script recognizes the stream of downloaded files (based on the feed data). By default, the last downloaded file (according to the feed) marks the start of downloading. In case of gaps, situation where there are missing files before the last downloaded one, the script will ignore them by default. However, there is a possibility to change this behavior to download all missing files between already downloaded ones. To enable this, you need to set the fill_up_gaps value to true. It's important to note that the script will not download files before the first one (according to the feed), the most earlier episode.
Default value: false.
The script looks through all the items nodes in RSS file. The item node can contain the enclosure node. Those nodes are used to passing the files. According to the convention the single item should contain only one enclosure, but script (as the library used under it) can handle the multiple files attached into podcast item.
The OPML files can be converted into configuration. The output file needs to be adjusted (missing the path).
import json
import sys
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
def build_podcast(node_rss):
return {
"name": node_rss.attrib["title"],
"rss_link": node_rss.attrib["xmlUrl"],
"path": "",
}
tree = ET.parse(sys.argv[1])
podcasts = list(map(build_podcast, tree.findall("body/outline[@type='rss']")))
result = json.dumps({"podcasts": podcasts}, sort_keys=True, indent=4)
print(result)Example of usage (after saving it as opml_converter.py):
python opml_converter.py example.opml > podcast_downloader_config.json