---
title: "podcast-downloader, a Bash script that fetches podcasts from RSS"
language: en
topics: ["Free Software", "Freedom", "apple", "design", "linux", "minimal", "music", "programming"]
full_article_url: https://willem.com/en/2025-01-27_podcast-downloader/
---
# podcast-downloader, a Bash script that fetches podcasts from RSS

*One command, common GNU/Linux utilities, GPLv3.*

> I wrote podcast-downloader, a small GPLv3 Bash script that downloads the audio files listed in an RSS feed's enclosure tags using common GNU/Linux utilities. Run it by hand or from crontab for automatic daily or weekly downloads.

The script needs no extra packages; id3v2 is optional for tagging metadata. Get it from https://source.willem.com/podcast-downloader/, make it executable with chmod +x podcast-downloader.sh, then run it with your feed, download directory and optional album name: ./podcast-downloader.sh -u "https://example.com/podcast.rss" -d "/path/to/download" -a "My Podcast Album". It downloads the audio files named in the feed's enclosure tags. Put it in your crontab for automated daily or weekly downloads.
I wrote it because modern podcast apps push recommendations and promotions over your own library. As a companion I made Auscultare, a simple libre Android app whose only job is to play the downloaded files and track your progress: two small Unix-style tools with the filesystem as the pipe between them.