podcast

When to Use

User wants to create a podcast episode on any topic
User provides a URL or text and wants it turned into a podcast discussion
User asks for a "debate", "dialogue", or "discussion" format
User says "podcast", "播客", or "录一期节目"

When NOT to Use

User wants text-to-speech reading (use /speech)
User wants an explainer video with visuals (use /explainer)
User wants to generate an image (use /image-gen)
User only wants to extract content from a URL without generating audio (use /content-parser)

Purpose

Generate podcast episodes with 1-2 AI speakers discussing a topic. Supports quick overviews, deep analysis, and debate formats. Input can be a topic description, URL(s), or text. Output is a full audio episode with transcript.

Hard Constraints

No shell scripts. Construct curl commands from the API reference files listed in Resources
Always read shared/authentication.md for API key and headers
Follow shared/common-patterns.md for polling, errors, and interaction patterns
Never hardcode speaker IDs — always fetch from the speakers API
Never fabricate API endpoints or parameters
Always read config following shared/config-pattern.md before any interaction
Always follow shared/speaker-selection.md for speaker selection (text table + free-text input)
Never save files to ~/Downloads/ — use .listenhub/podcast/ from config

<HARD-GATE> Use the AskUserQuestion tool for every multiple-choice step — do NOT print options as plain text. Ask one question at a time. Wait for the user's answer before proceeding to the next step. After all parameters are collected, summarize the choices and ask the user to confirm. Do NOT call any generation API until the user has explicitly confirmed. </HARD-GATE>

Step -1: API Key Check

Follow shared/config-pattern.md § API Key Check. If the key is missing, stop immediately.

Step 0: Config Setup

Follow shared/config-pattern.md Step 0.

If file doesn't exist — ask location, then create immediately:

mkdir -p ".listenhub/podcast"
echo '{"outputDir":".listenhub","outputMode":"inline","language":null,"defaultMode":null,"defaultMethod":null,"defaultSpeakers":{}}' > ".listenhub/podcast/config.json"
CONFIG_PATH=".listenhub/podcast/config.json"
# (or $HOME/.listenhub/podcast/config.json for global)

Then run Setup Flow below.

If file exists — read config, display summary, and confirm:

当前配置 (podcast)：
  输出方式：{inline / download / both}
  语言偏好：{zh / en / 未设置}
  默认模式：{quick / deep / debate / 未设置}
  默认生成方式：{one-step / two-step / 未设置}
  默认主播：{speakerName(s) / 未设置}

Ask: "使用已保存的配置？" → 确认，直接继续 / 重新配置

Setup Flow (first run or reconfigure)

Ask these questions in order, then save all answers to config at once:

outputMode: Follow shared/output-mode.md § Setup Flow Question.
Language (optional): "默认语言？"
- "中文 (zh)"
- "English (en)"
- "每次手动选择" → keep null
Mode (optional): "默认播客模式？"
- "Quick — 简短概述"
- "Deep — 深度分析"
- "Debate — 辩论对话"
- "每次手动选择" → keep null
Method (optional): "默认生成方式？"
- "一步生成（推荐）" → defaultMethod: "one-step"
- "两步生成（先预览文本）" → defaultMethod: "two-step"
- "每次手动选择" → keep null

After collecting answers, save immediately:

# Follow shared/output-mode.md § Save to Config
NEW_CONFIG=$(echo "$CONFIG" | jq --arg m "$OUTPUT_MODE" '. + {"outputMode": $m}')
echo "$NEW_CONFIG" > "$CONFIG_PATH"
CONFIG=$(cat "$CONFIG_PATH")

Note: defaultSpeakers are saved after generation (see After Successful Generation section).

Interaction Flow

Step 1: Topic / Content Source

Free text input. Ask the user:

What topic or content would you like to turn into a podcast?

Accept: topic description, URL, or pasted text.

Step 2: Mode

If config.defaultMode is set, pre-fill and show in summary — skip this question. Otherwise ask:

Question: "What podcast generation mode?"
Options:
  - "Quick" — Short, concise overview (~5 min)
  - "Deep" — Thorough analysis with more detail (~10-15 min)
  - "Debate" — Two speakers with opposing views (requires 2 speakers)

Step 3: Language

If config.language is set, pre-fill and show in summary — skip this question. Otherwise ask:

Question: "What language?"
Options:
  - "Chinese (zh)" — Content in Mandarin Chinese
  - "English (en)" — Content in English

Step 4: Speaker Count

Question: "How many speakers?"
Options:
  - "1 speaker (solo)" — Monologue style
  - "2 speakers (dialogue)" — Conversation style

Note: Debate mode automatically sets 2 speakers.

Step 5: Speaker Selection

Follow shared/speaker-selection.md for the full selection flow, including:

Default from config.defaultSpeakers.{language} (skip step if set)
Text table + free-text input
Input matching and re-prompt on no match

For 2-speaker mode (dialogue/debate): run selection twice (or until both are chosen).

Step 6: Reference Materials (optional)

Question: "Any reference materials to include?"
Options:
  - "Yes, URL(s)" — Provide URLs to analyze
  - "Yes, text" — Paste reference text
  - "No references" — Generate from topic alone

Step 7: Generation Method

If config.defaultMethod is set, pre-fill and show in summary — skip this question. Otherwise ask:

Question: "How would you like to generate?"
Options:
  - "One step (recommended)" — Generate text + audio together, faster
  - "Two steps (review first)" — Generate text, review/edit, then generate audio

Step 8: Confirm & Generate

Summarize all choices:

Ready to generate podcast:

  Topic: {topic}
  Mode: {mode}
  Language: {language}
  Speakers: {speaker name(s)}
  References: {yes/no}
  Method: {one-step/two-step}

  Proceed?

Wait for explicit confirmation before calling any API.

Workflow

One-Step Generation

Submit (foreground): POST /podcast/episodes with collected parameters → extract episodeId
Tell the user the task is submitted

Poll (background): Run the following exact bash command with run_in_background: true and timeout: 600000. Do NOT use python3, awk, or any other JSON parser — use jq as shown:

EPISODE_ID="<id-from-step-1>"
for i in $(seq 1 30); do
  RESULT=$(curl -sS "https://api.marswave.ai/openapi/v1/podcast/episodes/$EPISODE_ID" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $LISTENHUB_API_KEY" 2>/dev/null)
  STATUS=$(echo "$RESULT" | tr -d '\000-\037\177' | jq -r '.data.processStatus // "pending"')
  case "$STATUS" in
    success|completed) echo "$RESULT"; exit 0 ;;
    failed|error) echo "FAILED: $RESULT" >&2; exit 1 ;;
    *) sleep 10 ;;
  esac
done
echo "TIMEOUT" >&2; exit 2

When notified of completion, Step 6: Present result

Read OUTPUT_MODE from config. Follow shared/output-mode.md for behavior.

inline or both: Display audioUrl as a clickable link.

Present:

播客已生成！

在线收听：{audioUrl}
字幕：{subtitlesUrl}（如有）
时长：{audioDuration / 1000}s
消耗积分：{credits}

download or both: Also download the file.

DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
JOB_DIR=".listenhub/podcast/${DATE}-{episodeId}"
mkdir -p "$JOB_DIR"
curl -sS -o "${JOB_DIR}/{episodeId}.mp3" "{audioUrl}"

Present the download path in addition to the above summary.

Offer to show transcript or provide download URL on request

Two-Step Generation

Step 1 — Submit text (foreground): POST /podcast/episodes/text-content → extract episodeId
Poll text (background): Use the exact jq-based polling loop above (substitute endpoint podcast/episodes/text-content/{episodeId} if needed), with run_in_background: true and timeout: 600000
When notified, save draft to config output dir:
- Create .listenhub/podcast/YYYY-MM-DD-{episodeId}/
- Write {episodeId}-draft.md (human-readable: **{speakerName}**: {content} per line)
- Write {episodeId}-draft.json (raw scripts array)
- Present the draft location and content preview
STOP: Present the draft and wait for explicit user approval
Step 2 — Submit audio (foreground, after approval):
- No changes: POST /podcast/episodes/{episodeId}/audio with {}
- With edits: POST /podcast/episodes/{episodeId}/audio with modified {scripts: [...]}
Poll audio (background): Same exact jq-based loop, run_in_background: true, timeout: 600000
When notified, download audio to same folder:
- curl -sS -o .listenhub/podcast/{dir}/{episodeId}.mp3 {audioUrl}
- Present final result (same format as one-step, folder now has draft + final files)

After Successful Generation

Update config with the choices made this session:

NEW_CONFIG=$(echo "$CONFIG" | jq \
  --arg lang "{language}" \
  --arg mode "{mode}" \
  --arg method "{one-step/two-step}" \
  --argjson speakers '{"{language}": ["{speakerId}"]}' \
  '. + {"language": $lang, "defaultMode": $mode, "defaultMethod": $method, "defaultSpeakers": (.defaultSpeakers + $speakers)}')
echo "$NEW_CONFIG" > "$CONFIG_PATH"

API Reference

Speaker list: shared/api-speakers.md
Speaker selection guide: shared/speaker-selection.md
Episode creation: shared/api-podcast.md
Polling: shared/common-patterns.md § Async Polling
Config pattern: shared/config-pattern.md

Composability

Invokes: speakers API (for speaker selection)
Invoked by: content-planner (Phase 3)

Example

User: "Make a podcast about the latest AI developments"

Agent workflow:

Detect: podcast request, topic = "latest AI developments"
Ask mode → user picks "Deep"
Ask language → "English"
Ask speakers → 1 speaker
Fetch speakers list, user picks "cozy-man-english"
No references
One-step generation

curl -sS -X POST "https://api.marswave.ai/openapi/v1/podcast/episodes" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LISTENHUB_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "sources": [{"type": "text", "content": "The latest AI developments"}],
    "speakers": [{"speakerId": "cozy-man-english"}],
    "language": "en",
    "mode": "deep"
  }'

Poll until complete, then present the result with title and listen link.

Safety Notice

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