PinePods Search API Documentation

🔍 Overview

The PinePods Search API is a high-performance Rust-based Actix Web application that provides comprehensive podcast and YouTube channel discovery capabilities. The API supports multiple search providers and offers detailed content information retrieval.

✨ Key Features

Multi-Provider Search: PodcastIndex, iTunes, and YouTube (YouTube is powered by a bundled yt-dlp — no Google/YouTube API key or quota required)
Flexible Search Types: Search by podcast title, person/host, or YouTube channels
Real-time Statistics: Built-in usage tracking and analytics
High Performance: Rust-based with async processing
CORS Enabled: Ready for web application integration
Containerized: Docker-ready deployment

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

PodcastIndex API (Recommended): Get free API credentials
Docker: For containerized deployment

YouTube search needs no API key — the container bundles yt-dlp, which queries YouTube directly. iTunes search also requires no key.

Environment Configuration

Create an environment file with your API credentials:

# Required for PodcastIndex searches (iTunes and YouTube need no keys)
API_KEY=your_podcastindex_api_key
API_SECRET=your_podcastindex_api_secret

# Optional: Logging level
RUST_LOG=info

YouTube uses yt-dlp, not the Google API

Earlier versions of this API used the YouTube Data API v3 and a YOUTUBE_API_KEY. That is no longer the case — YouTube search and channel lookups now shell out to yt-dlp, which the Docker image installs automatically. There is no API key to manage and no daily quota to hit. If you build a custom image, make sure yt-dlp is on the PATH or YouTube features will return a yt-dlp not available error.

Docker Deployment

version: '3.8'
services:
  pinepods-search-api:
    image: madeofpendletonwool/pinepods_backend:latest
    container_name: pinepods-search-api
    env_file: .env
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:5000/api/search"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

PinePods Integration

Update your PinePods configuration:

# For local deployment
API_URL: 'http://localhost:5000/api/search'

# For production with domain
API_URL: 'https://your-domain.com/api/search'

📚 API Reference

Base URL

http://localhost:5000

Authentication

The API handles authentication automatically using configured environment variables. No additional authentication headers are required from clients.

🔗 Endpoints

1. Universal Search

Endpoint: GET /api/search

Description: Search for podcasts across multiple providers or YouTube channels

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
`query`	string	Yes*	-	Search term or query
`index`	string	No	`podcastindex`	Search provider: `podcastindex`, `itunes`, or `youtube`
`search_type`	string	No	`term`	Search type: `term` or `person` (PodcastIndex only)

*When both query and index are omitted, returns a health check response.

Provider-Specific Features

PodcastIndex (Recommended)

Term Search: /search/byterm - General podcast search
Person Search: /search/byperson - Search by host/person name
Advanced Metadata: Rich podcast information
Privacy Focused: No user tracking

iTunes

Term Search Only: Basic podcast discovery
Limited Metadata: Standard iTunes podcast data

YouTube

Channel Search: Discover YouTube channels (results are deduplicated by channel, up to ~25)
Powered by yt-dlp: No API key or quota required
Thumbnails & recent videos: Channel details include the most recent videos (see the /api/youtube/channel endpoint)

Example Requests

# Health Check
curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5000/api/search'
# Returns: "Test connection successful"

# PodcastIndex Term Search
curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5000/api/search?query=python%20podcast&index=podcastindex'

# PodcastIndex Person Search
curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5000/api/search?query=joe%20rogan&index=podcastindex&search_type=person'

# iTunes Search
curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5000/api/search?query=tech%20news&index=itunes'

# YouTube Channel Search
curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5000/api/search?query=programming&index=youtube'

2. Podcast Details

Endpoint: GET /api/podcast

Description: Retrieve detailed information for a specific podcast using its feed ID

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`id`	string	Yes	PodcastIndex feed ID

Example Request

curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5000/api/podcast?id=920666'

3. YouTube Channel Details

Endpoint: GET /api/youtube/channel

Description: Get YouTube channel information and its most recent videos (up to 15), fetched via yt-dlp.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`id`	string	Yes	YouTube Channel ID

note

subscriberCount and videoCount are part of the response shape but are not currently populated by the yt-dlp flat fetch — they are returned as null. The recentVideos array (id, title, description, url, thumbnail, publishedAt, and a PT#M#S ISO-8601 duration) is the data PinePods actually uses.

Example Request

curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5000/api/youtube/channel?id=UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw'

4. API Statistics

Endpoint: GET /api/stats

Description: Retrieve real-time API usage statistics and metrics

Example Request

curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5000/api/stats'

📄 Response Formats

PodcastIndex Search Response

{
  "status": "true",
  "feeds": [
    {
      "id": 920666,
      "title": "Python Bytes",
      "url": "https://pythonbytes.fm/episodes/rss",
      "originalUrl": "https://pythonbytes.fm/episodes/rss",
      "link": "https://pythonbytes.fm",
      "description": "Python Bytes is a weekly podcast...",
      "author": "Michael Kennedy and Brian Okken",
      "ownerName": "Michael Kennedy",
      "image": "https://pythonbytes.fm/static/img/podcast-logo.png",
      "artwork": "https://pythonbytes.fm/static/img/podcast-logo.png",
      "lastUpdateTime": 1640995200,
      "lastCrawlTime": 1640995800,
      "lastParseTime": 1640995850,
      "lastGoodHttpStatusTime": 1640995900,
      "lastHttpStatus": 200,
      "contentType": "application/rss+xml",
      "itunesId": 1173964558,
      "generator": "custom",
      "language": "en",
      "type": 0,
      "dead": 0,
      "crawlErrors": 0,
      "parseErrors": 0
    }
  ],
  "count": 25,
  "query": "python podcast",
  "description": "Found matching feeds."
}

iTunes Search Response

{
  "resultCount": 25,
  "results": [
    {
      "wrapperType": "track",
      "kind": "podcast",
      "collectionId": 1173964558,
      "trackId": 1173964558,
      "artistName": "Michael Kennedy and Brian Okken",
      "collectionName": "Python Bytes",
      "trackName": "Python Bytes",
      "collectionCensoredName": "Python Bytes",
      "trackCensoredName": "Python Bytes",
      "collectionViewUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/python-bytes/id1173964558",
      "feedUrl": "https://pythonbytes.fm/episodes/rss",
      "trackViewUrl": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/python-bytes/id1173964558",
      "artworkUrl30": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts123/v4/f4/89/c4/f489c4e7-35cb-474d-bf4f-0ccf67e861b0/mza_2029009828340268613.jpg/30x30bb.jpg",
      "artworkUrl60": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts123/v4/f4/89/c4/f489c4e7-35cb-474d-bf4f-0ccf67e861b0/mza_2029009828340268613.jpg/60x60bb.jpg",
      "artworkUrl100": "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts123/v4/f4/89/c4/f489c4e7-35cb-474d-bf4f-0ccf67e861b0/mza_2029009828340268613.jpg/100x100bb.jpg",
      "collectionPrice": 0.00,
      "trackPrice": 0.00,
      "releaseDate": "2024-01-15T08:00:00Z",
      "collectionExplicitness": "cleaned",
      "trackExplicitness": "cleaned",
      "trackCount": 350,
      "trackTimeMillis": 1800000,
      "country": "USA",
      "currency": "USD",
      "primaryGenreName": "Technology",
      "contentAdvisoryRating": "Clean",
      "genreIds": ["1318", "26", "1528"]
    }
  ]
}

YouTube Channel Search Response

{
  "results": [
    {
      "channelId": "UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw",
      "name": "Linus Tech Tips",
      "description": "We make videos and stuff, cool eh?",
      "thumbnailUrl": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AKedOLQDwRAKGBtB4wWJKcAABhCRYrvhSGJr5yLO=s240-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw"
    }
  ]
}

YouTube Channel Details Response

{
  "channelId": "UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw",
  "name": "Linus Tech Tips",
  "description": "We make entertaining videos about technology...",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AKedOLQDwRAKGBtB4wWJKcAABhCRYrvhSGJr5yLO=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw",
  "subscriberCount": 15400000,
  "videoCount": 6000,
  "recentVideos": [
    {
      "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "title": "Latest Tech Review",
      "description": "Today we're looking at...",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/mqdefault.jpg",
      "publishedAt": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z",
      "duration": "PT10M30S"
    }
  ]
}

API Statistics Response

{
  "api_usage": {
    "itunes_hits": 1250,
    "podcast_index_hits": 3420,
    "youtube_hits": 890,
    "total_hits": 5560
  },
  "timestamp": "2024-01-15T14:30:00.000Z"
}

⚠️ Error Handling

HTTP Status Codes

Status Code	Description	Common Causes
`200`	Success	Request completed successfully
`400`	Bad Request	Invalid parameters or malformed request
`404`	Not Found	Resource not found (podcast ID, channel ID)
`500`	Internal Server Error	API credentials missing, external API failure
`503`	Service Unavailable	External API rate limiting or downtime

Error Response Format

Errors are returned as a plain-text body with the relevant HTTP status code (most failures are 500), not as a JSON envelope. For example:

API_KEY not set

Common Error Messages

"API_KEY not set" - PodcastIndex API key missing
"API_SECRET not set" - PodcastIndex API secret missing
"yt-dlp not available" - yt-dlp is not installed / not on the PATH
"yt-dlp search failed" - YouTube channel search via yt-dlp failed
"yt-dlp channel fetch failed" - Fetching a channel's videos via yt-dlp failed
"Channel not found or has no videos" - YouTube channel ID invalid or empty
"Failed to parse response body" - External API returned invalid data

🔧 Configuration Reference

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`API_KEY`	Yes (for PodcastIndex)	-	PodcastIndex API Key
`API_SECRET`	Yes (for PodcastIndex)	-	PodcastIndex API Secret
`RUST_LOG`	No	`info`	Logging level (`error`, `warn`, `info`, `debug`, `trace`)

iTunes and YouTube require no environment configuration — iTunes is keyless and YouTube is served by the bundled yt-dlp.

Network Configuration

Port: 5000 (configurable in source)
Binding: 0.0.0.0:5000 (all interfaces)
CORS: Enabled for all origins (self-hosted friendly)
Timeout: 30 seconds for external API calls
User-Agent: PodPeopleDB/1.0

💡 Best Practices

Search Provider Selection

PodcastIndex (Recommended)
- ✅ Privacy-focused, no tracking
- ✅ Rich metadata and advanced search
- ✅ Person/host search capability
- ✅ Open-source friendly
- ✅ Fast and reliable
iTunes
- ✅ No API key required
- ❌ Limited search capabilities
- ❌ Basic metadata only
- ❌ Apple ecosystem focused
YouTube
- ✅ Video content discovery
- ✅ No API key required (uses bundled yt-dlp)
- ✅ Rich media thumbnails and recent videos
- ❌ Subject to YouTube's own rate limiting / anti-bot measures; keep yt-dlp updated

Performance Optimization

Caching: Implement client-side caching for frequently accessed content
Rate Limiting: Respect external rate limits (PodcastIndex: no limit; YouTube: no API quota, but YouTube may throttle scraping — keep yt-dlp current)
Batch Requests: Use appropriate search result limits (max 25-50 results)
Error Handling: Implement retry logic with exponential backoff

Security Considerations

API Keys: Store in environment variables, never in code
CORS: Configure appropriately for your domain in production
HTTPS: Use HTTPS in production deployments
Input Validation: Sanitize search queries on the client side

🔍 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"API_KEY not set" Error

# Check environment variables are loaded
docker exec -it pinepods-search-api env | grep API

# Verify .env file format (no spaces around =)
API_KEY=your_key_here
API_SECRET=your_secret_here

No Search Results

# Test API connectivity
curl -v http://localhost:5000/api/search

# Check specific provider
curl -v "http://localhost:5000/api/search?query=test&index=podcastindex"

YouTube Search Not Working

# Test a YouTube search
curl -v "http://localhost:5000/api/search?query=test&index=youtube"

# Confirm yt-dlp is installed and on PATH inside the container
docker exec -it pinepods-search-api yt-dlp --version

# A "yt-dlp not available" response means yt-dlp is missing from the image.
# Persistent failures usually mean yt-dlp is out of date — update it:
docker exec -it pinepods-search-api yt-dlp -U

Logging and Monitoring

# View API logs
docker logs pinepods-search-api

# Follow logs in real-time
docker logs -f pinepods-search-api

# Set debug logging
# In .env file:
RUST_LOG=debug

Health Checks

# Basic health check
curl http://localhost:5000/api/search
# Expected: "Test connection successful"

# API statistics
curl http://localhost:5000/api/stats
# Expected: JSON with usage statistics

📈 Monitoring and Analytics

The API provides built-in usage tracking accessible via the /api/stats endpoint:

Request Counting: Tracks usage per provider
Real-time Statistics: Live usage data
Timestamp Tracking: When statistics were generated
Total Aggregation: Combined usage across all providers

Integrate with your monitoring solution:

# Prometheus metrics endpoint (manual implementation)
curl http://localhost:5000/api/stats

# Example integration with monitoring script
#!/bin/bash
STATS=$(curl -s http://localhost:5000/api/stats)
echo "pinepods_api_total_requests $(echo $STATS | jq '.api_usage.total_hits')"

🚀 Production Deployment

Docker Compose (Production)

version: '3.8'
services:
  pinepods-search-api:
    image: madeofpendletonwool/pinepods_backend:latest
    container_name: pinepods-search-api
    env_file: .env.production
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:5000:5000"  # Bind to localhost only
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:5000/api/search"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 60s
    logging:
      driver: "json-file"
      options:
        max-size: "10m"
        max-file: "3"
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '0.5'
          memory: 256M
        reservations:
          cpus: '0.25'
          memory: 128M

Reverse Proxy (Nginx)

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.yourdomain.com;
    
    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:5000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        
        # CORS headers (if needed)
        add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin *;
        add_header Access-Control-Allow-Methods 'GET, POST, OPTIONS';
        add_header Access-Control-Allow-Headers 'DNT,User-Agent,X-Requested-With,If-Modified-Since,Cache-Control,Content-Type,Range';
        
        # Caching for static responses
        location /api/stats {
            expires 30s;
            add_header Cache-Control "public, no-transform";
        }
    }
}

This documentation covers PinePods Search API v1.0. For the latest updates and additional information, visit the PinePods GitHub repository.

🔍 Overview​

✨ Key Features​

🚀 Quick Start​

Prerequisites​

Environment Configuration​

Docker Deployment​

PinePods Integration​

📚 API Reference​

Base URL​

Authentication​

🔗 Endpoints​

1. Universal Search​

Parameters​

Provider-Specific Features​

PodcastIndex (Recommended)​

iTunes​

YouTube​

Example Requests​

2. Podcast Details​

Parameters​

Example Request​

3. YouTube Channel Details​

Parameters​

Example Request​

4. API Statistics​

Example Request​

📄 Response Formats​

PodcastIndex Search Response​

iTunes Search Response​

YouTube Channel Search Response​

YouTube Channel Details Response​

API Statistics Response​

⚠️ Error Handling​

HTTP Status Codes​

Error Response Format​

Common Error Messages​

🔧 Configuration Reference​

Environment Variables​

Network Configuration​

💡 Best Practices​

Search Provider Selection​

Performance Optimization​

Security Considerations​

🔍 Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

"API_KEY not set" Error​

No Search Results​

YouTube Search Not Working​

Logging and Monitoring​

Health Checks​

📈 Monitoring and Analytics​

🚀 Production Deployment​

Docker Compose (Production)​

Reverse Proxy (Nginx)​

🔍 Overview

✨ Key Features

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Environment Configuration

Docker Deployment

PinePods Integration

📚 API Reference

Base URL

Authentication

🔗 Endpoints

1. Universal Search

Parameters

Provider-Specific Features

PodcastIndex (Recommended)

iTunes

YouTube

Example Requests

2. Podcast Details

Parameters

Example Request

3. YouTube Channel Details

Parameters

Example Request

4. API Statistics

Example Request

📄 Response Formats

PodcastIndex Search Response

iTunes Search Response

YouTube Channel Search Response

YouTube Channel Details Response

API Statistics Response

⚠️ Error Handling

HTTP Status Codes

Error Response Format

Common Error Messages

🔧 Configuration Reference

Environment Variables

Network Configuration

💡 Best Practices

Search Provider Selection

Performance Optimization

Security Considerations

🔍 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"API_KEY not set" Error

No Search Results

YouTube Search Not Working

Logging and Monitoring

Health Checks

📈 Monitoring and Analytics

🚀 Production Deployment

Docker Compose (Production)

Reverse Proxy (Nginx)