podread

name: podread description: Convert articles, URLs, or text to podcast episodes using the podread CLI. Use when the user asks to create a podcast, convert an article to audio, turn text into a listenable episode, or mentions podread. allowed-tools: [Bash, Read]

podread — Article-to-Podcast CLI

Use the podread CLI to convert articles, URLs, or text into podcast episodes via podread.app. Episodes are processed server-side and delivered through an RSS feed the user subscribes to in any podcast app.

Prerequisites

The podread CLI must be installed. Check with:

which podread

If not installed:

# Homebrew
brew install jesse-spevack/tap/podread

# Or curl
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jesse-spevack/podread-cli/main/install.sh | sh

Authentication

Always check auth status first. If not logged in, start the device auth flow:

# Check auth (prints email, tier, and — for credit-tier accounts — credits remaining + character limit)
podread auth status

# Login (opens browser for device code confirmation)
podread auth login

# Logout
podread auth logout

Creating Episodes

From a URL

podread episode create --url https://example.com/article

From inline text

podread episode create --text "Your long-form text here..." --title "Episode Title"

From piped input (stdin)

echo "Long text content" | podread episode create --stdin --title "Episode Title"
cat article.txt | podread episode create --stdin --title "From File"

Options

By default, episode create waits for processing to complete (~1-5 minutes). Use --no-wait to fire-and-forget.

Managing Episodes

# List recent episodes (ep is an alias for episode)
podread ep list
podread ep list --limit 20
podread ep list --limit 100 --page 2   # paginate older episodes (max limit 100)
podread ep list --json

# Check processing status
podread episode status <id>

# Delete an episode
podread episode delete <id>

Voices and Feed

# List available voices
podread voices

# Show RSS feed URL
podread feed

Workflow Examples

First-time setup

podread auth login
# Follow browser auth flow, then:
podread feed
# Subscribe to the RSS URL in any podcast app

Convert an article

podread episode create --url https://example.com/long-article

Pipe markdown into an episode

cat notes.md | podread episode create --stdin --title "Meeting Notes"

Fire-and-forget with later status check

podread episode create --url https://example.com/article --no-wait --json
# Returns episode ID immediately, check later:
podread episode status <id>

Notes

• ep is a shorthand alias for episode in all subcommands
• --json is available on most commands for scripting or piping to jq
• The RSS feed URL is stable — subscribe once, new episodes appear automatically
• Episode processing typically takes 1-5 minutes depending on source length