OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
Podcast RSS Item Builder
Episode XML with Enclosure and iTunes Tags
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How the Podcast RSS Item Builder works
This podcast RSS item builder writes the <item> block for one episode of your feed: the
title, show notes, audio enclosure with its size and MIME type, a stable guid, an RFC 2822
publish date and the iTunes tags Apple Podcasts and Spotify read. Fill in the fields, copy the
XML, and paste it into your feed above the previous episode.
A podcast is an RSS feed in which every episode is an <item>. Hosting platforms write these
for you; if you publish your own feed, or need to fix a broken entry, you have to write them by
hand, and the directories are strict about the details.
What the podcast RSS item builder includes
Enclosure. The only tag that makes an item an episode. It needs the full URL, the exact file
size in bytes as length, and a type: audio/mpeg for MP3, audio/x-m4a for M4A. Apple
rejects a length of zero, so take the size from your file's properties, not a guess.
guid. Apps use the guid to tell episodes apart. Once published it must never change, or every subscriber downloads the episode again as a new one. Leaving it blank uses the audio URL, which is fine as long as you never move the file; otherwise enter any unique string of your own.
pubDate. RSS requires RFC 2822 dates such as Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000. The builder
reads the date and time in your own time zone and converts it to UTC, so the order of episodes
in the feed stays correct wherever your listeners are.
iTunes tags. itunes:duration is written as HH:MM:SS. itunes:episode and
itunes:season drive the numbering in Apple Podcasts, itunes:episodeType marks trailers and
bonus episodes, and itunes:explicit takes true or false. They only validate if the
<channel> or <rss> element declares the iTunes namespace.
Show notes. The description is wrapped in CDATA, so links and paragraphs in HTML survive without escaping every angle bracket.
FAQ
Where do I find the file size in bytes?
On Windows open the file's Properties and use the Size figure in bytes, not size on disk. On a
Mac use Get Info. On a server, ls -l shows it. The value must match the file exactly or some
apps will stop the download early.
Does the item work without the iTunes tags?
Yes, a plain RSS reader only needs the title, enclosure and guid. Apple Podcasts and Spotify read the iTunes tags for duration, numbering and the explicit flag, so leaving them out makes the episode look incomplete in those apps.
Why is my new episode not showing in Apple Podcasts?
Apple refreshes feeds on its own schedule, often within a few hours. Check that the guid is new, the pubDate is not in the future, the enclosure URL is reachable over HTTPS and the length is not zero.
Can I use this for video podcasts?
Yes. Use an MP4 or MOV URL and the enclosure type is set to video/mp4 or video/quicktime. The other tags are the same for audio and video episodes.
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