🎧 PodLens - Free Podwise: Podcast & Youtube Transcription & Summary AI Agent

🧠 For knowledge-seekers who want to learn from audio content more effectively.

🤖 Now with 24x7 automation service & 📧 smart email digest & 📒 sync to Notion!

A fast & cost-free & AI-powered tool that:

• 🎙️ transcribes audio content from Apple Podcast and YouTube platforms
• 📝 summarizes
• 📊 visualizes
• 🌏 features bilingual Chinese/English interface

中文版 README | English README

✨ Key Features

• 🤖 24x7 Intelligent Automation: Set-and-forget service monitors your favorite podcasts and YouTube channels, automatically processing new episodes hourly - autopodlens
• 📧 Smart Email Digest: Daily automated email summaries with AI-generated insights and processed content overview
• 📝 Sync to Notion: Automatically sync processed content to Notion with your own Notion page and token
• 🎯 Interactive Manual Mode: On-demand processing with intuitive command-line interface for immediate transcription and analysis of specific episodes - podlens
• ⚡ Ultra-Fast Smart Transcription: Multiple AI-powered methods (Groq API for speed, MLX Whisper for large files) with intelligent fallback chain
• 🍎 Apple Podcast & YouTube Integration: Seamless content extraction from both major platforms with smart episode detection
• 🧠 AI-Powered Analysis: Generate intelligent summaries and insights using Google Gemini AI with structured topic analysis
• 🎨 Interactive Visual Stories: Transform content into beautiful, responsive HTML visualizations with data charts and modern UI
• 🌍 Bilingual Support: Full Chinese/English interface with smart language detection and switching
• 🗂️ Smart Organization: Episode-based folder structure with automatic file management and duplicate detection

📦 Installation

pip install podlens

🔧 Configuration

1. Create .env Configuration File

Create a .env file in your working directory:

# .env file content
GROQ_API_KEY=your_groq_api_key_here
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key_here
MODEL=gemini-2.5-flash-lite

2. Get API Keys & Configure Model

Groq API (Recommended - Ultra-fast transcription):

• Visit: https://console.groq.com/
• Register and get free API key
• Benefits: Extremely fast Whisper large-V3 processing, generous free quota

Gemini API (AI Summary):

• Visit: https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
• Get free API key
• Used for generating intelligent summaries

Gemini Model (Required - AI Model Configuration):

• Must be configured in your .env file
• Available models:
  • gemini-2.5-flash-lite (Recommended - Fast and cost-effective)
  • gemini-1.5-pro (More powerful, higher quality)
  • gemini-2.5-flash-preview-05-20 (Preview version)
• The tool will display which model is being used on startup
• If not configured, the tool will show an error and exit

Notion API (Sync to Notion):

• Visit: https://www.notion.so/my-integrations
• Click "+ New integration"
• Fill in the information:
  • Name: Markdown Uploader (or any name)
  • Workspace: Select your workspace
  • Type: Internal integration
• Click "Submit"
• Get Notion token: Copy the generated "Internal Integration Secret" (starts with secret_)
• Get Notion page id: Copy the page id after pagename- in the URL of your Notion page: https://www.notion.so/pagename-

🚀 Usage

Interactive Mode

# English version
podlens

# Chinese version  
pod

Automation Service (NEW!)

# English version 24x7 automation service
autopodlens

# Chinese version 24x7 automation service  
autopod

# Check automation status
autopodlens --status  # English version
autopod --status      # Chinese version

Email Service (NEW!)

# Email notification setup
autopod(or autopodlens) --email your@email.com --time 08:00,18:00

# Email time setup
autopod(or autopodlens) --time 08:00,18:00

# Check email service status  
autopod(or autopodlens) --email-status

# Sync email configuration
autopod(or autopodlens) --email-sync

# Disable email service
autopod(or autopodlens) --email-disable

Notion Sync Service (NEW!)

# Notion token and page id setup
autopod(or autopodlens) --notiontoken <your_notion_token> --notionpage <your_notion_page_id>

# Upload to Notion
autopod(or autopodlens) --notion

You can also change the email service & Notion sync settings in the .podlens/setting file, then use '--email-sync' to sync the settings.

Configuration Files (Auto-Generated)

• my_pod.md - Configure monitored podcasts (created automatically)
• my_tube.md - Configure monitored YouTube channels (created automatically)
• .podlens/setting - Automation frequency and monitoring settings (created automatically)
• .podlens/status.json - Service status and processed episodes tracking (created automatically)

When you first run the automation service, PodLens will automatically create configuration files:

.podlens/setting - Automation frequency and monitoring settings (created automatically)

# PodLens Automation Settings
# Run frequency (hours), supports decimals, e.g. 0.5 means every 30 minutes
run_frequency = 1.0

# Monitor Apple Podcast (my_pod.md)
monitor_podcast = true

# Monitor YouTube (my_tube.md)
monitor_youtube = true

# Email notification settings
email_function = true
user_email = example@gmail.com
notification_times = 08:00,18:00

my_pod.md (auto-generated with examples):

# PodLens Podcast Subscription List
# This file manages the podcast channels you want to automatically process.

## How to Use
# - One podcast name per line
# - Supports podcast names searchable on Apple Podcast
# - Lines starting with `#` are comments and will be ignored
# - Empty lines will also be ignored

## Example Podcasts
thoughts on the market
# or: thoughts on the market - morgan stanley

## Business Podcasts


## Tech Podcasts

my_tube.md (auto-generated with examples):

# YouTube Channel Subscription List

# This file manages the YouTube channels you want to automatically process.

## How to Use
# - One channel name per line (no @ symbol needed)
# - Channel name is the part after @ in YouTube URL
# - Example: https://www.youtube.com/@Bloomberg_Live/videos → fill in Bloomberg_Live
# - Lines starting with `#` are comments and will be ignored
# - Empty lines will also be ignored

## Example Channels
Bloomberg_Live


## Business Channels


## Tech Channels

Simply edit these files to add or remove your preferred podcasts and YouTube channels.

Interactive Interface:

🎧🎥 Media Transcription & Summary Tool
==================================================
Supports Apple Podcast and YouTube platforms
==================================================

📡 Please select information source:
1. Apple Podcast
2. YouTube  
0. Exit

Please enter your choice (1/2/0): 1

🎧 You selected Apple Podcast
Please enter the podcast channel name: thoughts on the market

📥 Downloading: Episode Title...
⚡️ Ultra-fast transcription...
🧠 Summarizing...
🎨 Visual Story Generation?(y/n): 

Automation Service Example

# Start the automation service
$ autopodlens
🤖 Starting PodLens 24x7 Intelligent Automation Service

⏰ Running frequency: hourly
🎧 Monitoring podcasts: 1
📺 Monitoring YouTube channels: 1
Press Ctrl+Z to stop service

⏰ Starting hourly check
🔍 Checking podcast: thoughts on the market
📥 Processing new episode: Standing by Our Outlook...
✅ thoughts on the market processing complete
🔍 Checking YouTube channel: @Bloomberg_Live
📥 Processing new video: Jennifer Doudna on Future of Gene Editing \u0026 I...
✅ @Bloomberg_Live processing complete
✅ Check complete - Podcasts: 1/1, YouTube: 1/1

Notion Sync Service Example

📒 Writing to your Notion...
✅ Jennifer_Doudna_on_Future_of_G...: 100%|██████████████████████████████████| 2/2 [00:29<00:00, 14.52s/files]
✅ Import successful!

📋 Workflow Example

Apple Podcast Workflow

1. Search Channel: Enter podcast name (e.g., "thoughts on the market")
2. Select Channel: Choose from search results
3. Browse Episodes: View recent episodes
4. Select Episodes: Choose episodes for processing
5. Auto Processing: Automatic download, transcription and AI summary
6. Create Visualization: Optional interactive HTML stories with modern UI and data visualizations

YouTube Workflow

1. Input Source:
   • Channel name (e.g., "Bloomberg_Live")
   • Direct video URL
   • Transcript text file
2. Select Episodes: Choose videos to process
3. Auto Processing: Automatic transcript extraction and AI summary
4. Create Visualization: Optional interactive HTML stories with modern UI and data visualizations

Automation Workflow (NEW!)

1. Launch Service: Run autopodlens (English) or autopod (Chinese) - configuration files auto-created
2. Configure: Edit the auto-generated my_pod.md and my_tube.md with your subscriptions
3. 24x7 Monitoring: Service checks for new content every hour
4. Auto Processing: New episodes automatically transcribed and summarized
5. Smart Deduplication: Already processed content is skipped automatically

📁 Output Structure

your-project/
├── outputs/           # Episode-based organized content
│   └── [Channel Name]/
│       └── [Date]/
│           └── [Episode Title]/
│               ├── audio.mp3        # Downloaded audio file (will be deleted after processing)
│               ├── Transcript_[Details].md    # Transcription
│               ├── Summary_[Details].md       # AI-generated summary
│               └── Visual_[Details].html      # Interactive visualization
├── .podlens/         # Automation configuration
│   ├── setting       # Service frequency and monitoring settings
│   └── status.json   # Processed episodes tracking
├── my_pod.md         # Monitored podcasts configuration
├── my_tube.md        # Monitored YouTube channels configuration
└── .env              # Your API keys

🛠️ Advanced Features

Episode-based File Organization

• Dedicated Folders: Each episode gets its own folder for clean organization
• Consistent Structure: All related files (audio, transcript, summary, visualization) in one place

24x7 Automation Service

• Smart Monitoring: Automatic tracking of podcasts and YouTube channels via my_pod.md and my_tube.md configuration files
• Intelligent Deduplication: Already processed episodes are automatically skipped based on .podlens/status.json tracking
• Hourly Processing: Service checks for new content every hour and processes automatically
• Channel Format: YouTube channels use simple names (e.g., Bloomberg_Live for @Bloomberg_Live)
• Episode Organization: Date-based folder structure with detailed file naming for easy navigation
• Status Tracking: View service status and processing history with --status flag

Smart Email Digest Service

• Daily Summaries: Automated email reports with AI-generated insights
• Flexible Scheduling: Multiple daily notification times (e.g., 08:00, 18:00)
• Rich HTML Format: Beautiful email layout with channel groupings and key insights
• Intelligent Content: AI-powered daily digest highlighting important information
• Easy Management: Simple commands for setup, status check, and configuration

Notion Sync Service

• Automatic Sync: Automatically sync processed content to Notion with your own Notion page and token
• Smart Deduplication: Already processed episodes are automatically skipped based on .podlens/status.json tracking

Smart Transcription Logic

• Small files (<25MB): Groq API ultra-fast transcription
• Large files (>25MB): Automatic compression + fallback to MLX Whisper
• Fallback chain: Groq → MLX Whisper → Error handling

PodLens Transcription Example

AI Summary Features

• Sequential analysis: Topic outline in order
• Key insights: Important takeaways and quotes
• Technical terms: Jargon explanation
• Critical thinking: First-principles analysis

View Example Summary

Interactive Visualization Features

• Modern Web Design: Beautiful, responsive HTML pages using Tailwind CSS
• Data Visualizations: Automatic charts and graphs for numerical content (percentages, metrics, comparisons)
• Interactive Elements: Smooth animations, collapsible sections, and real-time search powered by Alpine.js
• Professional Styling: Glassmorphism effects, gradient accents, and Apple-inspired clean design
• Content Intelligence: AI automatically identifies and visualizes key data points from transcripts and summaries
• Dual Input Support: Generate visualizations from either transcripts or summaries

View Example Visual Story

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgements

This project stands on the shoulders of giants. We are deeply grateful to the following open source projects, technologies, and communities that made PodLens possible:

Core AI Technologies

• OpenAI Whisper - The foundational automatic speech recognition model that revolutionized audio transcription
• MLX Whisper - Apple's MLX-optimized implementation enabling fast local transcription on Apple Silicon
• Groq - Ultra-fast AI inference platform providing lightning-speed Whisper transcription via API
• Google Gemini - Advanced AI model powering our intelligent summarization features

Media Processing & Extraction

• yt-dlp - Powerful YouTube video/audio downloader, successor to youtube-dl
• youtube-transcript-api - Elegant Python library for extracting YouTube video transcripts

🌟 Star this repo if you find it helpful!