Podcasts in any terminal. Fast, clean, offline.

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Table of Contents

• Why podliner?
• Screenshots
• Install (stable releases)
• Quick start
• Migrate from other players (OPML)
• gPodder sync
• Commands (essentials)
• Configuration & data
• Audio engines
• FAQ / Troubleshooting
• Contributing
• Bug reports, logs & roadmap
• License & credits

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Why podliner?

• Keyboard-first & mouse-friendly. Full mouse support (click, select, scroll) with fast TUI feedback.
• Vim keys & commands. Familiar navigation (j/k, gg/G, / to search) plus concise colon-commands (:add <url>, :queue add, :opml import, :opml export).
• Chapters. Podcast-2.0 <podcast:chapters> JSON and ID3 CHAP frames, with a dedicated Chapters tab and ,/. keys to jump.
• Sync progress and subscriptions via the gPodder API (gpodder.net + Nextcloud gPodder-Sync, auto-detected).
• MPRIS on Linux. Media keys (play/pause/next/prev) and status from playerctl, KDE/GNOME widgets, etc.
• Offline-ready. Download episodes, resume where you left off, manage a queue.
• Sleep timer. :sleep 30m / :sleep 1h30m to stop playback after a duration.
• Per-feed settings. Speed override (:feed speed 1.5) and auto-download (:feed auto-download on) per subscription.
• Undo for destructive actions like queue clear.
• Easy migration. OPML import/export to move subscriptions between players.
• Cross-platform. Single-file builds for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
• Engine choice. Works with mpv, ffplay (FFmpeg), or VLC where available.

No telemetry. Config lives in your user profile. All local.

Screenshots

Install (stable releases)

Linux

bash <(curl -fsSL https://github.com/timkicker/podliner/releases/latest/download/install.sh)

Or via the AUR: yay -S podliner-bin

macOS

bash <(curl -fsSL https://github.com/timkicker/podliner/releases/latest/download/install-macos.sh)

Windows (Powershell)

Via winget:

winget install --id=TimKicker.Podliner  -e

Via installer:

irm https://github.com/timkicker/podliner/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iex

Looking for system-wide install, uninstall, pruning, or checksum verification? See the FAQ.

Migrate from other players (OPML)

Most podcast players support OPML export/import.

• Export your subscriptions from the old player as an .opml file (e.g. subscriptions.opml).
• In podliner, run :opml import <path> to import.
• To export your current subscriptions from podliner, run :opml export. With no path, it writes to your Documents folder as:
  • Linux/macOS: ~/Documents/podliner-feeds.opml
  • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\podliner-feeds.opml
• If you prefer to drop files in place, podliner stores its config here:
  • Linux/macOS: ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/podliner or ~/.config/podliner
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\podliner

gPodder sync

Podliner syncs your subscriptions and play history with any gPodder-compatible server. Two protocol flavors are supported and auto-detected at login:

• gpodder.net (public) + self-hosted gpodder API v2 servers (mygpo, opodsync, podfetch…).
• Nextcloud with the gPodder-Sync app.

Quick start

# gpodder.net
:sync login https://gpodder.net <username> <password>

# Nextcloud (plain username/password works; see 2FA note below)
:sync login https://cloud.example.com <username> <password>

:sync          ← pull + push (full sync)
:sync auto on  ← sync automatically on startup and exit

Nextcloud + 2FA / WebAuthn: generic Basic-Auth with your normal password fails with HTTP 401 on 2FA-enabled accounts. Create a dedicated App-Password in Nextcloud (Settings → Security → Devices & sessions → Create new app password) and use that.

The detected flavor is stored in gpodder.json so subsequent launches don't re-probe. :sync status shows which flavor is active. Run :sync help in the app for the full command reference.

Credentials are stored in the OS keyring when available (libsecret on Linux, Keychain on macOS, Credential Store on Windows), with a plaintext fallback in gpodder.json if the keyring is unavailable.

Commands (essentials)

Full help browser: :h | Full list: see COMMANDS

Playback

• Enter: play selected
• Space: pause/resume
• Left/Right: seek 10s backward/forward
• [ / ]: slower / faster
• , / .: previous / next chapter (if available)
• :sleep 30m | :sleep 1h30m | :sleep off: sleep timer

Navigation & filters

• j / k: move down / up
• gg / G: jump to top / bottom
• / : search in current list
• u : toggle "unplayed only"
• i: open Shownotes tab • Esc: back to episodes

Chapters

• Dedicated Chapters tab next to Episodes/Details; shows Chapters (N) with a count
• , / .: jump to previous / next chapter globally
• Enter on a chapter row: seek to that chapter
• :chapter list|next|prev|jump <n>: explicit commands
• Chapters come from Podcast-2.0 <podcast:chapters> URLs and ID3 CHAP frames (local file or HTTP Range)

Downloads & queue

• d : download or show status
• :feed queue : switch to queue view
• :queue add|rm|clear|shuffle : queue ops for selected episode
• :play-next / :play-prev : next/previous in queue
• :undo : revert the last destructive action (e.g. :queue clear)

Feeds

• :add <url> : add feed
• :feed all|saved|downloaded|history|queue : switch view
• :feed speed <n|off> : per-feed playback speed override (e.g. :feed speed 1.5)
• :feed auto-download on|off : auto-queue new episodes from this feed for download

Misc

• t : toggle theme
• q : quit
• :w / :wq : save / save & quit

Configuration & data

• Config:
  • Linux: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/podliner/ (fallback: ~/.config/podliner/)
  • macOS: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/podliner/ (fallback: ~/.config/podliner/)
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\podliner\
• Logs:
  • Linux: $XDG_STATE_HOME/podliner/logs/ (fallback: ~/.local/state/podliner/logs/)
  • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\podliner\logs\
  • File pattern: podliner-.log (daily)
  • Example: …/podliner/logs/podliner-YYYYMMDD.log
• Downloads: ~/Podcasts/ by default (all platforms). Override at runtime with :downloads set-dir <path> (or set-dir reset to restore default), or by setting DownloadDir in appsettings.json.
• OPML: imports/exports under Migrate from other players (OPML)

Back up appsettings.json and library.json to migrate settings and library to another machine.

Audio engines

podliner can use different players:

• VLC (via LibVLC; bundled on Windows via VideoLAN.LibVLC.Windows, install vlc on Linux/macOS). Preferred: full seek/speed/volume support.
• mpv (IPC socket). Full feature support.
• Media Foundation (Windows only, built-in). No playback speed control.
• ffplay (part of ffmpeg). Fallback only: coarse seek by restart, no live speed/volume.

Install examples:

• Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install -y vlc mpv ffmpeg
• Fedora: sudo dnf install -y vlc mpv ffmpeg
• Arch: sudo pacman -S --needed vlc mpv ffmpeg
• macOS: brew install --cask vlc && brew install mpv ffmpeg
• Windows: VLC is bundled; mpv/ffmpeg optional via your package manager of choice.

Engine selection & fallback:

• Default is auto: tries VLC first, then an OS-specific fallback chain (Windows: MediaFoundation → mpv → ffplay; Linux/macOS: mpv → ffplay).
• Switch engines at runtime with :engine vlc|mpv|ffplay|mediafoundation.
• :play-source auto|local|remote controls whether to prefer local downloads or the remote URL.

FAQ / Troubleshooting

"No audio engine found”

• Install one of: mpv, ffplay (ffmpeg), or VLC. See Audio engines.

System-wide install?

• Linux/macOS: add --system to the install command.
• Windows (PowerShell): run Install-Podliner -System after the bootstrap line.

Update / Uninstall / Prune

• Update to latest stable: re-run the install command for your OS.
• Uninstall (Linux):

  bash <(curl -fsSL https://github.com/timkicker/podliner/releases/latest/download/install.sh) --uninstall

• Uninstall (macOS):

  bash <(curl -fsSL https://github.com/timkicker/podliner/releases/latest/download/install-macos.sh) --uninstall

• Uninstall (Windows, PowerShell):

  irm https://github.com/timkicker/podliner/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 | iex
  Uninstall-Podliner

• Prune old versions (keep active): use --prune on Linux/macOS or Prune-Podliner on Windows.

Verify checksums

# Download checksums (stable)
curl -fsSLO https://github.com/timkicker/podliner/releases/latest/download/SHA256SUMS

# Example: verify Linux x64 tarball
curl -fsSLO https://github.com/timkicker/podliner/releases/latest/download/podliner-linux-x64.tar.gz
grep 'podliner-linux-x64.tar.gz$' SHA256SUMS | sha256sum -c -

podliner: command not found

Add install path to PATH:

• Linux: export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" (in ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc)
• macOS: export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH" (in ~/.zprofile / ~/.zshrc)
• Windows: ensure %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps is on PATH

Reset config

Quit, then move the config directory away (see Configuration & data), restart to re-initialize.

Contributing

I welcome all focused PRs.

Please take a look at ROADMAP.md

Local dev:

dotnet build
dotnet run --project StuiPodcast.App

Guidelines (short):

• C# with nullable enabled; keep logging via Serilog.
• Prioritize robustness and UX over features.

PR flow:

• Fork → branch → PR to main

Bug reports, logs & roadmap

When filing an issue, please include:

• podliner --version output (shows exact version + RID)
• OS + architecture (e.g., linux-x64, osx-arm64, win-x64)
• Steps to reproduce (short and precise)
• Logs: attach the most recent file from logs/ next to the binary (pattern podliner-*.log)
  Example: …/podliner/logs/podliner-20250101.log

Security-sensitive issues: contact tim@kicker.dev.

License and credits

• License: GPLv3

Libraries used

• Terminal.Gui - TUI framework
• Serilog and Serilog.Sinks.File - logging
• AngleSharp - HTML parsing
• CodeHollow.FeedReader - RSS/Atom parsing
• LibVLCSharp - VLC bindings
• VideoLAN.LibVLC.Windows - LibVLC binaries for Windows
• NAudio - Windows audio helpers (Media Foundation)
• Tmds.DBus - D-Bus client (MPRIS on Linux)

Engines and tools

• VLC - media engine (via LibVLC)
• mpv - media engine (optional)
• FFmpeg / ffplay - tools and fallback playback