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Libsyn automation

Update Libsyn show notes across many episodes

A sponsor renews with a new tracking link, or a dead course URL sits in forty old episodes. In Libsyn that means opening each episode's Edit form, finding the line in the Description and saving, one episode at a time.

Cotlet does it in your own Libsyn account with list_episodes, get_episode, update_episode and bulk_edit_episodes, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.

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Hosted · nothing to install or maintain

Official options

Can Libsyn do this on its own?

Libsyn has no public API to edit episodes on Basic to Max plans (checked 12 Oct 2026). Its Bulk Edit Episodes window sets Author, Season Number and Episode Number on many episodes and lets you change Title or Apple Podcasts Title row by row, but it has no field for the Description. Snippets only insert saved text into the Description field you are editing, one episode at a time.

By hand

How you do it in Libsyn today

  1. Click Episodes at the top of Libsyn, type part of the title in Search or use Filter to show only Draft or Published episodes.
  2. Click the menu icon on an episode row in the Episodes list and choose Edit to open that episode's form.
  3. Find the old link in the Description field, replace or add the sponsor line, and save. Snippets can insert a saved sponsor block, but only into the episode open in front of you.
  4. Go back to the Episodes list and repeat for the next episode. Bulk Edit Episodes covers Author, Season Number and Episode Number (plus Title per row), so it does not help with show notes.
  5. Nothing in Libsyn lists which episodes still carry the old link, so missed episodes surface only when a listener or the sponsor reports a broken URL.

With an agent

How to update Libsyn show notes across many episodes

Prompt 

Replace the old Acme link with https://acme.example/podcast in the show notes of every season 3 episode, and add the sponsor line to the ones that do not have it yet.
  1. 01

    Scope the episodes

    The agent pulls list_episodes for the show and keeps the ones you named: a season, a date range or titles matching a search. Drafts and scheduled episodes are included unless you say published only, so next week's episode gets the new link too.

  2. 02

    Read before writing

    For every episode in scope the agent opens get_episode and sorts it into three groups: carries the old link, already has the new one, has no sponsor line. Episodes in the second group are left alone, so a second run changes nothing.

  3. 03

    Change only the line that matters

    The old URL is replaced in place. Where the sponsor line is missing, it is added at the end of the notes in the same HTML style the episode already uses. The rest of the text is never rewritten.

  4. 04

    Respect the Apple limit

    If an edit would push the notes past 4,000 characters, the agent skips that episode and lists it for you instead of letting Apple Podcasts cut the end of the text, which is where the sponsor line sits.

  5. 05

    Show the diff, then save

    You see the before and after line for each episode. update_episode asks for your OK by default; switch that off and the next sponsor change runs through the whole back catalog unattended.

What you get back

Example data 

Season 3: 14 episodes checked.
9 updated: old acme.example/ref=old replaced with acme.example/podcast.
3 had no sponsor line; added "This episode is supported by Acme: https://acme.example/podcast".
1 already had the new link, left as is.
1 skipped: "Your first ten customers" would reach 4,060 characters. Trim it and run again.

Other ways to ask

  • Find every published episode whose show notes still link to oldcourse.example and list them before changing anything.
  • Remove the Acme sponsor line from all episodes released before 1 Jan 2026; their contract only covers new episodes.
  • Set season 2 on the eight episodes from spring 2025 and number them in release order.
  • Add a "Transcript and links: yourname.libsyn.com" line to the end of every draft and scheduled episode.

Before you automate it

What Libsyn allows, and what to know first

  • Libsyn's Bulk Edit Episodes window has Set Items To fields for Author, Season Number and Episode Number only; Increment Top to Bottom and Bottom to Top number episodes in list order.
  • The Libsyn Description is also the body of the episode post on the Libsyn podcast website, and in WordPress or Blogger when OnPublish is used.
  • Libsyn recommends keeping each Description under 4,000 characters, the Apple Podcasts limit for episode descriptions.
  • With direct publishing to Apple Podcasts enabled in Libsyn, the Description field is required, so an edit cannot leave it empty.
  • The Libsyn Episodes list filter treats Scheduled episodes as Published, so a filter by Published alone still includes upcoming releases.

update_episode and bulk_edit_episodes ask for your OK by default. To run it on a schedule without you, switch confirmation off for those tools in your dashboard.

Sources: Libsyn help: Bulk Edit Episodes · Libsyn help: About Your Episode Details · Libsyn help: Speed up Your Episode Description Writing with Snippets · Libsyn help: View Your Episodes List

REST

Call update_episode from a script

curl 

curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/libsyn/update_episode \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"episode_id":"38201877","fields":{"description":"<p>How to land your first ten customers.</p><p>This episode is supported by Acme: <a href=\"https://acme.example/podcast\">acme.example/podcast</a></p>"}}'

Example response 

{
  "episode_id": "38415502",
  "status": "scheduled",
  "updated_fields": [
    "description"
  ]
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is libsyn_update_episode. Example data.

Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cron

Tools

Libsyn tools this automation uses

Cotlet Libsyn tools used to update Libsyn show notes across many episodes
Tool Parameters
list_episodes show_id, status, search, limit, cursor
get_episode episode_id
update_episode episode_id, fields
bulk_edit_episodes episode_ids, author, season_number, numbering
All 14 Libsyn tools with descriptions

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