External links

A podcast lives in many places: it’s on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, the host posts to X, the publisher runs a YouTube channel, and there’s a marketing site on its own domain. The external-links endpoint returns every one of those presences in a single, normalized shape — with the platform-native identifier, a ready-to-use web URL, and a list of optional per-platform attributes (subscribers, followers, handle, etc.).

This page is the forward index: given a Particle podcast, list every third-party identifier we have for it. To go the other way — given an Apple, Spotify, or YouTube identifier, find the matching Particle podcast (in bulk, deterministically) — use GET /v1/podcasts/lookup.

Use this endpoint when you want to:

Build a “follow this podcast on…” UI without hard-coding per-platform URL templates.
Compare audience size across platforms (Spotify followers vs. YouTube subscribers vs. Castbox subscribers).
Pull the publisher’s website and social handles for outreach or research.
Reconcile a podcast across third-party catalogs (Apple ID ↔ Spotify show ID ↔ Podchaser ID). If you start with the third-party identifier instead, use GET /v1/podcasts/lookup — it’s the reverse direction of this same index.

List external links for a podcast

curl "https://api.particle.pro/v1/podcasts/hard-fork/external-links" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $PARTICLE_API_KEY"

const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.particle.pro/v1/podcasts/hard-fork/external-links",
  { headers: { "X-API-Key": process.env.PARTICLE_API_KEY } },
);
const { data } = await res.json();

res = httpx.get(
    "https://api.particle.pro/v1/podcasts/hard-fork/external-links",
    headers={"X-API-Key": os.environ["PARTICLE_API_KEY"]},
)
data = res.json()["data"]

The path parameter accepts a slug (hard-fork, all-in), the internal podcast ID, or a numeric Apple/iTunes collection ID — same as every other podcast sub-resource.

Response (truncated)

{
  "data": [
    {
      "platform": {
        "name": "apple",
        "display_name": "Apple Podcasts",
        "type": "podcast_directory"
      },
      "identifier": "1528594034",
      "url": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1528594034"
    },
    {
      "platform": {
        "name": "spotify",
        "display_name": "Spotify",
        "type": "music_service"
      },
      "identifier": "44fllCS2FTFr2x2kjP9xeT",
      "url": "https://open.spotify.com/show/44fllCS2FTFr2x2kjP9xeT",
      "attributes": [
        {
          "name": "followers",
          "category": "audience_size",
          "value": 3902,
          "observed_at": "2026-04-22T11:00:00Z"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "platform": {
        "name": "youtube",
        "display_name": "YouTube",
        "type": "video_channel"
      },
      "identifier": "UCZcR2SVWaGWNlMqPxvQS3vw",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZcR2SVWaGWNlMqPxvQS3vw",
      "attributes": [
        { "name": "handle",      "category": "profile",       "value": "hardfork" },
        { "name": "subscribers", "category": "audience_size", "value": 245000 },
        { "name": "videos",      "category": "content",       "value": 200 },
        { "name": "views",       "category": "audience_size", "value": 12345678 }
      ]
    },
    {
      "platform": { "name": "tiktok", "display_name": "TikTok", "type": "social_profile" },
      "identifier": "hardfork",
      "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@hardfork"
    },
    {
      "platform": { "name": "twitter", "display_name": "X (Twitter)", "type": "social_profile" },
      "identifier": "HardFork",
      "url": "https://twitter.com/HardFork"
    },
    {
      "platform": { "name": "website", "display_name": "Website", "type": "website" },
      "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/column/hard-fork"
    }
    // …
  ],
  "has_more": false
}

Per-podcast cardinality is bounded — at most one entry per platform — so the endpoint returns the full set in a single response by default. Pass ?limit= and ?cursor= if you specifically want to page through results.

Anatomy of an entry

Every entry has the same shape regardless of platform. Optional fields are omitted when no data is available.

Field	Description
`platform.name`	Stable machine name (e.g. `spotify`, `youtube`). Suitable for filtering, routing, or persistence.
`platform.display_name`	Human-readable name suitable for UI display (`Apple Podcasts`, `X (Twitter)`).
`platform.type`	Broad category. Use this to group presences in a UI rather than enumerating every name.
`identifier`	Platform-native value (numeric id, slug, handle, or URL). Omitted entirely for the `website` platform — the JSON key is absent, not an empty string.
`url`	Canonical web URL for this presence. Built from a per-platform template, or passed through for `website`.
`attributes`	Optional per-platform metadata (audience size, profile fields, etc.). May be absent or empty.

Platform types

platform.type lets clients render related platforms with a shared treatment without knowing the full list of names:

Type	What it covers
`podcast_directory`	Apple Podcasts, Spotify-as-podcast-directory replicas, Castbox, Podchaser, Player FM, Podcast Addict, Podbean, Podcast Republic, Goodpods, The Podcast App, TuneIn, iHeartRadio.
`music_service`	Spotify, Apple Music–adjacent stores, Audible, Amazon Music — services whose primary brand is audio playback.
`social_profile`	X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn — handle-based identity.
`video_channel`	YouTube channel for the podcast (and any future video-first platforms).
`community`	Reddit, Discord, Patreon — where listeners gather around the show.
`website`	The publisher’s own marketing site for the podcast. The `identifier` is omitted; `url` carries the destination.
`other`	Reserved for future platforms that don’t fit the above. Treat as opaque.

Attributes

Each entry’s attributes is a list of typed records. The set of attribute names that may appear varies per platform — and grows over time as upstream sources expose richer metadata. Clients should treat unknown attribute names additively rather than enumerating them.

Field	Description
`name`	Platform-native attribute name (`subscribers`, `followers`, `handle`, etc.).
`category`	Broad grouping. Use this to render unfamiliar attributes without recognising the exact name.
`value`	The attribute value. JSON type matches the category — numbers for audience/content tallies, strings for profile/account fields, booleans for flags.
`observed_at`	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the attribute was last observed from the upstream source. Omitted when unavailable.

Attribute categories

Category	Typical names	Value type
`audience_size`	`subscribers`, `followers`, `views`	integer
`content`	`videos`	integer
`profile`	`handle`, `display_name`, `thumbnail_url`, `founded`	string (or RFC 3339 timestamp for `founded`)
`account_status`	`verified` (forthcoming)	boolean

Platform reference

The full list of platforms surfaced today, with the URL templates the API uses to build the url field. New platforms may be added without notice; existing platform names are stable.

`name`	`display_name`	`type`	URL pattern
`amazon_music`	Amazon Music	`music_service`	`https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/{id}`
`apple`	Apple Podcasts	`podcast_directory`	`https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id{id}`
`audible`	Audible	`music_service`	`https://www.audible.com/pd/{id}`
`castbox`	Castbox	`podcast_directory`	`https://castbox.fm/channel/id{id}`
`discord`	Discord	`community`	`https://discord.gg/{id}`
`facebook`	Facebook	`social_profile`	`https://www.facebook.com/{id}`
`goodpods`	Goodpods	`podcast_directory`	`https://www.goodpods.com/podcasts/{id}`
`iheartradio`	iHeartRadio	`podcast_directory`	`https://www.iheart.com/podcast/{id}/`
`instagram`	Instagram	`social_profile`	`https://www.instagram.com/{id}/`
`itunes`	iTunes	`podcast_directory`	`https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id{id}`
`linkedin`	LinkedIn	`social_profile`	`https://www.linkedin.com/company/{id}/`
`patreon`	Patreon	`community`	`https://www.patreon.com/{id}`
`playerfm`	Player FM	`podcast_directory`	`https://player.fm/series/{id}`
`podaddict`	Podcast Addict	`podcast_directory`	`https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/{id}`
`podbean`	Podbean	`podcast_directory`	`https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/{id}`
`podchaser`	Podchaser	`podcast_directory`	`https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/{id}`
`podrepublic`	Podcast Republic	`podcast_directory`	`https://www.podcastrepublic.net/podcast/{id}`
`reddit`	Reddit	`community`	`https://www.reddit.com/r/{id}/`
`spotify`	Spotify	`music_service`	`https://open.spotify.com/show/{id}`
`threads`	Threads	`social_profile`	`https://www.threads.net/@{id}`
`tiktok`	TikTok	`social_profile`	`https://www.tiktok.com/@{id}`
`tpa`	The Podcast App	`podcast_directory`	`https://thepodcastapp.com/p/{id}`
`tunein`	TuneIn	`podcast_directory`	`https://tunein.com/podcasts/{id}/`
`twitter`	X (Twitter)	`social_profile`	`https://twitter.com/{id}`
`website`	Website	`website`	URL only; no separate `identifier` field
`youtube`	YouTube	`video_channel`	`https://www.youtube.com/channel/{id}` for channel-ID identifiers (`UC` + 22 chars), `https://www.youtube.com/@{id}` for handle identifiers

YouTube: richer attributes

YouTube is currently the most heavily-enriched platform. A YouTube entry can carry up to four attributes today:

{
  "platform": { "name": "youtube", "display_name": "YouTube", "type": "video_channel" },
  "identifier": "UCZcR2SVWaGWNlMqPxvQS3vw",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZcR2SVWaGWNlMqPxvQS3vw",
  "attributes": [
    { "name": "handle",       "category": "profile",       "value": "hardfork" },
    { "name": "subscribers",  "category": "audience_size", "value": 245000 },
    { "name": "videos",       "category": "content",       "value": 200 },
    { "name": "views",        "category": "audience_size", "value": 12345678 }
  ]
}

The display_name, thumbnail_url, and founded attributes may also appear when known.

Notes and gotchas

`apple` and `itunes` are usually duplicates

Apple Podcasts uses a single numeric ID across both its modern and iTunes-era surfaces. Most podcasts therefore have two entries — apple and itunes — with the same identifier and the same resolved url. This faithfully reflects what upstream catalog sources report; clients that want a single Apple entry can de-duplicate by (type, identifier).

Attributes are forward-compatible

Both attributes[].name and attributes[].category are open enumerations. New names (e.g. a future engagement_rate for Instagram) and new categories will be added without a versioning event. Always render unknown attributes additively — match on category for grouping when the name isn’t recognized.

`observed_at` is best-effort

Some attributes don’t have a known observation timestamp; the field is then omitted. When present, the timestamp reflects the last time the value was refreshed from the upstream source — not the last time the podcast itself was updated.

Identifier formats vary

The identifier is whatever the platform natively uses. Examples:

Platform	Sample identifier	Shape
`apple` / `itunes`	`1528594034`	Numeric Apple Podcasts ID
`spotify`	`44fllCS2FTFr2x2kjP9xeT`	Spotify show ID
`youtube`	`UCZcR2SVWaGWNlMqPxvQS3vw`	Channel ID (or short handle for some podcasts)
`twitter` / `tiktok`	`HardFork` / `hardfork`	Account handle (no `@`)
`podbean`	`dir2423160,nrwgx`	Podbean-internal pair (don’t try to parse)

The website platform is the exception: there’s no separate identifier — the entry omits identifier entirely and only carries url. If you need a clickable link, prefer the resolved url over building one yourself; URL templates change.

Choosing the right endpoint

You want to…	Use this
Show a “find this podcast on …” list of platforms (you have a Particle podcast → get all its external IDs)	`external-links`
Reverse: you have a third-party ID → resolve to a Particle podcast	`GET /v1/podcasts/lookup`
Compare audience size (followers / subscribers) across platforms	`external-links` (filter by `attributes[].category=audience_size`)
Get the podcast’s own metadata (title, publisher, description, RSS feed, episode counts)	`GET /v1/podcasts/{id}`
List episodes for a podcast	`GET /v1/podcasts/{id}/episodes`
Sponsor / advertising profile	`GET /v1/podcasts/{id}/advertising`
Political bias analysis	`GET /v1/podcasts/{id}/bias`

Lookup by external ID — the reverse direction of this index: third-party identifier → Particle podcast.
Podcasts overview — full Podcast object and other sub-resources.
Episodes — drill from a podcast into its individual episodes.
Knowledge graph → entities — the canonical record for the podcast’s hosts, guests, and topics.

Getting started

Podcasts

Companies

Knowledge graph

Alerts

Errors

List external links for a podcast

Anatomy of an entry

Platform types

Attributes

Attribute categories

Platform reference

YouTube: richer attributes

Notes and gotchas

`apple` and `itunes` are usually duplicates

Attributes are forward-compatible

`observed_at` is best-effort

Identifier formats vary

Choosing the right endpoint

​List external links for a podcast

​Anatomy of an entry

​Platform types

​Attributes

​Attribute categories

​Platform reference

​YouTube: richer attributes

​Notes and gotchas

​apple and itunes are usually duplicates

​Attributes are forward-compatible

​observed_at is best-effort

​Identifier formats vary

​Choosing the right endpoint

​Related

List external links for a podcast

Anatomy of an entry

Platform types

Attributes

Attribute categories

Platform reference

YouTube: richer attributes

Notes and gotchas

`apple` and `itunes` are usually duplicates

Attributes are forward-compatible

`observed_at` is best-effort

Identifier formats vary

Choosing the right endpoint

Related