Quick start

Home network only

PodVault is designed for a local or home network. Don't expose it directly to the internet (port forwarding, a public server, etc.). It hasn't been through any security audit or penetration testing. The optional login keeps other people on your network out; it doesn't make PodVault safe to publish. To reach it from outside your home, use a VPN such as WireGuard or Tailscale. More in Security.

The quickest way to run PodVault is the Docker image martitoci/podvault. It’s built for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64, so it runs on Intel/AMD servers, Raspberry Pi, Apple Silicon and most NAS devices.

1. Start PodVault

Pick docker run or Docker Compose. Both keep everything PodVault stores in ./data on your machine.

docker run

docker run -d --name podvault \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  -v ./data:/app/data \
  -e PODVAULT_USERNAME=admin \
  -e PODVAULT_PASSWORD=change-me \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  martitoci/podvault:latest

Docker Compose

Save this as docker-compose.yml:

docker-compose.yml

services:
  podvault:
    image: martitoci/podvault:latest
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
    environment:
      PODVAULT_USERNAME: admin
      PODVAULT_PASSWORD: change-me
    restart: unless-stopped

Then start it:

docker compose up -d

Change change-me to a real password. Setting PODVAULT_USERNAME and PODVAULT_PASSWORD turns on the sign-in page, which you want whenever port 8000 is reachable from other machines on your network. Leave both out to run without a login. See Configuration for every setting.

2. Add your first podcast

1. Open http://localhost:8000 (or http://<server-address>:8000 from another device on your network) and sign in.

2. On the Library page, paste an RSS feed URL or an Apple Podcasts link into Add podcast and press Add. PodVault reads the feed and stores every episode’s metadata.

   Coming from another podcast app? Use Import to bring in an OPML file instead. See OPML import & export.

3. Open the podcast and choose Download latest to fetch the newest episode, or Download all pending for the whole back catalog. Downloads run in the background; follow them on the Queue page, where you can pause, resume or cancel.

Episodes land in ./data/downloads, organized as podcast/year/month/episode, with tags, cover art and the original RSS entry saved next to each file.

3. Keep it up to date

On the podcast page, turn on Auto-refresh (every 6h, 12h, 24h or 7d) and, if you like, auto-download, so new episodes arrive on their own. The Schedule page shows every podcast’s schedule in one table.

4. Listen from your phone

Every podcast gets its own feed served from your copies. Copy the feed URL from the podcast page and subscribe to it in your podcast app, on your home network or over a VPN. See Podcast app feeds.

Next steps

• Web interface: a tour of every page.
• Docker: volumes, updating, and keeping the audio on another disk.
• Archive safety: integrity checks, backups and export.