Setting up the HTTP Request node for PodClaw
Every interaction with PodClaw in n8n goes through an HTTP Request node. Here is the configuration for publishing an episode:
| Field |
Value |
| Method |
POST |
| URL |
https://podclaw.io/api/shows/{{$json.show_id}}/episodes |
| Authentication |
Header Auth |
| Header Name |
Authorization |
| Header Value |
Bearer pc_your_api_key_here |
| Body Content Type |
JSON |
| Body Fields |
title, description, audio_url, status: "published" |
n8n HTTP Request node — JSON config
{
"method": "POST",
"url": "https://podclaw.io/api/shows/{{ $json.show_id }}/episodes",
"authentication": "headerAuth",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer pc_your_api_key_here",
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
"body": {
"title": "{{ $json.episode_title }}",
"description": "{{ $json.episode_description }}",
"audio_url": "{{ $json.audio_file_url }}",
"status": "published"
}
}
Example workflow: Publish when new row added to Google Sheets
This is the most common PodClaw + n8n pattern. Your team manages episodes in a spreadsheet, and n8n publishes automatically whenever a new row is added.
Trigger
Google Sheets — On Row Added
Watches a specific sheet for new rows. Each row represents one episode with columns for show_id, title, description, and audio_url.
Node 2
HTTP Request → POST to PodClaw
Sends the row data to https://podclaw.io/api/shows/{{$json.show_id}}/episodes. Maps sheet columns to the JSON body fields.
Node 3
Slack → Send message with episode URL
Notifies your team's #podcast channel with the episode ID and shareable link returned in the PodClaw API response.
Example workflow: Daily scheduled podcast from RSS
This workflow runs every morning, pulls the latest article from any RSS feed, uses OpenAI to generate a summary, then publishes it as a podcast episode — fully autonomous, zero human input needed.
Trigger
Schedule Trigger — every day at 9am
Fires the workflow on a cron schedule. Set to 0 9 * * * for 9am daily, or any custom interval.
Node 2
RSS Feed Read — get latest article
Fetches the most recent item from your target RSS feed. Outputs title, description, link, and pub date.
Node 3
OpenAI — generate episode summary
Takes the article title and description, generates a 2-3 sentence podcast-style episode summary and a punchy episode title.
Node 4
HTTP Request → POST to PodClaw
Publishes the episode using the AI-generated title and description. Pass an audio_url from a TTS node added between Node 3 and 4.
Adding TTS to the pipeline: Insert an ElevenLabs or OpenAI TTS HTTP Request node between the OpenAI summary step and the PodClaw publish step. Generate the audio, upload it to S3 or Cloudflare R2 using another HTTP Request node, then pass the resulting URL as the audio_url field to PodClaw.
Creating a show via n8n
Before you can publish episodes, you need a show. Run this HTTP Request node once to create it and capture the show_id from the response. Store it in an n8n variable or hardcode it in subsequent nodes.
HTTP Request node — Create show
{
"method": "POST",
"url": "https://podclaw.io/api/shows",
"authentication": "headerAuth",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer pc_your_api_key_here",
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
"body": {
"title": "My AI Podcast",
"description": "A weekly AI-generated show about technology trends",
"author": "AI Podcast Bot",
"category": "Technology"
}
}
The response includes show.id, which is the value you pass as show_id in all future episode publish calls. Your RSS feed URL will also be returned — submit it to Apple Podcasts and Spotify once to start distribution.