Create episode notes

Create a note for the episode you are listening to, with the episode’s details and a link that resumes playback, and keep your timestamps in it.

Create a note for the current episode

1. Play an episode in PodNotes. You can pause it.
2. Run PodNotes: Create episode note from the command palette (Ctrl+P, or Command+P on macOS).

PodNotes creates the note and opens it. With the default settings, the note for the Acquired episode “The Home Depot” is PodNotes/Acquired/The Home Depot.md. When the note exists, the command opens it instead. To add timestamps while you listen, see Capture timestamps.

Create a note for another episode

1. In an episode list, right-click the episode, or select its three-dot More options button.
2. Select Create Note. Once the note exists, the item reads Open Note.

The episode menu reference lists the other items.

Create a feed note for a podcast

A feed note describes a whole podcast, with its artwork, author, description, website, and feed URL.

1. Run PodNotes: Create podcast feed note from the command palette.
2. Select the podcast. If an episode is loaded, its podcast is first in the list.

PodNotes creates the note and opens it, or opens the note if it exists. With the default settings, the feed note for Acquired is PodNotes/Podcasts/Acquired.md. The episode menu’s Create feed note does the same.

The default episode note template links each episode note to its feed note in the podcast property, such as [[PodNotes/Podcasts/Acquired|Acquired]], even when you create the feed note later.

Change where notes go

1. Open Settings → PodNotes.
2. Under Episode notes, edit Note creation file path.

The default is PodNotes/{{podcast}}/{{title}}.md. To keep notes in a Podcasts folder instead:

• Podcasts/{{title}}.md puts every note in that folder. Episodes with the same title from different podcasts then share one note.
• Podcasts/{{podcast}}/{{title}}.md adds a subfolder per podcast.
• Podcasts/{{date:YYYY}}/{{podcast}} - {{title}}.md adds a subfolder per publication year.

After you edit the path, a preview shows the result for one of your episodes. File path tags lists every tag a path accepts.

PodNotes looks for notes at the new path, so move your existing notes to match. Otherwise it can create a second note for an episode.

Feed notes and downloads have their own paths: Feed note file path under Feed notes, and Episode download path under Downloads.

Change what notes contain

Note creation template under Episode notes sets the content of each new episode note, and PodNotes fills in its {{tag}} placeholders. This example replaces the default template. It adds the episode’s duration, shows the artwork at 96 pixels wide, folds the description into a callout, and keeps the status and rating properties for Bases. It leaves out the # {{title}} heading, the episode URL, and favorite. Obsidian still shows the file name as the note’s title:

---
type: podcastEpisode
podcast: "{{podcastlink}}"
date: {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}
duration: "{{duration}}"
tags:
  - podcastEpisode
status:
rating:
---
![|96]({{artwork}})

[Resume in PodNotes]({{episodelink}})

> [!summary]- Episode description
{{description:> }}

## Notes

A note made with this template looks like this:

Resume in PodNotes continues the episode from where you stopped. A changed template applies only to new notes. Feed notes use Feed note template under Feed notes. Template tags lists every tag and the default episode note template.

Browse your notes with Bases

Obsidian Bases shows notes as a table that you can filter, sort, and group. The default episode note template sets type: podcastEpisode, podcast, date, tags, and favorite: false, and leaves status and rating for you to fill in. To list your episode notes grouped by status:

1. In the note where you want the table, insert this code block:

   ```base
   filters:
     and:
       - 'type == "podcastEpisode"'
   views:
     - type: table
       name: Episodes
       order:
         - file.name
         - note.podcast
         - note.status
         - note.rating
       sort:
         - property: note.date
           direction: DESC
       groupBy:
         property: note.status
         direction: ASC
   ```

The same lines also work as the content of a .base file, such as PodNotes/Episodes.base. If your template has no type property, filter on a property or tag that it sets.

Limits of note creation

• PodNotes: Create episode note needs both Note creation file path and Note creation template. With either one empty, the command is missing and the episode menu shows “Please set a note path and template in the settings.”
• PodNotes finds an existing note by its path, or by a matching title in the same folder. After you rename or move a note, it can create a second note for the episode.
• After you change Feed note file path, new episode notes link to the new path. Existing episode notes keep their old links.