TLDL — Too Long Didn't Listen

AI-powered podcast summaries from Apple Podcasts URLs. Paste an episode link, get an AI-generated summary with key takeaways.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Runtime	Cloudflare Workers
Framework	Hono
Background Jobs	Cloudflare Queues
Storage	Cloudflare KV + Durable Objects
Podcast Data	Podcast Index API
Transcription	OpenAI Whisper
Summarization	OpenAI GPT-5.2
Authentication	Cloudflare Access (Email OTP)
Spam Protection	Cloudflare Turnstile

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
Wrangler CLI
Cloudflare account with Workers, KV, Queues, and Durable Objects enabled
API keys: OpenAI, Podcast Index (free at podcastindex.org)

Local Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create .dev.vars with your secrets
cat > .dev.vars << 'EOF'
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
PODCAST_INDEX_KEY=...
PODCAST_INDEX_SECRET=...
TURNSTILE_SECRET=...
EOF

# Start dev server
npm run dev
# → http://localhost:8787

Seed Test Data

Populate local dev with sample episodes, podcasts, and tags:

npx tsx scripts/seed-local-data.ts

Reset everything and start fresh:

rm -rf .wrangler/state && npx tsx scripts/seed-local-data.ts

Commands

Command	Description
`npm run dev`	Start local dev server (http://localhost:8787)
`npm test`	Run all tests
`npm test -- test/kv.test.ts`	Run single test file
`npm run typecheck`	TypeScript type checking
`npm run deploy`	Deploy to production
`npx wrangler tail`	Stream live production logs

Project Structure

src/
├── index.ts                 # Hono app entry, static routes, error handling
├── types/index.ts           # All TypeScript interfaces
├── lib/
│   ├── constants.ts         # Tags, templates, error codes, timeouts
│   ├── kv.ts                # All KV CRUD operations
│   ├── url-parser.ts        # Apple Podcasts URL parsing
│   ├── audio.ts             # MP3 frame-aware chunking for large files
│   ├── styles.ts            # All CSS (embedded, Workers can't read files)
│   ├── job-status-do.ts     # Durable Object client helpers
│   ├── turnstile.ts         # Spam protection verification
│   └── auth.ts              # JWT parsing, admin checks
├── services/
│   ├── apple-podcasts.ts    # Episode metadata lookup
│   ├── podcast-index.ts     # Podcast Index API client
│   ├── rss.ts               # RSS parsing + episode matching
│   ├── transcription.ts     # OpenAI Whisper integration
│   ├── summarization.ts     # GPT-5.2 summary generation
│   └── tag-generation.ts    # GPT-5.2 tag generation
├── routes/
│   ├── public.ts            # Public pages (home, episodes, podcasts)
│   ├── api.ts               # JSON API endpoints
│   └── authenticated.ts     # Protected mutations, admin tools
├── queue/
│   └── consumer.ts          # Background job processor
└── durable-objects/
    └── job-status.ts        # Job status DO for consistency

Architecture

Episode Processing Flow

Submit (POST /submit): User submits Apple Podcasts URL
- URL parsed → episode ID derived
- Check KV cache for existing episode
- Create job in Durable Object + KV
- Enqueue to Cloudflare Queue
- Redirect to job status page
Queue Consumer (src/queue/consumer.ts): Background processing
- Fetch episode metadata via Podcast Index + RSS
- Check for existing transcript in RSS feed
- Transcribe with OpenAI Whisper (chunking for >25MB)
- Generate summary with GPT-5.2
- Generate 1-4 tags with GPT-5.2 (non-critical)
- Store in KV with 365-day TTL
View (GET /episode/:id): Serve cached episode with summary

Key Design Decisions

Durable Objects for Job Status: KV is eventually consistent, which caused issues with job status pages showing stale data. Durable Objects provide strong consistency for real-time job tracking.

Podcast Index over iTunes API: iTunes API returns 403s from Workers. Podcast Index is a free, open alternative with better reliability.

Embedded CSS: Workers can't read from filesystem. All styles are in src/lib/styles.ts.

MP3 Frame-Aware Chunking: OpenAI Whisper has a 25MB limit. Large files are split at MP3 frame boundaries to avoid audio corruption.

Non-Critical Tag Generation: If tag generation fails, the job continues. Empty tags are acceptable.

KV Storage Schema

Key Pattern	TTL	Description
`job:{jobId}`	1 day	Job state and progress
`episode:{episodeId}`	365 days	Episode metadata
`transcript:{episodeId}`	365 days	Full transcript
`summary:{episodeId}:{templateId}`	365 days	Generated summary
`episodes:index`	365 days	Lightweight list for home page
`ratelimit:{email}:{hour}`	1 hour	Rate limiting
`waitlist:{email}`	none	Waitlist signups
`monitor:settings`	none	Podcast monitoring global settings
`monitored:list`	none	List of monitored podcast IDs
`monitored:{podcastId}`	none	Individual monitored podcast config
`monitored:processed:{podcastId}`	none	Processed episode GUIDs per podcast

Configuration

Secrets (set via `wrangler secret put`)

Secret	Description
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI API key for Whisper + GPT
`PODCAST_INDEX_KEY`	Podcast Index API key
`PODCAST_INDEX_SECRET`	Podcast Index API secret
`TURNSTILE_SECRET`	Cloudflare Turnstile secret key

Environment Variables (in `wrangler.toml`)

Variable	Default	Description
`MAX_EPISODE_MINUTES`	121	Maximum episode duration (2 hours)
`CACHE_TTL_DAYS`	365	How long to cache content
`DEFAULT_TEMPLATE`	key-takeaways	Default summary template
`TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY`	—	Turnstile widget site key

Testing

Uses @cloudflare/vitest-pool-workers for a Workers-like test environment.

npm test                      # Run all tests
npm test -- test/kv.test.ts   # Run single file
npm run test:watch            # Watch mode

Tests are organized to mirror src/:

test/kv.test.ts — KV storage operations
test/rss.test.ts — RSS parsing and episode matching
test/transcription.test.ts — Whisper integration
test/integration/ — End-to-end flows

Note: Durable Object tests may show "Isolated storage" warnings. This is a Vitest pool infrastructure issue, not a test failure.

Debugging

Inspect KV Data

# View episode data
npx wrangler kv key get --namespace-id=ee123158d5d54359b4257f8a1b678adf "episode:<episodeId>"

# View summary
npx wrangler kv key get --namespace-id=ee123158d5d54359b4257f8a1b678adf "summary:<episodeId>:<templateId>"

# View transcript
npx wrangler kv key get --namespace-id=ee123158d5d54359b4257f8a1b678adf "transcript:<episodeId>"

Debug Routes (Development Only)

Route	Description
`GET /debug/parse?url=...`	Test URL parsing
`GET /debug/episode?url=...`	Fetch episode metadata
`GET /debug/validate-audio?url=...`	Validate audio URL
`GET /debug/transcribe?url=...`	Test transcription (blocked in prod)
`GET /debug/summarize?text=...`	Test summarization (blocked in prod)

Live Logs

npx wrangler tail

Deployment

# Set secrets (first time only)
wrangler secret put OPENAI_API_KEY
wrangler secret put PODCAST_INDEX_KEY
wrangler secret put PODCAST_INDEX_SECRET
wrangler secret put TURNSTILE_SECRET

# Deploy
npm run deploy

Maintenance Mode

To disable HTTP endpoints while keeping queue processing:

// src/index.ts
const MAINTENANCE_MODE = true;

Admin Tools

Admin endpoints are under /profile/* (protected by Cloudflare Access). Available to users in ADMIN_EMAILS array in src/lib/constants.ts.

Tool	Endpoint	Description
Monitor Podcasts	`GET /profile/podcasts`	Auto-queue new episodes from monitored podcasts
Rebuild Index	`POST /profile/rebuild-index`	Rebuild episode index from all episodes
Update Tags	`POST /profile/update-tags/:id`	Manually edit episode tags
Edit Summary	`POST /profile/update-summary/:id/:templateId`	Edit summary text
Backfill Tags	`POST /profile/backfill-tags`	Generate tags for episodes without them
Cleanup Tags	`POST /profile/cleanup-invalid-tags`	Remove tags not in EPISODE_TAGS
View Waitlist	`GET /profile/waitlist`	View collected waitlist emails

Summary Templates

Template	Best For
`key-takeaways`	Professional/craft podcasts — bullet points, actionable insights
`narrative-summary`	Story-driven content — flowing prose
`eli5`	Technical topics — simple language, analogies

Episode Tags

14 predefined tags in src/lib/constants.ts:

ai, business, creativity, education, entertainment, faith, health, music, politics, product, psychology, science, sport, technology

To add/remove tags:

Edit EPISODE_TAGS array in src/lib/constants.ts
After removing tags, use "Cleanup Invalid Tags" admin tool

Best Practices

Code Style

Keep it simple: Avoid over-engineering. Only add what's directly needed.
Read before editing: Always read existing code before modifying.
Prefer editing over creating: Edit existing files rather than creating new ones.
No backward compatibility hacks: Delete unused code completely.

Testing

Write tests for new functionality
Run npm test before committing
Keep tests focused and fast

Security

Never commit secrets to .dev.vars
Validate all user input
Be mindful of OWASP top 10 vulnerabilities

Performance

KV reads are fast; use them liberally
Durable Objects are for consistency, not speed
Queue processing has a 20-minute timeout

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
iTunes 403 errors	Use Podcast Index API (already configured)
Episode title wrong	URL slugs are unreliable; we scrape the actual page
Large audio fails	Files >25MB are automatically chunked
Job status stale	Durable Object handles consistency; KV is backup
Admin 401/403	Endpoints must be under `/profile/*` for Cloudflare Access

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 162 Commits
docs		docs
public		public
scripts		scripts
src		src
test		test
.gitignore		.gitignore
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
README.md		README.md
opencode.jsonc		opencode.jsonc
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json
vitest.config.ts		vitest.config.ts
worker-configuration.d.ts		worker-configuration.d.ts
wrangler.toml		wrangler.toml

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TLDL — Too Long Didn't Listen

Tech Stack

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Local Development

Seed Test Data

Commands

Project Structure

Architecture

Episode Processing Flow

Key Design Decisions

KV Storage Schema

Configuration

Secrets (set via wrangler secret put)

Environment Variables (in wrangler.toml)

Testing

Debugging

Inspect KV Data

Debug Routes (Development Only)

Live Logs

Deployment

Maintenance Mode

Admin Tools

Summary Templates

Episode Tags

Best Practices

Code Style

Testing

Security

Performance

Common Issues

More Documentation

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Secrets (set via `wrangler secret put`)

Environment Variables (in `wrangler.toml`)