Podcast chapters.json Generator

Podcasting 2.0 apps read chapters from a JSON file linked in your RSS feed with the <podcast:chapters> tag. Paste your timestamps below and download a valid file, or paste a chapters.json you already have to check it. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you paste is uploaded.

What the file looks like

The JSON chapters format published by the Podcast Namespace project needs two things at the top level: a version string and a chapters array. Each chapter needs a startTime in seconds; everything else is optional:

• title: the chapter name shown in the app;
• img: an image shown while the chapter plays (a URL to a JPG or PNG);
• url: a web page related to the chapter;
• endTime: when the chapter ends, in seconds;
• toc: false: keeps a chapter out of the table of contents, which is useful for image-only changes.

This generator writes startTime as a number of seconds, keeps chapters in ascending order, drops exact duplicates and leaves out any optional field you didn't fill in.

Adding it to your feed

Upload the file somewhere public and link it inside the episode's <item>:

<podcast:chapters url="https://example.com/ep42/chapters.json" type="application/json+chapters" />

Hosts that support Podcasting 2.0 usually have a chapters field or a file upload on the episode page, so you don't edit the feed by hand. Check your host's help pages for where it lives. Apps that read the tag include Podcast Addict, Fountain, Podverse, Castamatic and others listed on podcastindex.org/apps. Apple Podcasts and Spotify use their own chapter sources instead, so keep timestamps in the episode description too. Our YouTube chapters checker validates that list.