Create an Episode

Creating an episode takes a minute: give it a title and a recording date, and it's saved as a draft. From there, the episode workspace is where everything else happens, from audio and artwork to guests and publishing.

Before you start

• You need a podcast first. If you don't have one yet, create your podcast.
• You don't need your audio ready. Draft the episode now and add audio later.

Create the episode

Open Episodes in the sidebar and click New episode. The form is split into three steps, shown in the rail on the left (on a phone, a step button at the top opens Jump to a step).

Only two things are required: a title on step 1 and a recording date on step 3. Create episode in the bar at the bottom becomes available from any step as soon as both are set. Everything else is optional and can be edited later on the episode page. Nothing is saved until you create it.

Step 1: The episode

• Title (required): up to 200 characters. The title also sets the episode's web address; renaming it later keeps the original address.
• Number: suggested automatically from your existing episodes; keep the suggestion or type your own.
• Description: up to 4,000 characters, with a rich text editor for bold, italics, lists, and links.

Step 2: Who's on it (optional)

1. Click Invite a guest. A panel opens beside the page where you can search guests you have had on before, or add someone new by name and email, then click Add to this episode. Nothing is emailed until you create the episode.
2. Leave Send verification emails now on to send each guest their prep portal link when the episode is created, or turn it off to send invites later from the episode page.
3. Turn on Send a calendar invite to everyone on this episode if you want a Google Calendar event for the recording time, with your guests invited. Leave it off if the booking already lives in another calendar. This choice is separate from the verification emails: you can send portal invitations without a calendar event, and the other way round.

Step 3: Recording and notes

1. Set the Recording date and time (required). Add a Publish date and time if you already know when it should go live.
2. Choose a Recording platform if you want joining details on the episode: Google Meet (when a calendar is connected), a pasted link for platforms like Riverside or Zoom, in person, or no meeting link. When a calendar is connected, Google Meet is pre-selected.
3. The Show notes card lists the three sections created with the episode (shared notes, host-private notes, and one section per guest). Each one follows your podcast default; pick a different template for this episode, or set a section to Blank.

When you are done, click Create episode. Your episode is created as a draft and opens straight in the episode workspace, ready to complete.

Why the recording date is required

The recording date decides which month the episode counts against on your plan. Moving it to another month moves the episode's slot. See Publishing and Scheduling for how monthly slots work.

Add guests before creating show notes

Guests you add on step 2 are in place when the show notes are created, so magic tags like {guest_first_name} in your templates resolve to real names.

Calendar invites for the recording

An episode you create here works with your calendar exactly like one booked through a booking link:

• The Booking session card on the Guests tab shows the recording platform panel, where you can change the platform or joining link at any time. Guests are emailed when the joining link changes.
• If you did not send the calendar invite at creation (or there were no guests yet), that card offers Send meeting invite once the episode has guests.
• Guests you add or remove later are updated on the calendar event automatically.
• Rescheduling the recording date moves the calendar event with it, and attendees are notified by Google.
• Deleting the episode removes its calendar event and cancels it for the attendees.

Sending a calendar invite needs a connected Google Calendar. Connect one in Settings → Calendar.

Booked elsewhere?

If you scheduled the recording through another service, leave Send a calendar invite to everyone on this episode turned off. Your guests still get their portal invitations, without a duplicate event appearing in their calendars.

The episode workspace

Everything about an episode lives under one frame: one breadcrumb, one header with the episode's artwork, title and status, and one row of tabs. The Episode chat panel sits alongside, and it stays connected wherever you go, so you can agree a title in chat and type it in without leaving the conversation.

Overview

The episode at a glance, and the first thing you see. It carries:

• Publish readiness: the checklist of what a complete episode needs
• This episode at a glance: one row per part of the episode (show notes, guests and team, audio, transcript, automations, scheduling), each opening the tab that owns it
• Booking request: on an episode created by a guest booking, the slot, the guest's answers, and the Confirm booking and Decline buttons
• Downloads: once the episode is live

Details

The basics listeners see first: Episode title, Episode number (with stepper buttons), and the rich text Description. The Episode artwork card shows which cover this episode uses.

Show notes

Your shared prep doc, with a lens for your team, a host-only lens, and one per guest. The Research brief card lives here too, because a brief's output is appended into your host-only notes. See Show Notes.

Guests

The people on this episode: the Booking session card with its bookings and answers, guest invitations and portal access, and the Team members card for people from your own team. Who is credited in your feed is set separately, on Publish. See People and Credits.

Media

Your episode's files:

• Episode audio: upload MP3, M4A, or WAV. See Upload Audio.
• Transcript: generate and review an AI transcript. Review transcript opens it inside this tab, with a back link. See Transcripts.
• Cover art: use your show artwork or upload a custom episode cover. See Episode Cover Art.

On externally hosted shows this tab shows the External feed link panel instead of the audio uploader. See Externally Hosted Shows.

Publish

Scheduling, RSS credits, content disclosure, automations, and the publishing actions (Publish now, Schedule instead, Archive, and more). Once an episode is live, this tab also shows the Share and embed card and an analytics summary, with View full analytics opening the full report inside the tab. See Publishing and Scheduling and Share and Embed.

Auto-save

There is no save button. The pill in the header tracks your edits:

• Saved when everything is up to date
• Saving… while an edit is being written
• If a save fails, the pill shows what could not save and takes you to the right section to retry

Publish readiness

The checklist tracks what a complete episode needs:

• Episode title
• Description added
• Cover art
• Audio uploaded (or Linked to external feed on externally hosted shows)
• Credited in the feed
• Recording date set

Each item links to the tab where you can complete it. It appears twice, so it is never more than one click away: as a card on Overview, and behind the ready chip in the header, which reads something like 4 of 6 ready and opens the same list from any tab.

When everything is done, the checklist's button becomes Publish episode (or Prepare to publish on external shows).

The chat panel

Episode chat is where you and your team talk through an episode while you prepare it. It is part of the frame rather than a page, so it never disappears when you move between tabs:

• On a wide screen it sits docked to the right, and you can collapse it to a slim rail. Your choice is remembered.
• On a narrower screen the rail carries an unread count and opens the panel over your work.
• On a phone a floating Chat button with an unread count opens it as a sheet.

The People tab inside the panel shows everyone on the episode and who is online.

What's Next?

• Upload your audio
• Write show notes with your guests
• Publish or schedule the episode