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FAQ
This page collects short answers to common PigeonPod questions from technical self-hosting users.
Yes. PigeonPod can subscribe to YouTube channels, YouTube playlists, and Bilibili sources.
Yes. The normal usage model is self-hosting on your own machine, server, or home lab environment.
Yes, but with an important rule: RSS only includes episodes that are actually downloaded and available.
Docker-based deployment is the recommended path.
Usually no.
Only disable it if another trusted access layer already protects the instance.
Usually because the Base URL is missing or wrong, or the instance is not reachable from the client using the feed.
Yes, if you use YouTube feeds.
Without it, YouTube channel and playlist workflows will not function correctly.
No.
You usually need them only for:
- bot-check failures
- age-restricted content
- members-only or account-protected content
Because it is usually:
- more accurate
- less ambiguous
- lighter on YouTube API quota
Because PigeonPod stores metadata and downloads separately. A feed can show an episode even if that episode was never auto-downloaded.
Because no episode has reached COMPLETED yet, or previously completed media was cleaned up.
It limits how many newly visible episodes are auto-queued for download. It does not limit how many episode metadata records are saved.
It is a retention limit for completed downloaded files. When the completed count exceeds the configured limit, older downloaded media can be cleaned up automatically while metadata remains visible.
Common reasons:
- auto download is disabled
- the auto-download limit is too low
- the delay window has not passed yet
- the item was filtered out by keywords or duration rules
Yes.
Disabling auto download stops automatic queueing, but manual download is still available.
For most users, audio is the simpler and more storage-friendly default.
Because the source audio quality may already be the real limiting factor. Moderate quality changes do not always produce a noticeable file size difference.
Because PigeonPod may need to re-encode the video for compatibility.
Only if you understand the compatibility tradeoff and your playback devices support it well.
Yes, but switching storage does not migrate historical media automatically.
Plan migration separately.
Your /data volume.
That is where database state, media files, cover files, and managed yt-dlp runtime data live.
Yes, as long as /data is persistent.
Upload YouTube cookies only if normal public access is failing, then retry one affected download.
Check:
- YouTube API key
- quota state
- source accuracy
Maybe, but do not assume that first.
Also check:
- cookies freshness
- proxy configuration
- custom yt-dlp arguments
- managed yt-dlp runtime state
Open one when:
- the problem is reproducible
- logs show a real app error
- behavior changed after an upgrade
- the documented workflow no longer matches reality
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Security note: Do not expose an auth-disabled PigeonPod instance directly to the public Internet.