Transistor.fm

Overview

The Transistor.fm integration handles podcast publishing and RSS distribution. Unlike other integrations that use OAuth, Transistor uses a per-show API key configured in the show's distribution settings. This keeps setup simple — paste your API key and start publishing.

API Key Setup

Transistor.fm uses API key authentication (no OAuth flow required):

1. Log in to your Transistor.fm dashboard
2. Go to Account → API and generate (or copy) your API key
3. In preroll.io, navigate to the show's Settings → Distribution
4. Paste your Transistor API key and select which Transistor podcast to link

Each show in preroll.io connects to one Transistor podcast. If you manage multiple podcasts on Transistor, use the same API key — it grants access to all podcasts on your account.

Connecting a Show

1. Open a show in preroll.io
2. Go to Settings → Distribution
3. Enter your Transistor API key
4. preroll.io fetches your Transistor podcasts — select the one to link
5. Save the connection

Once connected, the show displays its Transistor podcast ID and current publish status.

Publishing Flow

Publishing an episode to Transistor follows three steps:

1. Upload Audio

The audio file is uploaded to Transistor's storage:

• Supported formats: MP3, M4A, WAV
• Maximum file size varies by Transistor plan
• Upload progress is tracked in preroll.io

Episode → Actions → Publish to Transistor
└── Upload audio file
└── Uploading... 45%
└── Upload complete ✓

2. Set Metadata

Configure the episode's podcast metadata:

{
  "title": "EP042: The Answer to Everything",
  "description": "<p>In this episode we discuss...</p>",
  "season_number": 3,
  "episode_number": 42,
  "type": "full",
  "explicit": false
}

3. Publish

Once audio is uploaded and metadata is set, publish the episode:

• Publish immediately — episode goes live in the RSS feed right away
• Schedule for later — set a future publish date/time

Published episodes appear in the show's RSS feed and are distributed to all connected podcast directories (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc.).

Scheduled Publishing

To schedule an episode for future release:

1. Set all metadata and upload audio as normal
2. Choose Schedule instead of Publish Now
3. Select the publish date and time (in your timezone)
4. Transistor holds the episode and publishes it at the scheduled time

{
  "published_at": "2025-02-01T14:00:00Z",
  "status": "scheduled"
}

Scheduled episodes show a countdown in both preroll.io and Transistor's dashboard.

Checking Publish Status

preroll.io tracks the publish status of each episode:

The episode detail page shows the current Transistor status and includes a direct link to the episode on Transistor's dashboard.

Episode Metadata from Templates

If the show has an episode template configured, new episodes are pre-filled with:

• Default description boilerplate (sponsor reads, links, etc.)
• Standard tags
• Episode type
• Explicit flag

This reduces repetitive data entry when publishing regularly scheduled shows.

Troubleshooting