fix(feed): stop persisting legacy podcast.episodes

search-time parseRSSFeed once embedded the full episode history
inside Feed.podcast (2,100+ stale copies, 3.8 MB of config). Nothing
reads it — feed.episodes is the source of truth — so load and save
now strip podcast.episodes, and searchByFeedUrl drops them at the
parse site.

src/utils/feeds-persistence.ts

@@ -83,6 +83,18 @@ function reviveDates(feed: Feed): Feed {
 		})),
 	};
 }
+
+/** Config-legacy baggage: search-time parseRSSFeed once embedded the full
+ *  episode history inside podcast.episodes (2,100+ stale copies, 3.8 MB of
+ *  config). Nothing reads them — feed.episodes is the source of truth — so
+ *  every load/save drops them. */
+function stripLegacyPodcastEpisodes(feed: Feed): Feed {
+	if (!("episodes" in feed.podcast)) return feed;
+	const { episodes: _legacy, ...podcast } = feed.podcast;
+	void _legacy;
+	return { ...feed, podcast: podcast as Feed["podcast"] };
+}
+
 /** Load feeds from config.json, pruning episodes outside the retention
  *  window (completed downloads always kept). When anything was pruned, the
  *  pruned list is rewritten to config.json (startup cleanup for legacy
@@ -93,7 +105,9 @@ export async function loadFeedsFromFile(
 	try {
 		const cfg = await loadConfig();
 		if (!Array.isArray(cfg.feeds)) return [];
-		const feeds = cfg.feeds.map(reviveDates);
+		const feeds = cfg.feeds
+			.map(reviveDates)
+			.map(stripLegacyPodcastEpisodes);
 		const downloadedIds = await readDownloadedEpisodeIds();
 		const now = new Date();
 		let prunedAny = false;
@@ -122,7 +136,9 @@ export function saveFeedsToFile(feeds: Feed[], windowDays?: number): void {
 	(async () => {
 		try {
 			const downloadedIds = await readDownloadedEpisodeIds();
-			const pruned = feeds.map((f) => ({
+			const pruned = feeds
+				.map(stripLegacyPodcastEpisodes)
+				.map((f) => ({
 					...f,
 					episodes: f.episodes.filter((ep) =>
 						episodeIsPersistable(ep, downloadedIds, new Date(), windowDays),

src/utils/search.ts

@@ -84,7 +84,11 @@ export const searchByFeedUrl = async (
   try {
     const xml = await fetchFeedXml(trimmed);
     if (xml === null) return [];
-    const podcast = parseRSSFeed(xml, trimmed);
+    // Full parse's episodes are dead weight here (2,100+ stale copies were
+    // previously persisted inside Feed.podcast): addFeed refetches through
+    // fetchEpisodes and nothing reads Podcast.episodes off a search result.
+    const { episodes: _episodes, ...podcast } = parseRSSFeed(xml, trimmed);
+    void _episodes;
 
     return [
       {

tests/feed-retention.test.ts

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import { whenConfigIdle } from "../src/utils/config";
 import { FeedVisibility } from "../src/types/feed";
 import type { Feed } from "../src/types/feed";
 import type { Episode } from "../src/types/episode";
+import type { PodcastWithEpisodes } from "../src/types/podcast";
 
 const configJsonPath = join(configHome, "podtui", "config.json");
 const downloadsJsonPath = join(configHome, "podtui", "downloads.json");
@@ -169,6 +170,73 @@ test("DEFAULT_EPISODE_WINDOW_DAYS is 60", () => {
 	expect(DEFAULT_EPISODE_WINDOW_DAYS).toBe(60);
 });
 
+// ── Legacy podcast.episodes baggage ────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test("saveFeedsToFile strips legacy podcast.episodes from the persisted feed", async () => {
+	const feed = makeFeed([
+		makeEpisode({ id: "recent-id", pubDate: new Date(Date.now() - 5 * DAY) }),
+	]);
+	// Simulate the pre-fix shape: parseRSSFeed's full history embedded on
+	// the podcast object (841 stale copies were persisted this way).
+	const podcastWithLegacy = feed.podcast as PodcastWithEpisodes;
+	podcastWithLegacy.episodes = [
+		makeEpisode({ id: "stale-history-1" }),
+		makeEpisode({ id: "stale-history-2" }),
+	];
+
+	saveFeedsToFile([feed]);
+	await settleWrites();
+	const raw = await Bun.file(configJsonPath).json();
+	expect("episodes" in raw.feeds[0].podcast).toBe(false);
+});
+
+test("loadFeedsFromFile drops legacy podcast.episodes from a seeded config", async () => {
+	await Bun.write(
+		configJsonPath,
+		JSON.stringify({
+			feeds: [
+				{
+					id: "feed-1",
+					podcast: {
+						id: "feed-1",
+						title: "Baggage Show",
+						description: "",
+						author: "tester",
+						feedUrl: "https://example.com/baggage.xml",
+						lastUpdated: new Date().toISOString(),
+						isSubscribed: true,
+						episodes: [
+							{ id: "huge-stale-1", title: "archived copy" },
+							{ id: "huge-stale-2", title: "archived copy" },
+						],
+					},
+					episodes: [
+						{
+							id: "recent-id",
+							podcastId: "feed-1",
+							title: "Recent",
+							description: "",
+							audioUrl: "https://example.com/audio/recent.mp3",
+							duration: 60,
+							pubDate: new Date().toISOString(),
+						},
+					],
+					visibility: "public",
+					sourceId: "source-1",
+					lastUpdated: new Date().toISOString(),
+					isPinned: false,
+				},
+			],
+		}),
+	);
+
+	const feeds = await loadFeedsFromFile();
+
+	expect(feeds).toHaveLength(1);
+	expect(feeds[0].episodes.map((e) => e.id)).toEqual(["recent-id"]);
+	expect("episodes" in feeds[0].podcast).toBe(false);
+});
+
 // ── Save path: retention window applied with completed-download exemption ──
 
 test("saveFeedsToFile prunes over-window episodes but keeps completed downloads", async () => {