Taking over a pre-built Channel
The handover path when PodHood or a partner already connected, indexed, and branded the Channel for you.
Some Channels arrive finished. In a founding-partner or agency build, someone else already connected the source, indexed the catalog — often the entire back catalog — and may have put the Library on a placeholder domain with white-label enabled. What remains is the handover: making you the Owner and putting future indexing on your account.
This page is that path. It replaces the Quickstart, which is written for connecting a show from zero — you never connect a source here, so nothing below asks for ownership verification.
What you're receiving
- A Channel mirroring your YouTube channel or RSS feed, with episodes indexed and published in a public Library.
- Possibly a custom domain — sometimes a placeholder owned by whoever built it, ready to swap for one you own.
- Possibly white-label already enabled: your name, artwork, and domain, with PodHood only in a discreet footer.
- A team: the builder is the current Owner and, after the handover, usually stays on as an Admin operator.
Nothing about the handover interrupts the public Library. Episodes stay live throughout.
The handover
Accept the invitations
Sign in at podhood.com/sign-in with the email your invitation was sent to, then accept the Invitation. Repeat for each Channel being handed over.
Receive ownership
The current Owner selects you under Settings → Members and confirms the transfer. You become the sole Owner; the previous Owner drops to Admin and can keep operating the Channel day to day — but can no longer see your billing.
Confirm the billing picture
From the transfer onward, indexing on the Channel uses your Plan and Credits. Open Settings → Billing and check:
- The expected Plan is active — on a free-trial arrangement, the plan card shows Free trial until the first charge date.
- The Credit balance matches what you were told to expect.
- A payment method is on file, or add one through Manage billing.
See Plans & credits for exactly what moves in a transfer — and what stays with the previous Owner.
After the handover
- Move the Library to your domain. If it launched on a placeholder, add your own host under Settings → Domains (one CNAME) and remove the placeholder — see Custom domains & white-label. Settle the final address before promoting links; redirects are temporary by design.
- Bring in your team. Invite Admins and Members and run the shared first-hour checklist in Team onboarding.
- Review what was built for you. Spot-check a few Briefs, correct high-value speaker/entity mistakes, and confirm search answers real audience questions — the same review pass described in Team onboarding, just on a catalog that is already live.
- Verify machine access. Use Connect AI in the Library to install the MCP server in one client and confirm a grounded, timestamped answer.
What changes at transfer — and what doesn't
| Changes | Stays the same |
|---|---|
| You become the sole Owner; the builder drops to Admin | The public Library, episodes, and domain configuration |
| Future indexing draws from your Plan and Credits | The previous Owner's subscription, balances, and history |
| Feature gates (white-label, invitations) key on your Plan | Already-enabled state — an active white-label is not revoked |
| Only you can see Settings → Billing and transfer ownership | Every other Studio surface for Admins and Members |