News Summary Automation with n8n

Automate your news consumption with AI-powered summaries! This project extracts articles from RSS feeds, processes them through AI for concise summarization, and stores the results in Airtable for easy access and review.

---

Table of Contents

• Overview
• How It Works
  • Workflow Steps
• Benefits
• Requirements
• Setup Instructions
  • 1. Clone or Import Workflow
  • 2. Configure RSS Feeds
  • 3. Connect Gemini AI
  • 4. Connect Airtable
  • 5. Customize Summary Parameters
  • 6. Schedule the Trigger
  • 7. Test the Workflow
• Customization
  • RSS Feed Configuration
  • AI Summary Customization
  • Airtable Structure
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing
• License
• Contact

---

Overview

News Summary Automation is an n8n workflow designed for content creators, researchers, and news enthusiasts. It:

• Automatically fetches articles from multiple RSS feeds
• Processes content through Gemini AI for intelligent summarization
• Converts HTML content to clean Markdown format
• Stores structured summaries in Airtable for easy access and organization
• Runs on a scheduled basis to keep you updated with the latest news

---

How It Works

Workflow Steps

1. Scheduled Trigger

   • Initiates the workflow at regular intervals (configurable timing)

2. Fetch RSS Feeds

   • Retrieves a predefined list of RSS feeds from the workflow code
   • Supports multiple news sources and content types

3. Loop Through Feeds

   • Iterates through each RSS feed to process articles individually
   • Ensures comprehensive coverage of all configured sources

4. Read Latest Articles

   • Extracts the most recent articles from each feed
   • Captures article content, titles, URLs, and publication dates

5. AI Summarization with Gemini

   • Sends article content to Gemini AI for intelligent analysis
   • Generates concise, informative summaries while preserving key insights

6. HTML to Markdown Conversion

   • Converts HTML content to clean Markdown format
   • Improves readability and makes content easier to process

7. Structure and Save to Airtable

   • Organizes summary outputs with metadata
   • Stores records in Airtable for centralized access and management

---

Benefits

• Saves time reading full articles while maintaining understanding
• Delivers clear, concise insights through AI-powered analysis
• Centralizes summaries for easy access and reference
• Enhances content understanding with intelligent AI assistance
• Automates news consumption for busy professionals
• Maintains historical record of summarized content

---

Requirements

• n8n installation or cloud account
• Google account with access to Gemini AI API
• Airtable account and base for storing summaries
• RSS feeds you want to monitor and summarize

---

Setup Instructions

1. Clone or Import Workflow

• Download or import the attached News Summary.json workflow in your n8n instance
• Use the Visual editor or Desktop version for easy setup

2. Configure RSS Feeds

• Edit the RSS feed list in the workflow code
• Add your preferred news sources and content feeds
• Ensure RSS URLs are accessible and properly formatted

3. Connect Gemini AI

• Add your Google/Gemini AI credentials in n8n
• Configure the AI node with your preferred model settings
• Set appropriate rate limits and API quotas

4. Connect Airtable

• Add your Airtable credentials to the workflow
• Configure the base ID and table name for storing summaries
• Ensure proper permissions for creating and updating records

5. Customize Summary Parameters

• Adjust the AI prompt for desired summary length and style
• Configure content filtering preferences
• Set summary quality and relevance thresholds

6. Schedule the Trigger

• Configure the schedule node for your preferred run frequency
• Consider news update patterns and your reading schedule
• Daily or hourly triggers are recommended for news content

7. Test the Workflow

• Run the workflow manually to verify all connections
• Check Airtable for properly formatted summary records
• Monitor AI processing and content quality

---

Customization

RSS Feed Configuration

Configure your RSS feeds by editing the workflow code:

// Example RSS feed configuration
const rssFeeds = [
  "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/rss.xml",
  "https://rss.cnn.com/rss/edition.rss",
  "https://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/topNews"
];

AI Summary Customization

Customize the Gemini AI prompt for different summary styles:

Concise Summary: "Provide a 2-3 sentence summary of the key points in this article."

Detailed Analysis: "Summarize this article in 4-5 sentences, highlighting main arguments and supporting evidence."

Business Focus: "Extract the key business insights and market implications from this article."

Airtable Structure

Your Airtable base should include these columns for optimal organization:

• Title: Article headline
• Summary: AI-generated summary content
• Link: Original article link
• Published Date: Article publication timestamp
• Category: Content classification (optional)
• Keywords: Extracted key terms (optional)

---

Troubleshooting

• RSS feed errors: Verify feed URLs and accessibility
• Gemini AI failures: Check API quotas and authentication
• Airtable connection issues: Verify credentials and table permissions
• Content processing errors: Review HTML parsing and AI prompt formatting
• Workflow scheduling problems: Check n8n instance status and cron expressions

---

Contributing

Contributions and suggestions are welcome!
Fork the repo, submit issues, or create pull requests for workflow improvements.

---

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

---

Contact

• Email: nebeyoumusie@gmail.com
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn
• X(Twitter): X
• Upwork: Upwork
• My Agency: Fuzion Tech Website or Fuzion Tech on Upwork

---

Skills & Technologies:
n8n, Automation, RSS, Gemini, Airtable

---

Enjoy automated news consumption and AI-powered insights!

---

_For any issues, please contact the project maintainer or open an issue on your workflow repository.