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Build Gmail contact database with GPT-5 Nano, Brave Search & Google Sheets

Václav ČiklVáclav Čikl
35 views
2/3/2026
Hacker NewsData ExtractionHTTP RequestAPIComments
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Overview

Transform your Gmail sent folder into a comprehensive, enriched contact database automatically. This workflow processes hundreds or thousands of sent emails, extracting and enriching contact information using AI and web search – saving days of manual work.

What This Workflow Does

  1. Loads sent Gmail messages and extracts basic contact information
  2. Deduplicates contacts against your existing Google Sheets database
  3. Searches for email conversation history with each contact
  4. AI-powered extraction from email threads (phone, socials, websites)
  5. Fallback web search via Brave API when no email history exists
  6. Saves enriched data to Google Sheets with all discovered contact details

Perfect For

  • Musicians & bands organizing booker/venue contacts
  • Freelancers & agencies building client databases
  • Sales teams enriching prospect lists from outbound campaigns
  • Consultants creating structured contact databases from years of emails

Key Features

Intelligent Two-Path Enrichment

  • Path A (Email History): Analyzes existing email threads to extract contact details from signatures and message content
  • Path B (Web Search): Falls back to Brave API search + HTML scraping when no email history exists

AI-Powered Data Extraction

Uses GPT-5 Nano to intelligently parse:

  • Phone numbers
  • Website URLs
  • LinkedIn profiles
  • Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, TikTok, LinkTree, BandCamp...
  • Alternative email addresses

Built-in Deduplication

Prevents duplicate entries by checking existing Google Sheets records before processing.

Free-Tier Friendly

Runs entirely on free tiers:

  • Gmail API (free)
  • OpenAI GPT-5 Nano (cost-effective)
  • Brave Search API (2,000 free searches/month)
  • Google Sheets (free)

Setup Requirements

Required Accounts & Credentials

  1. Gmail Account - OAuth2 credentials for Gmail API access
  2. OpenAI API Key - For GPT-5 Nano model
  3. Brave Search API Key - Free tier (2,000 searches/month)
  4. Google Sheets - OAuth2 credentials

Google Sheets Structure

Create a Google Sheet with these columns (see template link):

Template Sheet: Make a copy here

How to Use

  1. Clone this workflow to your n8n instance
  2. Configure credentials for Gmail, OpenAI, Brave Search, and Google Sheets
  3. Create/connect your Google Sheet using the template structure
  4. Run manually to process all sent emails and build your initial database
  5. Review results in Google Sheets - enriched with discovered contact info

First Run Tips

  • Start with a smaller Gmail query (e.g., last 6 months) to test
  • Check Brave API quota before processing large volumes
  • Manual trigger means you control when processing happens
  • Processing time varies based on email volume (typically 2-5 seconds per contact)

Customization Ideas

Extend the Enrichment

  • Include company information parsing
  • Extract job titles from email signatures

Automate Regular Updates

  • Convert manual trigger to scheduled trigger
  • Process only recent sent emails for incremental updates
  • Add email notification when new contacts are added

Integration Options

  • Push enriched contacts to CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce)
  • Send Slack notifications for high-value contacts
  • Export to Airtable for relational database features

Improve Accuracy

  • Add human-in-the-loop review for uncertain extractions
  • Implement confidence scoring for AI-extracted data
  • Add validation checks for phone numbers and URLs

Use Case Example

Music Promoter Building Venue Database:

  • Processed 1,835 sent emails to bookers and venues
  • AI extracted contact details from 60% via email signatures
  • Brave search found websites for remaining 40%
  • Final database: 1,835 enriched contacts ready for outreach
  • Time saved: ~40 hours of manual data entry

Technical Notes

  • Rate Limiting: Brave API free tier = 2,000 searches/month
  • Duplicates: Handled at workflow start, not during processing
  • Empty Results: Stores email + name even when enrichment fails
  • Model: Uses GPT-5 Nano for cost-effective parsing
  • Gmail Scope: Reads sent emails only (not inbox)

Cost Estimate

For processing 1,000 contacts:

  • Gmail API: Free
  • GPT-5 Nano: ~$0.50-2 (depending on email length)
  • Brave Search: Free (within 2K/month limit)
  • Google Sheets: Free
  • Total: Under $2 for 1,000 enriched contacts

Template Author:

Questions or need help with setup? 📧 Email:xciklv@gmail.com 💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaclavcikl/

Build Gmail Contact Database with GPT-5 Nano, Brave Search, and Google Sheets

This n8n workflow automates the process of extracting contact information from your Gmail inbox, enriching it with Brave Search, and then organizing it into a Google Sheet. It leverages AI (GPT-5 Nano via OpenAI) to parse email content and identify relevant contact details, ensuring you build a comprehensive and up-to-date contact database.

What it does

This workflow performs the following key steps:

  1. Manually Triggers: The workflow is initiated manually.
  2. Fetches Gmail Emails: Retrieves emails from your Gmail account.
  3. Loops Over Emails: Processes each fetched email individually.
  4. Extracts Information with AI: Uses an OpenAI Chat Model (GPT-5 Nano) to extract structured contact information (e.g., name, email, company, phone) from the email body.
  5. Enriches Data with Brave Search (HTTP Request): Performs a Brave Search query using extracted information to find additional details about the contact or company.
  6. Combines AI and Search Results: Aggregates the information extracted by AI and the results from Brave Search.
  7. Filters for Valid Contacts: Checks if valid contact information (e.g., an email address) was successfully extracted.
  8. Formats Data: Standardizes the extracted and enriched data into a consistent format.
  9. Removes Duplicates: Ensures that only unique contact entries are added to the database.
  10. Adds to Google Sheets: Appends the processed contact information to a specified Google Sheet.
  11. Waits (Optional Delay): Includes a configurable delay between processing batches to manage API rate limits or spread out operations.

Prerequisites/Requirements

To use this workflow, you will need:

  • n8n Instance: A running instance of n8n.
  • Gmail Account: With appropriate credentials configured in n8n.
  • OpenAI API Key: For the OpenAI Chat Model (GPT-5 Nano).
  • Brave Search API Key: For the HTTP Request node to query Brave Search.
  • Google Sheets Account: With appropriate credentials configured in n8n, and a target spreadsheet ready.

Setup/Usage

  1. Import the Workflow: Download the provided JSON and import it into your n8n instance.
  2. Configure Credentials:
    • Gmail Node: Set up your Google OAuth2 credentials for Gmail.
    • OpenAI Chat Model Node: Configure your OpenAI API Key.
    • HTTP Request Node: Configure your Brave Search API key or any necessary authentication for the Brave Search API.
    • Google Sheets Node: Set up your Google OAuth2 credentials for Google Sheets and specify the Spreadsheet ID and Sheet Name where you want to store the contacts.
  3. Review and Adjust Nodes:
    • Gmail Node: Adjust the "Resource" and "Operation" if you want to fetch emails differently (e.g., from specific labels, older than a certain date).
    • OpenAI Chat Model Node: Review the prompt to ensure it effectively extracts the desired contact information from your emails.
    • HTTP Request Node: Verify the Brave Search API endpoint and query parameters.
    • If Node: Adjust the conditions if you have different criteria for what constitutes a "valid" contact.
    • Edit Fields (Set) Node: Ensure the field mapping aligns with the columns in your Google Sheet.
    • Loop Over Items (Split in Batches) Node: Adjust the batch size and delay in the "Wait" node if you encounter rate limit issues or prefer a slower processing speed.
  4. Execute the Workflow: Click the "Execute workflow" button in the Manual Trigger node to start processing your emails.

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