Convert Task Ideas to Implementation Plans with GPT-4o, Slack, and Google Sheets

This n8n workflow automates the process of transforming high-level task ideas from a Google Sheet into detailed, actionable implementation plans using an AI Agent (GPT-4o), and then posts these plans to a Slack channel. It also creates corresponding Google Tasks for each planned item.

What it does

This workflow streamlines your task management by:

1. Triggering on a Schedule: Periodically checks for new task ideas.
2. Fetching Task Ideas: Reads new task ideas from a specified Google Sheet.
3. Filtering for New Ideas: Identifies tasks marked as "New Idea" in the Google Sheet.
4. Looping Through Ideas: Processes each "New Idea" individually.
5. Generating Implementation Plans with AI: Uses an OpenAI Chat Model (GPT-4o) via an AI Agent to convert the task idea into a structured implementation plan, including a title, description, and sub-tasks.
6. Parsing AI Output: Extracts the structured plan details from the AI's response.
7. Posting to Slack: Shares the generated implementation plan in a designated Slack channel.
8. Creating Google Tasks: For each sub-task identified in the AI-generated plan, a new Google Task is created.
9. Updating Google Sheet: Marks the processed task idea in the Google Sheet as "Planned" to prevent reprocessing.

Prerequisites/Requirements

To use this workflow, you will need:

• n8n Instance: A running instance of n8n.
• Google Account: With access to Google Sheets and Google Tasks.
  • A Google Sheet with task ideas, including a column to mark their status (e.g., "Status").
  • A Google Tasks list where new tasks will be created.
• Slack Account: With a channel where the implementation plans will be posted.
• OpenAI API Key: For the OpenAI Chat Model (GPT-4o).

Setup/Usage

1. Import the Workflow: Download the provided JSON and import it into your n8n instance.
2. Configure Credentials:
   • Google Sheets: Configure your Google Sheets credential. Ensure it has access to the specified spreadsheet.
   • Google Tasks: Configure your Google Tasks credential.
   • Slack: Configure your Slack credential.
   • OpenAI: Configure your OpenAI API Key credential.
3. Configure Nodes:
   • Schedule Trigger (Node 839): Adjust the schedule to your desired frequency for checking new ideas.
   • Google Sheets (Node 18):
     • Specify your Spreadsheet ID and Sheet Name.
     • Ensure the "Operation" is set to "Get All Rows" or similar to retrieve all relevant task ideas.
     • Identify the column name used for task status (e.g., "Status") and the column containing the task idea itself (e.g., "Task Idea").
   • Filter (Node 844):
     • Ensure the condition correctly identifies "New Idea" tasks based on your Google Sheet's status column.
   • AI Agent (Node 1119):
     • Select your OpenAI Chat Model credential.
     • Review and adjust the prompt to guide the AI in generating the desired implementation plan structure. The prompt should instruct the AI to output JSON with title, description, and an array of sub_tasks.
   • Structured Output Parser (Node 1179):
     • Verify the schema matches the expected JSON output from the AI Agent (e.g., {"title": "string", "description": "string", "sub_tasks": ["string"]}).
   • Slack (Node 40):
     • Specify the Channel ID where the plans should be posted.
     • Customize the message template to display the AI-generated plan clearly.
   • Google Tasks (Node 332):
     • Specify the Task List ID where new tasks should be created.
     • Map the sub_task from the AI output to the "Title" field for new Google Tasks.
   • Google Sheets (Node 18 - Update):
     • Ensure this node correctly updates the "Status" column of the processed row to "Planned" using the original row index.
4. Activate the Workflow: Once configured, activate the workflow to start automating your task planning!