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Daily newsletter service using Excel, Outlook and AI

JimleukJimleuk
13433 views
2/3/2026
Google DriveIMAPAutomationEmailNotion
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This n8n template builds a newsletter ("daily digest") delivery service which pulls and summarises the latest n8n.io template in select categories defined by subscribers.

It's scheduled to run once a day and sends the newsletter directly to subscriber via a nicely formatted email. If you've had trouble keeping up with the latest and greatest templates beign published daily, this workflow can save you a lot of time!

How it works

  • A scheduled trigger pulls a list of subscribers (email and category preferences) from an Excel workbook.
  • We work out unique categories amongst all subscribers and only fetch the latest n8n website templates from these categories to save on resources and optimise the number of API calls we make.
  • The fetched templates are summarised via AI to produce a short description which is more suitable for our email format.
  • For each subscriber, we filter and collect only the templates relevant to their category preferences (as defined in the Excel) and ensure that duplicate templates or those which have been "seen before" are omitted.
  • A HTML node is then used to generate the email newsletter. HTML emails are the perfect format since we can add links back to the template.
  • Finally, we use the Outlook node to send the email digest to the subscriber.

How to use

  • Populate your Excel sheet with 3 columns: name, email and categories. Categories is a comma-delimited list of categories which match the n8n template website. The available categories are AI, SecOps, Sales, IT Ops, Marketing, Engineering, DevOps, Building Blocks, Design, Finance, HR, Other, Product and Support.
  • To subscribe a new user, simply add their email to the Excel sheet with at least one category.
  • To unsubscribe a user, remove them from the sheet.
  • If you're not interested in paid templates, you may want to filter them out after fetching.

Requirements

  • Microsoft Excel for subscriber list
  • Microsoft Outlook for delivering emails
  • OpenAI for AI-generated descriptions

Customising the workflow

  • Use AI to summarise the week's trend of templates types and use-cases
  • This template can be the basis for other similar newsletters - just pull in a list of things from anywhere!

Daily Newsletter Service using Excel, Outlook, and AI

This n8n workflow automates the creation and distribution of a daily newsletter. It leverages Microsoft Excel for content management, OpenAI for generating newsletter content, and Microsoft Outlook for sending the emails. The workflow simplifies the process of curating daily news, generating summaries, and distributing them to a predefined list.

What it does

  1. Triggers Daily: The workflow is scheduled to run at a specific time each day.
  2. Reads Newsletter Data: It connects to a Microsoft Excel 365 spreadsheet to retrieve the latest newsletter content.
  3. Processes Each Item: For each item (e.g., news article, update) read from Excel, it performs the following:
    • Generates AI Content: Uses an OpenAI Chat Model via a Basic LLM Chain to generate a summary or specific content for the newsletter item.
    • Formats HTML: Converts the generated content into a structured HTML format suitable for email.
  4. Aggregates Content: After processing all individual items, it combines the generated HTML content into a single, comprehensive newsletter body.
  5. Removes Duplicates (Placeholder): Includes a "Remove Duplicates" node, which, though not explicitly configured in the provided JSON, suggests an intention to deduplicate content if necessary.
  6. Sends Email: Composes and sends the aggregated newsletter content as an email using Microsoft Outlook.
  7. No Operation: Includes a "No Operation" node at the end, which acts as a placeholder or a terminal point for the workflow's execution.

Prerequisites/Requirements

  • n8n Instance: A running n8n instance.
  • Microsoft Excel 365 Account: With access to the spreadsheet containing newsletter data.
  • Microsoft Outlook Account: Configured for sending emails.
  • OpenAI API Key: For the OpenAI Chat Model to generate content.
  • LangChain Integration: The n8n instance must have the LangChain nodes installed and configured.

Setup/Usage

  1. Import the Workflow: Import the provided JSON into your n8n instance.
  2. Configure Credentials:
    • Microsoft Excel 365: Set up your Microsoft account credentials for Excel.
    • Microsoft Outlook: Set up your Microsoft account credentials for Outlook.
    • OpenAI: Configure your OpenAI API key for the "OpenAI Chat Model" node.
  3. Customize Excel Data: Ensure your Excel spreadsheet is structured to provide the necessary inputs for the AI content generation (e.g., article titles, links, brief descriptions).
  4. Adjust Schedule Trigger: Configure the "Schedule Trigger" node to run at your desired daily frequency (e.g., every morning).
  5. Refine AI Prompts: Customize the "Basic LLM Chain" and "OpenAI Chat Model" nodes with specific prompts to guide the AI in generating the desired newsletter content.
  6. Design HTML Template: Modify the "HTML" node to format the newsletter content according to your branding and layout preferences.
  7. Configure Outlook Email: In the "Microsoft Outlook" node, specify the recipient list, subject line, and ensure the HTML body is correctly mapped from the aggregated content.
  8. Activate the Workflow: Once configured, activate the workflow to begin automated daily newsletter distribution.

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