Daily AI News Digest from Hacker News with GPT-5 Summaries and Email Delivery

Description

Daily AI News Digest from Hacker News with GPT Summaries and Email Delivery


Automate your daily AI news briefing: fetch AI-tagged stories from Hacker News, filter for the last 24 hours, scrape and summarize with GPT, then deliver a clean HTML email digest—no manual curation needed.

What It Does
Runs on schedule to fetch up to 1000 Hacker News stories tagged "AI", filters for today's posts, loops through each to scrape content from source URLs, generates concise AI summaries via OpenAI GPT, aggregates into a styled HTML newsletter, and sends via email.

Setup Requirements
Credentials Needed:
OpenAI API Key**: Get from platform.openai.com/api-keys, add as "OpenAI" credential in n8n
SMTP Server**: Configure email credentials (Gmail, Zoho, etc.) in n8n's SMTP settings

Configuration Steps:
Import workflow JSON into n8n
Add OpenAI credential to "GPT 5 pro" node
Add SMTP credential to "Send email" node
Update fromEmail and toEmail fields in "Send email" node
Set schedule in "start" trigger node (default: daily)
Activate workflow

Key Features
Smart Filtering**: Fetches 1000 stories, filters last 24 hours using date expressions
AI Summarization**: GPT generates heading + 2-sentence summaries with links
Reliable Scraping**: HTTP requests with markdown conversion for clean LLM input
Batch Processing**: Loops through items, processes sequentially
Responsive Design**: Mobile-friendly HTML email template with inline CSS
Aggregation**: Combines all summaries into single digest

Customization Options
Change Keywords**: Modify "AI" filter in "Get many items" node
Adjust Timeframe**: Edit date filter in "Today" node
Tweak Summaries**: Customize GPT prompt in "News Summary Agent" node
Email Styling**: Update HTML/CSS in "Send email" node
Schedule**: Change frequency in "start" trigger

Use Cases
Personal daily AI briefings for researchers/developers
Team knowledge sharing via automated newsletters
Content curation for blogs or social media
Trend monitoring for marketers

Troubleshooting
No stories returned**: Check HN API limits, verify keyword filter
Scraping failures**: Some sites block bots—proxy noted in workflow but may need updates
Email not sending**: Verify SMTP credentials and test connection
Poor summaries**: Adjust GPT prompt or switch model

Execution Time: 2-10 minutes depending on story count