joeyhbuilds · setup guide
Newsletter Research Agent
Once a week, it reads the AI and automation blogs for you, writes a short plain-language summary of what's new, and emails it to you — so you stay in the loop without doing the reading.
01 What this is
The short version
Every week, this little helper checks a few trusted AI and automation blogs, keeps only the fresh posts, and asks Claude (the AI) to write a quick, plain-English summary of each one. You get a single email: the three biggest things first, then short summaries grouped by topic, each with a link to read more. A copy is also saved to a folder on your computer, so over time you build your own searchable library.
Is this for you?
Honestly — yes, if you'd like a weekly summary of what's new without spending an hour reading. You don't need to be technical. If you can copy and paste, you can do this. It takes about 45 minutes, one time, and then it runs on its own.
What you get: a ready-to-read summary each week — a prepared starting point you can use however you like. It's not a finished blog post or a social media caption; it's the research done for you, so you can take it wherever you want.
Worried it's too technical? Every step below is written in plain language, and any unfamiliar word has a definition you can hover or tap. If you get stuck at any point, email support@joeyhbuilds.com, tell me what you're seeing, and I'll help you through it.
What "done" looks like
02 At a glance
03 What you'll need
Four things, all free to start. Some may be new — that's fine. Any word with a dotted underline like this one has a plain explanation: hover or tap it, or find them all in the word list at the end. You'll set each tool up as you go.
- Docker — free software that runs your automation quietly in the background, like a sealed container it lives inside. You install it once. (This is the one new app most people haven't heard of — it's just a helper that keeps everything running.)
- n8n — a free automation builder. Instead of writing code, an automation is a set of boxes joined by lines. You won't build anything — you'll load the ready-made one we give you. It runs inside Docker.
- An Anthropic account and API key — this is what lets your automation use Claude to write the summaries. An API key is a password-like code; you'll create it in Step 2. Costs a few cents a month; you add a little credit.
- A Gmail account — used to send the weekly email to yourself. You almost certainly already have one.
The workflow file — the ready-made automation. You'll download it and load it in Step 3 below.
04 Cost & safety
What it costs
Setting it up is free. The only ongoing cost is the AI writing your summaries — one summary a week, which is tiny.
| To set up | Free |
| To run | About a few cents a month. (Claude charges by the amount of text; a weekly summary works out to roughly one to four cents.) |
Keeping it safe
- Everything stays on your computer. Your API key and your Gmail connection live only inside your own setup. Nothing is sent to us.
- Treat your API key like a password. Don't paste it into chats or screenshots. If it ever gets out, delete it (in the Anthropic account) and make a new one.
- What it can and can't do: it reads public blogs, has Claude summarize them, and sends you one email. It does not read your inbox and never deletes anything.
05 Set it up — three steps
Install the helper apps
▸ about 20 minutes — most of it just waiting for downloads
Install Docker Desktop. Make a folder for the saved summaries (e.g. ~/Newsletter Digests). In a terminal, run:
docker run -d --name n8n --restart unless-stopped \
-p 5678:5678 \
-v ~/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n \
-v "$HOME/Newsletter Digests":/files \
-e N8N_RESTRICT_FILE_ACCESS_TO=/files \
-e NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN=fs \
docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8nThen open http://localhost:5678 and create your account.
- Install Docker. Go to docker.com, download "Docker Desktop," and open it like any app. Wait until the little whale icon near your clock stops moving — that means it's running. That's all Docker does here: it quietly keeps your automation alive in the background.
- Make a folder for your summaries. Create a normal folder — for example, one called Newsletter Digests in your home folder. This is just where the weekly copies get saved. Remember where it is.
- Open a terminal. On a Mac, press Cmd+Space, type Terminal, and press Enter. On Windows, click the search box and type PowerShell. A plain text window opens — this is where you paste one command. It looks bare, but you can't break anything by pasting the line we give you.
- Paste the command. Copy the block from the Quick Path above (change the folder name if yours is different), paste it into that window, and press Enter. In plain terms: this starts n8n, tells it to keep running in the background, and connects it to your Newsletter Digests folder so it can save the weekly file.
- Open n8n in your browser. Go to
http://localhost:5678. (localhost just means "your own computer," and this is the same address for everyone.) Create a simple account — it's only on your machine.
The command has a -d in it — that's what keeps n8n running after you close the window. Leave it in.
Typing http://localhost:5678 into your browser opens n8n and you see a blank workspace (an empty screen where automations will live). If the page won't open: check the whale icon (Docker) is running, and that the folder name in your command matches a folder you actually made — then try the command again. Still stuck? See Troubleshooting.
Get your keys
▸ about 10 minutes
Create an API key at console.anthropic.com and add a little credit. In n8n, add a Gmail connection (sign in with the account you want to send from).
- Create your Anthropic key. Go to console.anthropic.com, sign in (or make a free account), open "API Keys," and click Create Key. Copy it somewhere safe for a minute — you'll paste it in Step 3. Then, under "Billing," add a small amount of credit; even $5 lasts a very long time here. This key is what lets your automation use Claude.
- Connect your Gmail. In n8n, click Credentials on the left, then Add Credential, search Gmail, and sign in with the account you want the email to come from. n8n stores this safely for you.
The key is shown only once. If you lose it, no problem — just make another and delete the old one.
You have your key copied and ready, and n8n shows a connected Gmail account (usually a small green tick). If the Gmail sign-in doesn't finish, make sure you picked the right account and said yes to the permissions it asked for.
Load the ready-made automation
▸ about 15 minutes
Import the workflow file. Paste your API key into the "HTTP Request" box. Put your email and Gmail connection in the "Send a message" box. Set the save folder to /files. Pick your weekly day and time on the "Schedule Trigger."
- Load the file. In n8n, open the menu (top right) and choose Import from File, then pick the file you just downloaded. The finished automation appears on screen as a row of connected boxes. You don't need to understand each box — you'll just fill in a few.
- Add your key. Click the box named HTTP Request (this is the one that talks to Claude) and paste your API key into the field labelled
x-api-key. Nothing else in it changes. - Set who it emails. Click the box named Send a message, put your own email address in the "To" field, and choose the Gmail connection from Step 2.
- Point it at your folder. Click the last box (named Code) and make sure the save location says
/files— that's the guide's name for the Newsletter Digests folder you made in Step 1. - Pick your day and time. Click the first box, Schedule Trigger, and choose when you want the email each week — say, Monday at 6 AM.
Each box shows your details, and none of them has a little red dot (that's n8n's way of flagging a problem). If one does, check the key was pasted with no extra spaces, the Gmail connection is chosen, and the save folder says exactly /files.
06 Try it, then turn it on
Run it once by hand to make sure it all works:
- Click Execute workflow at the bottom of the screen, and watch the boxes light up green one by one.
- Check your inbox — an email should arrive in a minute or two.
- Open your Newsletter Digests folder — a new file with today's date should be there.
- Once both look right, flip the switch at the top to Active. From now on it runs by itself every week.
If the first email looks a little short, that's usually just a quiet news week — it only includes posts from the last seven days.
07 Turning it off & what it can't do
Pausing or removing it
- Pause it: flip the switch to Off. It stops but keeps all your settings.
- Remove it completely: delete the automation in n8n, disconnect Gmail, and delete the key in your Anthropic account. To remove n8n itself, ask us — it's a one-line command.
- What stays: your saved summary files remain in the folder until you delete them. Your accounts are untouched.
What it doesn't do (yet)
This is the first version. It reads three sources (the n8n blog, the Zapier blog, and OpenAI's news), and it gives you a summary to read — not a finished article. It runs on your own computer, so it only sends the email when your computer and Docker are on at the scheduled time. It's an early version, so more sources and options are on the way.
08 Common questions
- Do I have to keep a window open?
- No. Once it's turned on, it runs quietly in the background.
- What if my computer's asleep at the scheduled time?
- It skips that week rather than catching up later, so just make sure your computer and Docker are on around then.
- Can I change which blogs it reads?
- Yes — the first few boxes point at the blogs, and those can be swapped out.
- Is any of my private information involved?
- No. Only public blog posts are sent to Claude to summarize.
- What if I get stuck partway through?
- Email support@joeyhbuilds.com, tell me which step you're on and what's on your screen, and I'll help you get unstuck.
09 If something's not working
No file is showing up in my folder. Usually the folder wasn't connected properly. Re-check that the command you pasted included your folder name and the two -e lines, and that the folder really exists.
The email looks like a jumble of symbols. Re-load the file that came with this guide rather than editing the boxes by hand.
An email never arrives. Double-check your email address and Gmail connection are set in the "Send a message" box.
Claude says something about billing or credit. Add a little credit under "Billing" in your Anthropic account.
Email support@joeyhbuilds.com and tell me what you see on screen — which step you're on and anything in red. The more detail, the faster I can help.
10 Every word, explained
New terms in one place — no need to know these before you start.
- Docker
- Free software that runs your automation quietly in the background on your computer, like a sealed container it lives inside. You install it once and forget it.
- n8n
- A free automation builder. Instead of writing code, an automation is a set of boxes joined by lines. You won't build anything — you load the ready-made one we give you. It runs inside Docker.
- Terminal (or PowerShell)
- A plain text window where you type commands. Mac: press Cmd+Space, type "Terminal", press Enter. Windows: search "PowerShell". Here, you just paste one line we give you.
- localhost
- Just your own computer. A "localhost" web address opens a page running on your machine, not the public internet. localhost:5678 is the same for everyone here — it's n8n's default address.
- API key
- A password-like code that lets your automation use Claude (the AI). You create it once and paste it in. Keep it private, like a password.
11 What's next
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