Summarize your inbox every morning

How to do it

1. 1

   FIRST: Connecting n8n to Gmail uses Google OAuth — this is the secure industry standard (it is how apps like Calendly or Notion connect to your Google account). You do NOT give n8n your password. You will click 'Allow' on a Google permission screen. To set this up: in n8n, add a Gmail credential, click 'Sign in with Google', and follow the prompts. Full guide at docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/credentials/google. This takes about 10 minutes.

2. 2

   Install n8n on your computer using the Docker install at docs.n8n.io

3. 3

   Install Ollama from ollama.com and run: ollama pull llama3 in your Terminal

4. 4

   In n8n, create a new workflow with a Schedule trigger set to 8:00am

5. 5

   Add a Gmail node — connect it using the credential you set up in step 1. Set it to 'Get Many Messages', filter for 'unread', and limit to last 24 hours

6. 6

   Add an Ollama node with this prompt: 'Here are my unread emails from the last 24 hours. Summarize the 5 most important ones in plain English. One sentence per email. Flag anything that looks urgent or time-sensitive.'

7. 7

   Add a Send Email node to email the summary to yourself

8. 8

   Run the workflow manually to test it, then activate the schedule

Watch out for

• ⚠

  The Gmail OAuth setup looks technical but is just clicking Allow on Google's screen — the same thing you do when any app asks to connect to Google

• ⚠

  Works best with Llama 3 8B or Qwen 2.5 — download either with: ollama pull qwen2.5

• ⚠

  Very long email threads may get cut off — Ollama has a context limit, but it handles typical emails fine

• ⚠

  Your computer needs to be on at 8am. If you want this to run even when your computer is off, this is a Setup Session candidate.