How to Build a Custom n8n Workflow for Daily AI-Powered News Briefings via RSS Feeds

Keeping up with the news these days? Yeah, good luck. There’s an endless ocean of articles, blogs, headlines, and often it feels like you’re drowning in a tsunami of “must-reads.” I’ve been there—scrambling to stay on top of stuff without wasting hours scrolling or opening a dozen tabs.

Here’s a hack I cooked up: a custom n8n workflow that pulls your favorite RSS feeds and uses AI to whip together daily news briefings. The best part? It runs itself. No more manual roundup sessions, no more “did I miss that big update?” moments.

If you’ve ever glanced at Upwork listings for automation gigs or thought, “This could be a handy tool to build,” you’re in the right spot. I’ll walk you through how to get it done without needing to be a coding wizard.

So, what’s n8n, really?

If you’re new, n8n sounds geeky but it’s surprisingly approachable. It’s a free-ish, open-source tool for building workflows—basically automating repetitive tasks. Think Zapier, but more flexible and less “plug, play, and pay.” You drag and drop nodes on a canvas, connect dots, and stuff happens automatically.

I’ve used n8n to automate marketing campaigns, shuffle data between apps, even make simple game scoreboards. What’s cool here is that n8n supports lots of integrations without you having to write a ton of code. And if you do want to get your hands dirty, you can insert custom API calls.

For news briefings, this means you can pull data from RSS feeds, send it to an AI for summarizing, then blast the result wherever you want—a Slack channel, an email, or just save it as a file somewhere.

If you want to geek out or just copy and paste, the n8n docs are your friend—clear, dev-friendly, loaded with examples.

What’s an RSS feed anyway?

Think of RSS as the oldest trick in the digital book to get updates from websites without visiting each one. Imagine all your news sites shouting headlines into a neat little pipe—that’s RSS. You subscribe to feeds based on topics you care about, and n8n listens to those pipes, grabbing new items when they pop up.

RSS is perfect for this because it’s standardized and easy to parse—n8n even has a dedicated RSS node so you don’t have to wrestle with messy code.

Here’s how to build your daily AI news briefing workflow, step-by-step (the way I do it)

Step 1: Get n8n ready

First off, you need to run n8n. You can install it locally with Docker, or just sign up for n8n.cloud if you’re not in the mood to mess with servers. I’ve done both but lately, the cloud version is just easier when I’m juggling multiple projects.

When you open it, you’ll see a big blank canvas and a toolbox full of nodes. Don’t be intimidated—think Legos. You’re gonna snap stuff together.

Step 2: Add the RSS Feed node

Drag that RSS Feed node onto the canvas. Now paste in the URL for your favorite news feed. Maybe it’s tech news from TechCrunch or finance updates from Bloomberg. Got a niche? There’s probably an RSS feed for it—think cybersecurity, AI, crypto, cats… whatever floats your boat.

Set the polling frequency. For daily briefings, once every 24 hours is usually enough. (Unless you want a hyperactive news junkie version that nags you every hour. Your call.)

Step 3: Filter and tidy up the news

Here’s where you get picky. You probably don’t want every single headline, right? Add a Function node next that runs a little code snippet to filter articles by keywords. In my setup, I filter on words like “AI,” “automation,” and “workflow” because that’s my daily grind.

Also, format the data—you want a clean package: headline, short description, and link. This makes the next steps smoother and the final briefing easier to read.

Step 4: Let AI do the heavy lifting

Now to the fun part. Hook up an HTTP Request node to call an AI model—usually OpenAI’s GPT APIs. Send over your filtered news items and ask for a summary.

Here’s the kind of prompt I use:
“Summarize these news articles into a punchy, easy-to-read briefing for today: [insert your list]”

The AI spits back a neat paragraph or two, kind of like your personal news editor who’s never on vacation. If the summary feels off, tweak the prompt. AI can be a bit quirky—sometimes it loves extra context, other times it prefers to keep it brief.

Step 5: Send out your briefing

Where do you want this news? Slack? Email? Discord? Whatever you pick, n8n has nodes for sending messages.

I personally use an email node with SMTP to mail myself the briefing every morning—because apparently, I’m old-school that way. But you can set it up to ping a channel or even tweet it (if you want your followers to live the AI news life too).

Schedule this to run after the AI finishes, or set a fixed time trigger if you want it on your morning coffee.

Step 6: Test and tweak

Before you let it loose, give your workflow the once-over with test data. Check if the filters cut the right stuff, if the AI summary makes sense, and if your delivery method doesn’t get stuck somewhere.

Remember, AI sometimes throws curveballs. Maybe it missed an article or garbled a sentence. Adjust your prompts or filters until it fits just right.

Why even bother?

I won’t pretend it’s magic, but once you automate your news, it frees up loads of brain cycles.

• No missing important updates because you were stuck in email hell.
• Tailored briefings that skip the fluff and get to what you care about.
• Works anywhere: local machine, cloud, even your granny’s old laptop if you want.
• Cuts down hours spent browsing, reading, clicking—the automation pays off quick.

I built similar workflows for clients on Upwork, and honestly, it wins points every time. Companies want this done without hunting for developers or paying big agency fees. You get to be the quiet hero behind the scenes.

A few tricks to level up your workflow

• Pull from multiple RSS feeds and stitch them together so your briefing covers all bases.
• Toss in sentiment analysis—AI can add mood indicators like “positive,” “negative,” or “neutral” to news, giving you vibes before you read the whole thing.
• Build user profiles: customize news feeds per person. Sales team gets leads-focused briefings; product dev gets tech updates.
• Add error handling. Set alerts if a feed stops working or if the AI service hiccups so you’re never caught off-guard.
• Export and version control your workflows. Trust me, it saves headaches when you come back to update or share the setup.

Some helpful links I actually used

• n8n Official Docs - The go-to place when you want answers
• OpenAI API Docs - For making the AI magic happen
• A handful of blog posts and Reddit threads on RSS feeds and automation hacks (because Google is a sneaky friend).

Bottom line: Should you do this?

If grabbing news bites and getting quick summaries sounds nice, building this n8n workflow pays off. The setup isn’t perfect overnight, but once humming along, it’s a relief. You get a focused, daily snapshot of what matters, without hunting or fussing.

Plus, it’s a killer skill if you freelance or want to impress clients with legit automation tools. No code ninja moves required, just some curiosity and a bit of tinkering.

If you get stuck, hit the forums, ask questions here and there, and remember—it’s automation, not rocket science. Start small, watch it work, then get fancy.

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Ready to stop drowning in news and start skimming smart? Go fire up n8n and poke around. The first workflow is like learning to ride a bike, a little shaky but then smooth. Soon enough, you’ll forget how you ever lived without it.

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