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Home n8n Workflow
January 22, 2026

RSS to Gmail and Telegram, one daily news digest

Lisa Granqvist Partner Workflow Automation Expert

You open your browser for “a quick check” of the news, and suddenly you’re drowning in tabs, pop-ups, and half-finished articles you swear you’ll return to later. Then the day moves on. By the time you remember, you’ve missed what mattered.

This is where RSS digest automation earns its keep. A marketing lead tracking competitors, a founder trying to stay informed without spiraling, and an agency operator watching industry shifts all need the same thing: one clean brief, delivered where they already work.

This workflow turns any RSS feed into a short daily digest, then sends it to Gmail and Telegram. You’ll see what it does, what you need, and how it saves you hours of scattered reading every week.

How This Automation Works

The full n8n workflow, from trigger to final output:

n8n Workflow Template: RSS to Gmail and Telegram, one daily news digest

The Problem: Keeping Up With News Without Losing Half Your Day

Manual news monitoring looks harmless until you add it up. You scan an RSS reader, click into a few articles, hit a paywall, then bounce to another source because the first one was padded with ads and “related links.” Later, you try to summarize what you read for a teammate or client, but it’s fuzzy because you skimmed it between meetings. Even if you love staying informed, the process is noisy and inconsistent, and it quietly steals focus from work that actually moves the needle.

It adds up fast. Here’s where it breaks down.

  • You spend about 10 minutes per article just finding the “real” content through clutter.
  • Important updates get lost because there’s no consistent daily summary in one place.
  • Sharing what you found turns into another task, so it often doesn’t happen.
  • Old posts sneak in, and you waste time reading yesterday’s “breaking news.”

The Solution: An AI-Curated Daily Digest to Gmail + Telegram

This n8n workflow creates a simple habit for you: one digest a day, automatically assembled from an RSS feed you choose. You start it (manually, on your schedule), and it reads the feed, then filters entries to keep only articles published in the last 24 hours. Next, it limits the workload to the three most recent relevant items, so you don’t get a novel in your inbox. For each article, it extracts the actual page content using ScrapeGraphAI (so you get the substance, not the navigation menu). Then an AI model analyzes that cleaned text to pull out the key details. Finally, OpenAI synthesizes everything into a structured email-style digest with a clear subject and body, and the workflow sends it to Gmail and posts the same update to Telegram.

The workflow starts when you run it in n8n. From there, it fetches your RSS items, keeps only the last 24 hours, scrapes and cleans up to three articles, and extracts what matters. The final digest is delivered to Gmail and Telegram so you can read it wherever you naturally check messages.

What You Get: Automation vs. Results

Example: What This Looks Like

Say you follow one industry RSS feed and you typically open five posts to find two worth reading. At roughly 10 minutes each (between ads, scrolling, and skimming), that’s about 50 minutes a day. With this workflow, you run it once, it processes only the last 24 hours and caps it at three articles, then sends a tidy summary to Gmail and Telegram. You spend about 5 minutes reading, not nearly an hour hunting.

What You’ll Need

  • n8n instance (try n8n Cloud free)
  • Self-hosting option if you prefer (Hostinger works well)
  • ScrapeGraphAI for extracting clean article text
  • Gmail to deliver the digest to your inbox
  • Telegram to post the same digest to a chat/channel
  • OpenAI API key (get it from your OpenAI dashboard)
  • Google Gemini access (enable it in your Google AI/Vertex setup)

Skill level: Intermediate. You’ll connect accounts, install one community node, and paste a feed URL plus a Telegram chat ID.

Don’t want to set this up yourself? Talk to an automation expert (free 15-minute consultation).

How It Works

You run the workflow when you want the digest. It’s triggered manually, which is useful if you want a “morning brief” on weekdays and nothing on weekends.

The RSS feed is read and cleaned up. n8n pulls in the latest entries, then filters out anything older than 24 hours and caps the list at three items so the summary stays short.

Each article gets scraped and distilled. ScrapeGraphAI converts the page into clean text, then the information extraction step (powered by Google Gemini) pulls out the key points and ignores fluff.

The digest is written and delivered. OpenAI composes a structured subject and body, then n8n sends it via Gmail and posts the same content to Telegram.

You can easily modify the RSS source and the “top 3” cap to match your needs. See the full implementation guide below for customization options.

Step-by-Step Implementation Guide

Step 1: Configure the Manual Trigger

Start the workflow with a manual trigger so you can test the RSS digest on demand.

  1. Add or select Manual Run Trigger as the workflow trigger.
  2. Keep default settings, as this node does not require configuration.
  3. Connect Manual Run Trigger to Retrieve RSS Entries.

Step 2: Connect the RSS Source and Filter Recent Items

Pull items from the RSS feed and filter down to only recent entries.

  1. In Retrieve RSS Entries, set URL to URL_FEED.
  2. In Validate Recent Items, configure a date filter where Left Value is {{ $json.pubDate }} and Right Value is {{ $today.minus({ days: 1 }) }}, using the after operator.
  3. Connect Retrieve RSS EntriesValidate Recent Items.

⚠️ Common Pitfall: If your RSS feed uses a different date field than pubDate, update the filter’s left value to the correct field.

Step 3: Prepare and Limit Articles for Processing

Normalize the article link, cap the total items, and iterate through them for content extraction.

  1. In Assign Article Link, add a field named link with value {{ $json.link }}.
  2. In Cap Items, set Max Items to 3.
  3. Connect Validate Recent ItemsAssign Article LinkCap ItemsIterate Articles.
  4. Ensure Iterate Articles has default batch settings so it processes items one by one.

Step 4: Extract and Aggregate Article Content

Scrape each article into markdown, extract key details, and aggregate them into a single dataset.

  1. In Markdownify Web Page, set Resource to markdownify and Website URL to {{ $json.link }}.
  2. Credential Required: Connect your scrapegraphAIApi credentials in Markdownify Web Page.
  3. In Extract Key Details, set Text to {{ $json.result }}, and keep the attribute content description as provided.
  4. Ensure Gemini Chat Engine is connected as the language model for Extract Key Details. Credential Required: Connect your googlePalmApi credentials in Gemini Chat Engine.
  5. In Aggregate Content, set Field to Aggregate from output.content to Output Field Name text.
  6. Connect Iterate ArticlesMarkdownify Web PageExtract Key DetailsIterate Articles (loop) → Aggregate Content.

⚠️ Common Pitfall: If Markdownify Web Page returns empty content, verify the target site allows scraping and the URL is correct.

Step 5: Compose the Digest with AI and Structured Output

Summarize aggregated content into a formatted email-ready digest using chained AI models and structured output parsing.

  1. In Compose Digest, set Text to {{ JSON.stringify($json.text) }} and keep Prompt Type as define.
  2. In Compose Digest, ensure Has Output Parser is enabled (true).
  3. Verify OpenAI Summary Model is connected as the language model for Compose Digest. Credential Required: Connect your openAiApi credentials in OpenAI Summary Model.
  4. In Structured Output Reader, keep Auto Fix enabled and ensure the schema includes subject and body exactly as defined.
  5. Verify OpenAI Format Model is connected as the language model for Structured Output Reader. Credential Required: Connect your openAiApi credentials in OpenAI Format Model. Add credentials to the parent model node, not the parser node.
  6. Connect Aggregate ContentCompose Digest and attach Structured Output Reader to Compose Digest as the output parser.

Step 6: Configure Output Delivery (Email and Telegram)

Send the digest to email and Telegram in parallel once the summary is ready.

  1. In Dispatch Email Alert, set Send To to [YOUR_EMAIL], Subject to {{ $json.output.subject }}, and Message to {{ $json.output.body }}.
  2. Credential Required: Connect your gmailOAuth2 credentials in Dispatch Email Alert.
  3. In Post Telegram Update, set Chat ID to [YOUR_ID] and Text to {{ $json.output.body }}.
  4. Credential Required: Connect your telegramApi credentials in Post Telegram Update.
  5. Compose Digest outputs to both Dispatch Email Alert and Post Telegram Update in parallel.

Step 7: Test & Activate Your Workflow

Run a manual test to validate content extraction and delivery, then enable the workflow for production use.

  1. Click Execute Workflow to run Manual Run Trigger and verify items flow through Retrieve RSS Entries and Validate Recent Items.
  2. Confirm that Compose Digest outputs a structured subject and body, and that both Dispatch Email Alert and Post Telegram Update receive the same content.
  3. Check your inbox and Telegram chat for the digest; successful execution shows a formatted summary message delivered to both channels.
  4. Toggle the workflow to Active to enable production use once testing is successful.
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Common Gotchas

  • ScrapeGraphAI credentials can expire or need specific permissions. If things break, check your ScrapeGraphAI dashboard and the n8n credential test first.
  • If you’re using Wait nodes or external rendering, processing times vary. Bump up the wait duration if downstream nodes fail on empty responses.
  • Default prompts in AI nodes are generic. Add your brand voice early or you’ll be editing outputs forever.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to set up this RSS digest automation automation?

About 30 minutes once your accounts are ready.

Do I need coding skills to automate RSS digest automation?

No coding required. You’ll mostly paste in your RSS URL, connect credentials, and set the Telegram chat ID.

Is n8n free to use for this RSS digest automation workflow?

Yes. n8n has a free self-hosted option and a free trial on n8n Cloud. Cloud plans start at $20/month for higher volume. You’ll also need to factor in OpenAI and ScrapeGraphAI API usage costs.

Where can I host n8n to run this automation?

Two options: n8n Cloud (managed, easiest setup) or self-hosting on a VPS. For self-hosting, Hostinger VPS is affordable and handles n8n well. Self-hosting gives you unlimited executions but requires basic server management.

Can I customize this RSS digest automation workflow for multiple RSS feeds instead of one?

Yes, but you’ll want to duplicate the “Retrieve RSS Entries” logic per feed, then merge items before the “Validate Recent Items” filter. Many people also raise or lower the “Cap Items” limit depending on how noisy each feed is. You can even route different feeds to different Telegram chats by adjusting the “Post Telegram Update” configuration.

Why is my Telegram connection failing in this workflow?

Usually it’s an incorrect chat ID or a bot that hasn’t been added to the channel with posting permission. Recheck the Telegram credentials in n8n, then confirm the bot can actually send messages to that chat. If it works once and then fails later, you may be hitting rate limits when you test repeatedly in a short window.

How many articles can this RSS digest automation automation handle?

By default, it summarizes up to 3 articles per run because the workflow caps the items.

Is this RSS digest automation automation better than using Zapier or Make?

For this kind of workflow, n8n is usually the better fit because the scraping + multi-step AI processing is more involved than a basic two-action Zap. You also get more flexibility for filtering (like “last 24 hours”), batching, and structured outputs without paying extra for every branch. Zapier or Make can still work if you simplify the flow, but you’ll often end up compromising on content cleaning or summary quality. If you want to keep it robust and still readable, n8n is the practical choice. Talk to an automation expert if you want help picking the simplest setup for your exact feeds.

Once this is running, staying informed stops feeling like a chore. You get one brief in Gmail and Telegram, and the workflow handles the messy parts you never wanted to do in the first place.

Need Help Setting This Up?

Our automation experts can build and customize this workflow for your specific needs. Free 15-minute consultation—no commitment required.

Lisa Granqvist

Workflow Automation Expert

Expert in workflow automation and no-code tools.

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