Automate Your Morning Email Briefing with Claude
Connect Claude Desktop to Gmail and Notion, then wake up to a sorted inbox every weekday
Difficulty
Beginner
Time to complete
45 minutes
Availability
Free
BUILD
What you'll build
45 minutes from now, your inbox sorts itself every weekday morning. Connect Claude Desktop to Gmail and Notion, build a briefing skill that drafts replies in your voice, and schedule it all to run before you sit down.
1. Connect Gmail and Notion
Install Claude Desktop, set up the Gmail and Notion connectors, and verify both connections work.
2. Test Your Connections
Read emails through Claude, create an Email Briefings database in Notion, and run a combined test.
3. Build Your Briefing Skill
Teach Claude your writing style, create a reusable skill that scans, categorizes, and drafts replies, then iterate until the output is useful.
4. Schedule Your Morning Briefing
Set up a Cowork scheduled task that runs your briefing at 7:30 AM every weekday, then test it.
5. Trigger from Your Phone
Set up Dispatch on your phone so you can trigger your morning briefing from anywhere with a single tap.
Your portfolio builds as you work.
Every project documents itself as you go. Finish the work, and your proof is ready to share.
PROJECT
Real world application
Skills you'll learn
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AI Connectors
Give Claude direct access to your Gmail inbox and Notion workspace
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Email Triage
Sort emails into Needs Response, FYI, and Delegatable every morning
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Notion Logging
Every email lands in a searchable database you can filter and track
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Claude Skills
Build a reusable prompt that runs the same way every time
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Writing Style Matching
Draft replies that sound like you based on your sent emails
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Scheduled Automation
Your briefing runs at 7:30 AM every weekday without a prompt
Tech stack
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Claude Desktop
Anthropic's desktop app used to connect Gmail and Notion, build a reusable email briefing skill, and schedule automated weekday tasks.
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Notion
Workspace app for databases and project management, connected to Claude via the Notion connector to log categorized email entries.
I've learned so much from your platform
Wendell LaGuerre
Cloud Engineering
OUTCOME
Where this leads.
Relevant Jobs
Roles where these skills matter:
- AI Productivity Consultant
- No-Code Automation Specialist
- AI Workflow Designer
- Executive Assistant (AI-Enhanced)
AI Workspace
Build real AI workflows with Cursor, Claude Code, and MCP. Each project ships something you can show.
AI Workspace
Continue the JourneyFAQs
Everything you need to know
This NextWork project requires a Claude Pro subscription (~$20/month) for access to Claude Desktop's connectors, Cowork tab, and scheduled tasks. The Gmail and Notion connectors are included with that subscription. Notion is free for personal use, so your only paid requirement is Claude Pro.
A Connector lets Claude Desktop access external services like Gmail, Notion, and Google Drive directly from the app. In this NextWork project, you use the Gmail connector to read your inbox and the Notion connector to log categorized emails to a database. You set each up once in Claude Desktop's settings and they stay active for all future conversations.
None. This NextWork project requires zero coding. You build everything through natural conversation with Claude Desktop and point-and-click setup in Notion. The email triage, writing style analysis, and scheduling techniques you learn apply to any AI workspace tool.
NextWork offers related Claude projects that build on the skills in this tutorial. Check out Build a Calorie Tracker with Claude and Notion to create another connector-powered workflow. You can also explore Build Your First Project with Claude Code to use Claude as a coding assistant in your terminal.
If your computer is asleep at the scheduled time, Claude Desktop runs the briefing as soon as your machine wakes up and the app is open. NextWork recommends configuring your Mac or PC to wake automatically a few minutes before your scheduled time. The Cowork tab and all scheduled tasks require both your computer to be awake and Claude Desktop to be running.
The briefing skill you build in this NextWork project is fully customizable. You can add rules to always flag emails from specific senders, ignore newsletters from certain domains, or create new categories beyond the default three (Needs Response, FYI, and Delegatable). The project includes a dedicated personalization step where Claude interviews you about your email habits and updates the skill accordingly.
One Project. Real Skills.
45 minutes from now, you'll have completed Automate Your Morning Email Briefing with Claude. No prior experience needed. Just step-by-step guidance and a real project for your portfolio.
Beginner-friendly