Workflows· Operations & Project Management

    The Team Digest Loop

    A daily workflow that gathers the important discussions from your team's Slack or Teams channels and turns them into a structured digest of decisions, action items, and updates.

    automatingstructuring

    Description

    Steps

    Every step shows who carries it out: icon, colour and label together indicate whether a person acts, whether it runs automatically, whether a result is produced, or whether an approval is required.

    01Person

    On working days at a fixed time, for example 5:00 PM, with an optional pause on weekends.

    02Automated

    03Automated

    04Automated

    05Automated

    06Result

    Key
    PersonAutomatedResultApproval

    Requirements and operations

    Requirements

    • Team chat Slack, Teams, or Discord supplies the channel messages via API or bot access.
    • Output channel Gmail, Outlook, Notion, or a channel for the finished digest.
    • Configuration Channel list, time window, and output format are defined in advance.
    • LLM access API key for OpenAI, Claude, or Gemini.

    Testing

    • Test run Run the workflow once against an active day with real traffic before you go live.
    • Fetch and clustering Check whether all channels are read and similar topics are grouped correctly.
    • Extraction and format Verify that decisions and action items are cleanly separated and formatted.
    • Edge cases Test low and high traffic, long threads, and multilingual or parallel discussions.

    Go-live

    • Approve Activate the workflow only once fetching, digest quality, and delivery are correct.
    • Core channels Start with two to three channels and a small recipient group.
    • Adjust Fine-tune the channel list and output format after one to two weeks.
    • Expand Later add sentiment analysis, team-specific digests, a weekly digest, or action item tasks.

    Common issues

    • No messages retrieved Check the channel IDs and bot permissions.
    • Digest too long or too short Add an explicit length specification to the prompt.
    • Too much small talk Add an instruction in the prompt to consistently ignore small talk.
    • Action items without owners Require an owner or mark the item as unclear.

    Builder Prompt

    GOAL
    Build a workflow that fetches the messages from the past 24 hours in defined Slack or Teams channels on working days, clusters them by topic, and turns them into a structured daily digest with decisions, open discussions, action items, and updates, delivered by email or as a channel post.
    
    Adapt the structure to the concepts of your automation tool (for example nodes, steps, zaps, or agent actions). While doing so, preserve the trigger logic, the sequence, and the data flow.
    
    TRIGGER
    Type: time based, on working days at a fixed time, for example 5:00 PM, with an optional pause on weekends.
    Scope: messages and thread replies from the past 24 hours in a defined channel list (Slack, Teams, or Discord, via API or bot).
    
    STEPS (sequential)
    1. Fetch channels: load all messages from the past 24 hours including thread replies from the configured channel list, each with the channel name attached to the message.
    2. AI step: summary. Insert the working prompt "Summary Agent" exactly as given (see the Working Prompts section). It clusters the messages by topic, filters out small talk, and extracts the five categories decisions, discussions, action items, updates, and miscellaneous.
    3. Finalize the digest: build a digest from this with clear headings per category, bullet points, and the relevant channel reference in parentheses.
    4. Output: send the digest by email to the defined distribution list or post it in a dedicated digest channel, depending on configuration.
    
    PROMPT GUIDANCE
    There is a fixed working prompt for the analysis step, see the Working Prompts section. Insert it unchanged and in full into step 2.
    
    DATA FLOW
    Step 1 to step 2: channel messages including channel names, plus the time range of the past 24 hours, calculated automatically, as input for the placeholders in the working prompt.
    Step 2 to steps 3 and 4: the finished digest text as the basis for formatting and delivery.
    
    ERROR HANDLING
    No messages retrieved: check the channel IDs and bot permissions. End the run with an error notice instead of sending an empty digest.
    No relevant content after filtering: send a short notice (No relevant discussions today) instead of an empty digest.
    Very high traffic close to the token limit: summarize per channel first, then aggregate across all channel summaries.
    Action items without a recognizable owner: mark these as unclear instead of guessing a person.
    
    PLACEHOLDER CONVENTION
    All placeholders in square brackets in the working prompt are variables. The channel messages and the time range are mapped dynamically, as described in the data flow. The company name and team name are not dynamic: fill these in manually before activation. List all placeholders that require manual configuration separately at the end.
    
    SELF CHECK BEFORE COMPLETION
    Check, before you report the workflow as finished:
    1. Are all steps connected correctly, including the time trigger and the optional weekend pause?
    2. Is the working prompt inserted in full and unchanged, and are the channel messages and time range mapped correctly?
    3. Is the output channel (email distribution list or channel) configured as intended?
    4. Are all points listed that require manual configuration: the channel list or channel IDs, bot permissions, recipients, LLM access, company name, and team name?

    Working prompts

    Prompt: Summary Agent

    Evaluates the collected channel messages and delivers the structured summary for the digest.

    You are an expert in analyzing team communication. Analyze the following Slack or Teams messages from the past 24 hours and create a concise summary.
    
    Context:
    Company: [COMPANY_NAME]
    Team: [TEAM_NAME]
    Time range: [TIME_RANGE]
    
    Messages:
    [CHANNEL_MESSAGES]
    
    Task:
    Create a structured summary organized into the following categories:
    
    1. Key decisions: what concrete resolutions were made?
    2. Ongoing discussions: what topics are currently being discussed and remain open?
    3. Action items: what concrete tasks were mentioned, with owners if named?
    4. Updates and announcements: what important news came up?
    5. Miscellaneous: other points worth noting.
    
    Format:
    Use clear headings. Keep it short and concise, a maximum of two to three sentences per point. Avoid unimportant small talk or irrelevant messages. Name the relevant channel in parentheses for important points. Use bullet points for readability.
    
    Tone: professional, factual, focused on what matters.

    JSON export

    Setup

    Two routes lead to the same result. Pick the one that fits your setup.

    Suitable when you want to build the workflow in your own automation tool.

    1. Open your workflow tool, for example n8n, Make, Zapier or Langdock.
    2. Create a new workflow and give it a name.
    3. Choose the AI-assisted build option if your tool offers one.
    4. Paste the builder prompt from above in full.
    5. Check the result against the step sequence in this document, then add your access credentials and channels.

    Suitable when you want to take the workflow over unchanged.

    1. Download the JSON file from the JSON export section.
    2. Open the workflow area of your tool and create a new workflow.
    3. Give it a name and confirm.
    4. Open the menu on the workflow name and choose to import a JSON file.
    5. Upload the file, then add your own access credentials.
    6. Run a test before you activate the workflow.

    Last reviewed:

    In the workshop this becomes your method.

    A single prompt becomes a repeatable method. We show that in the workshop From Prompt to Method.

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