From Inbox to Content: Automate Article Writing with Gmail + n8n

Ever wished you could send an email with some rough notes or a document and magically receive a polished, publication-ready article back? What if that article came with its own quality assessment, formatted like something straight from BBC's editorial desk?

Content creators and editors know the pain: you have great source material scattered across emails, PDFs, and Word docs, but turning them into engaging articles takes hours of manual work. The back-and-forth editing, the formatting, the quality checks – it all adds up to a time-consuming process that keeps you from focusing on what matters most.

This N8N workflow solves that exact problem by creating an intelligent article writing assistant that lives right in your Gmail. Send an email with your content, and within minutes, receive a professionally crafted article complete with quality scoring. It's like having a tireless editor who never sleeps.

Prerequisites: What You'll Need to Get Started

Before diving into this automated content creation system, you'll need access to several APIs and services:

• Gmail API – For monitoring incoming emails and sending replies
• Google Drive API – For handling Word document processing
• Google Docs API – For document conversion and text extraction
• OpenAI API – For quality assessment using GPT-4.1
• Google Gemini API – For AI-powered article generation
• N8N platform (cloud or self-hosted)

Key Components: The Building Blocks

This workflow uses several specialized N8N nodes that work together like a well-orchestrated team:

• Gmail Trigger – Your workflow's watchful eye, monitoring for new emails
• Code Node – Smart filter that identifies PDF and Word attachments
• If Nodes – Decision makers that route content down the right processing path
• HTTP Request Nodes – Handle Google Drive operations for document processing
• Extract from PDF Node – Pulls text directly from PDF files
• AI Agent Nodes – Three specialized article writers powered by Google Gemini
• OpenAI Chat Nodes – Quality control specialists that score each article
• Gmail Reply Nodes – Deliver the finished product back to you

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Set Up Your Email Monitor

Start by configuring the Gmail Trigger to watch for emails from your designated sender address. Set it to poll every minute, ensuring you catch new content quickly. The workflow specifically filters for emails from "person@example.com" but you can customize this to any email address you prefer.

The trigger also downloads attachments automatically, setting the stage for intelligent content processing. This becomes your workflow's front door, greeting every piece of potential content that arrives.

Step 2: Smart Content Routing

Next, implement the intelligent routing system. The Code node examines incoming emails and identifies PDF or Word document attachments. It's surprisingly smart, filtering out irrelevant file types like images or Excel spreadsheets that won't contribute to article creation.

The If node then makes the crucial decision: does this email have usable attachments, or should it process the email text alone? This routing ensures each piece of content gets the processing it needs.

Step 3: Content Extraction Magic

For PDFs, the workflow uses N8N's built-in extraction capabilities to pull clean text directly from the document. For Word documents, things get more sophisticated: the file uploads to Google Drive, converts to Google Docs format, then exports as plain text. This multi-step process ensures even complex formatting gets handled properly.

This extraction phase transforms your messy source materials into clean, processable text that the AI can work with effectively.

Step 4: AI Article Generation

Here's where the magic happens. The workflow employs three specialized AI writers, each powered by Google Gemini and fine-tuned for different scenarios:

• Writer 1 handles PDF content and email text
• Writer 2 processes Word documents and email content
• Writer 3 works with email-only submissions

Each writer follows strict BBC editorial guidelines: neutral tone, inverted pyramid structure, 250-500 words, and most importantly, no invented information. They work only with the content you provide, ensuring accuracy and authenticity.

Step 5: Quality Control and Assessment

Every generated article goes through rigorous quality control using GPT-4.1. The assessment system checks three critical areas: completeness of information, accuracy of content, and whether any unauthorized information was added.

The AI evaluator scores each article on a scale of 1-5 and provides detailed rationale for its assessment. This isn't just a rubber stamp; it's a genuine quality gate that ensures only solid content gets delivered.

Step 6: Automated Delivery

Finally, the workflow packages everything into a comprehensive email reply. You receive the polished article, the quality assessment with scoring, your original message, and any extracted content from attachments. It's like getting a complete editorial package delivered straight to your inbox.

Benefits and Use Cases

This automated article writing system transforms how content creators handle their workflow. Imagine sending rough meeting notes and receiving a structured article minutes later. Or forwarding a PDF report and getting a digestible summary formatted for publication.

The applications extend beyond individual content creation. Editorial teams can use this for initial content drafts, researchers can transform academic papers into accessible articles, and marketing teams can turn product documentation into engaging content pieces.

The quality control layer makes this particularly valuable for professional environments where accuracy matters. Rather than blindly trusting AI output, you get transparent scoring that helps you decide when additional human review is needed.

Perhaps most importantly, this workflow gives you time back. Instead of spending hours on initial drafts and formatting, you can focus on strategic editing, fact-checking, and adding the human insights that AI cannot provide.

The beauty lies in its simplicity: email in, article out. No complex interfaces to learn, no switching between multiple tools. Your existing email workflow becomes a powerful content creation engine, making professional article writing as simple as sending a message.

Ready to turn your inbox into an intelligent writing assistant? This N8N workflow proves that with the right automation, even the most complex editorial processes can become elegantly simple.