N01 - The promise
Welcome to AI IS THE NEW NEWS on The Sp_ceman Channel. Today we are building Prompt to Inbox: two useful emails, one for AI news and one for the YouTube creators you follow. We are taking the idea from my earlier news-feed build and making a Gmail edition that does not need a local Postfix mail server.
N02 - Choose your Google account
You have two account choices. Use regular Gmail if you want an address ending in gmail dot com. Use Google Workspace if your organization already hosts its email with Google under its own domain. Both choices use the same feed collection and the same two reports. The Google account setup is the part that changes.
N03 - What still runs locally
Removing Postfix does not remove the computer that runs the job. Python still collects the feeds, builds the reports, and keeps the local history. Google handles the mailbox through the Gmail API. For this tutorial, the automation runs on Linux. The computer needs to be powered on, awake, and connected when the schedule runs.
N04 - Get the written guide
The first link in the description takes you to the companion guide on my blog. You can follow the steps there, copy the full Codex handoff, or download the small viewer kit. The kit contains the source, configuration, tests, and learning assets. You do not need to download this entire video to build the system.
N05 - What goes into each brief
The AI news brief gathers recent reporting from the configured public feeds. The Creator Watch brief gathers recent uploads from the configured YouTube channels. Keeping them separate makes it easier to scan the news first, then decide which creators you want to watch. Every included item links back to its source.
N06 - What the reports actually know
These reports use feed titles, publication times, and short source descriptions. They are not reading every full article or watching every video. A headline in the email is a starting point for research. Open the original link and check the evidence before repeating a claim. The priority score helps sort the report; it does not prove that a story is true.
N07 - Start in a new folder
Create a new folder for this edition and extract the kit into it. Keep an existing news service separate while you test. That gives you a clean place for the new code and its own delivery history. It also makes it easier to know which version produced a report. We are not changing my running nightly service as part of this tutorial setup.
N08 - Two ways to build
You can follow the terminal commands yourself, or give the full Markdown handoff to Codex in a local workspace. The handoff includes the actual source files, not just a vague request to build an email bot. Ask Codex to create the files, check their hashes, run the practice example, and report the results before connecting a Google account.
N09 - Install the small tool set
The written guide shows the Python environment and dependency commands. A virtual environment keeps this project's libraries together. Install the listed requirements there, then run the included checks. You do not need a language-model API key for the daily feed collection. Codex helps with building and adapting the project; the scheduled scripts handle the routine work.
N10 - Run the practice example
Start with the practice command. It creates two local HTML reports using clearly labelled sample content. It does not log into Google and it does not send an email. Open both reports and check the layout. This first checkpoint tells you that the basic rendering workflow runs on your machine before account setup gets involved.
N11 - Choose your news feeds
Open the sources configuration. Each entry has a name, a feed address, and an enabled setting. The included directory comes from the earlier news-feed project. You can start with a smaller selection and expand it later. A website homepage is not always an RSS feed, so run a preview after changing an address and check the coverage results.
N12 - Choose your YouTubers
The creators configuration works the same way. Each creator needs the correct public channel identity and feed address. Change the enabled setting to choose who appears in Creator Watch. A creator may not post every day, and a reachable feed does not guarantee a new item. The examples use the same creator-feed approach as my original system.
N13 - Topics, dates, and duplicates
The topic configuration helps the news brief stay focused on AI. News uses the preceding twenty-four hours, and Creator Watch covers today and yesterday in the configured time zone. The history groups duplicate news coverage and recognizes previously delivered items. The report also shows unavailable sources, so a quiet brief is not silently presented as complete coverage.
N14 - Preview real public feeds
Next, run the preview command. This fetches the public feeds and writes the two reports locally, without sending them. Open the news report and the creator report. Check the dates, source links, and coverage counts. If some feeds are unavailable, you can still see which ones worked. If an entire brief has no reachable source, fix that before delivery.
N15 - Google setup: shared steps
Now connect your own Google account. Create a Google Cloud project, enable the Gmail API, and set up a Desktop app OAuth client. The guide links to Google's current instructions. Every viewer creates their own client for their own installation. We are not distributing a shared login or a shared client that asks everybody to trust my account.
N16 - Regular Gmail route
For a personal Gmail account, the audience is External. During Testing, add your own account as a test user. There is one detail you should understand before leaving this unattended: Gmail authorization issued in that Testing mode expires after seven days. The guide explains the personal-use production route and Google's current verification rules. Do not assume a successful first login means the connection lasts forever.
N17 - Google Workspace route
For Workspace, first check that this is a Google-hosted mailbox, not simply a website address viewed in another mail app. If the Cloud project belongs to your organization and the app is only for that organization, Internal may be the right audience. An administrator may need to allow the app. If Internal is unavailable, follow the applicable External route with your administrator's guidance.
N18 - Keep the account connection private
Download your Desktop client configuration and put it in the private location shown in the guide. Stop the screen recording while you handle account details. The authorization command opens Google's sign-in page on your own computer. You approve the requested access there. Your password, client file, and saved token do not belong in a prompt, a screenshot, the public kit, or the blog.
N19 - Understand the permission
This edition needs to send the briefs, inspect its own delivery, and move older owned messages out of the Inbox. That uses Gmail's modify permission, which is broad mailbox access. The code limits its work to messages recorded in its own delivery ledger, but the Google permission itself is not restricted to one label. Review that permission before you approve it.
N20 - Check the connection first
After authorization, run the health command. This checks that the saved connection can reach the Gmail mailbox. It does not send the test pair. If it fails, fix the account, consent, or administrator setting first. A working mailbox connection and a working feed preview are two separate checkpoints; we want both before turning on delivery.
N21 - Send one test pair
When you are ready, run the test-send command from the guide. This explicitly sends the two reports to the same Google mailbox you authorized. They have test subjects and separate delivery records. The example does not send to a mailing list or your viewers. It is a personal news workflow, so the first delivery check happens in your own inbox.
N22 - Verify the inbox result
Open your inbox and look for both test reports. The verification command also checks the message identity and report content. A Sent entry on its own does not count as inbox delivery. If the API accepted a send but the receipt has not appeared yet, use verify again after checking the mailbox. Do not keep sending new copies just because a result is delayed.
N23 - Why the delivery ledger matters
A network connection can fail after a mail provider has accepted a message. In that situation, blindly trying the send again can create duplicates. This workflow records the attempt before submission and leaves an uncertain result for reconciliation. Keep that delivery history when you back up or move the project. Deleting the history is not a repair for a failed connection.
N24 - Keep the newest pair visible
The archive step waits until both replacement briefs are verified in the Inbox. Then it adds the AI Daily Briefs label to older messages owned by this installation and removes their Inbox label. In Gmail, that is archiving with labels. It does not require copying a message between traditional mail-server folders, and it does not operate on unrelated inbox messages.
N25 - Backups and retention
The project keeps local copies of the messages it submits and the receipts it verifies. Automatic trash is off in the beginner configuration, so archived briefs remain in Gmail. The optional retention setting can move eligible older owned messages to Trash after the documented checks. Leave that off until you understand it, and keep a separate backup of your project and delivery history.
N26 - Schedule the two steps
Once the manual test works, generate the Linux user timers. The example collects and sends at two in the morning, then checks and archives at three, in Edmonton time. You can change the time zone and hours in the settings before installing the timers. The guide includes the commands to inspect the next run and to stop the schedule.
N27 - What unattended really means
The timers do not wake a powered-off computer, and this setup does not run a missed night later during your workday. If you want it to continue after logout, review the Linux user-service instructions. Watch the first actual scheduled run before calling your own setup unattended. Account access, storage space, network access, and changing feeds still need occasional attention.
N28 - Troubleshoot without making duplicates
If a feed fails, inspect its address and coverage status. If Google access expires or an administrator blocks it, reconnect through the documented account process. If submission is uncertain, inspect and verify the existing attempt. Do not delete the database or repeatedly press send. The troubleshooting table explains these cases separately so one problem does not create another.
N29 - Make it yours
Both account routes lead to the same result: an AI news brief and a separate YouTuber feed brief. Change your source selection, topics, and schedule to fit what you actually want to follow. Start with a manageable list, read the output, and improve it from there. Keep your private connection files separate from anything you share with someone else.
N30 - Close and next step
The written method, full Codex handoff, and viewer kit are linked at the beginning of the description. Use the practice example first, then work through the account and delivery checks on your own machine. This is Prompt to Inbox on AI IS THE NEW NEWS, here on The Sp_ceman Channel. Let me know which feeds you would add and what you build with it.