Weekly macro economy briefing in Slack, powered by World Bank data

Build me a weekly agent workflow that posts a global macro briefing to my team in Slack every Monday at 8am in my timezone.

Trigger: cron, Mondays 08:00 in the user's timezone.

Inputs the user configures at setup: (1) a list of ISO3 country codes to cover, defaulting to USA, GBR, DEU, IND, BRA, and (2) the Slack channel to post into.

What the agent should do on each run:

1. Use World Bank's Get Indicator Data to fetch the most recent value and the prior-year comparable for each configured country across these four indicators: NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG (GDP growth, annual %), FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG (CPI inflation, annual %), SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS (unemployment, % of labor force), and NE.RSB.GNFS.ZS (trade balance, % of GDP). Batch the country codes per request and pass format=json. Use mrnev=1 (or equivalent) so null years are skipped and the result is the most recent non-empty value. Always read both halves of the World Bank response envelope (the metadata object and the data array).

2. For every country x indicator pair, compute the change versus the prior-year comparable and rank the largest moves. Flag accelerations and slowdowns: a country whose GDP growth is up sharply, an inflation print that swung materially, an unemployment rate that ticked up or down, a trade balance that tipped from surplus to deficit or vice versa.

3. Write a punchy 4 to 6 bullet briefing in Slack mrkdwn (so *bold* not **bold**). Open with a one-line headline that names the standout story of the week. Each bullet should cover one notable shift, name the country, give the new value and the prior-year value, and add a short why-it-matters line aimed at a global business operator (think Deloitte Weekly Global Economic Update or McKinsey Global Economics Intelligence, but shorter). For every country mentioned, include a Slack mrkdwn link back to https://data.worldbank.org/country/<ISO3> so readers can click through.

4. Post the briefing via Slack's Send a Message to the channel the user configured. Keep the message under ~1500 characters so it renders cleanly. No em dashes anywhere in the copy — use periods or commas. If World Bank returns no usable data for a country (all null), skip it and note the skipped country in a short footer rather than failing the run.

Tone: concise, business-grade, no hype, no hedging. The briefing should read like a single calm paragraph of bullets that a CFO or COO can skim in 30 seconds.

Additional information

What does this prompt do?

Pulls the latest GDP growth, inflation, unemployment, and trade balance figures for a list of countries you choose.
Compares each number against the prior year and ranks the most notable shifts.
Writes a punchy 4 to 6 bullet briefing that explains what is accelerating, what is slowing, and why it matters for a global business.
Posts the briefing in the Slack channel you pick at 8am every Monday, with links back to the underlying World Bank pages.

What do I need to use this?

A Slack workspace and permission to post in the channel you want the briefing to land in.
A list of country codes you care about, for example USA, GBR, DEU, IND, BRA. The World Bank data is free and needs no account.

How can I customize it?

Swap in the country codes that matter to your business, or split into regional briefings (Americas, EMEA, APAC) that post to different channels.
Change the cadence and time, for example move to Friday afternoon as a week-in-review or run it monthly instead.
Add or remove indicators, such as adding interest rates or government debt, or focus on a single metric like inflation.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a paid data subscription to run this?

No. World Bank data is free and open, so the only account you need is your Slack workspace.

Which countries can I include?

Any country covered by the World Bank, which is over 200. You list the country codes you care about, such as USA, GBR, DEU, IND, BRA, and the briefing will only cover those.

How do I change which Slack channel it posts to?

When you set up the workflow, pick the channel from a dropdown. You can change it later or run multiple copies that post to different channels.

What if a country has not reported a recent figure?

The briefing only uses the most recent year that the country actually reported, and notes when the underlying number is older than you might expect.

Can I run this on a different day or at a different time?

Yes. The default is Monday 8am in your timezone, but you can move it to any day and time, including weekly, biweekly, or monthly.