Weekly Product Hunt Newsletter Draft, Auto-Generated Every Friday

I want a weekly Product Hunt newsletter draft generated automatically and sent to my editor for review.

Trigger: a cron schedule that runs every Friday at 3:00pm in my local timezone.

Step 1, pull launches. Use Product Hunt's List Posts operation to fetch posts from the past seven days. Filter to a configurable list of topic slugs (the topics my newsletter covers, for example ai, developer-tools, productivity), order by vote count descending, and keep only the top 7 to 10 posts after deduping if the same post appears under multiple topics. For each kept post, capture name, tagline, URL, vote count, comment count, topics, makers, and the launch date.

Step 2, write the newsletter body. For each launch, write a polished section: a 2 sentence hook that frames why this launch is interesting, a 3 to 4 sentence description of what the product does and who it is for, and a one line "why it matters" takeaway. Use the product name as the section heading and link to the Product Hunt page. Wrap the body with an editor's intro (2 to 3 sentences setting up the week) and a short outro (1 to 2 sentences inviting reply or feedback).

Step 3, build the Google Doc. Use Google Docs' Create Document operation to make a new doc titled "Top launches: {start_date} to {end_date}" using the seven day window. Then use Batch Update Document to insert the formatted body: a Heading 1 for the issue title, the editor's intro as a paragraph, a Heading 2 per launch with the product name, the hook, description, and "why it matters" lines beneath each, and the outro at the bottom.

Step 4, email the editor. Use Gmail's Send a Message operation to send an email to my editorial address (configurable). Subject: "Newsletter draft ready: top launches {start_date} to {end_date}". Body: a link to the Google Doc, a bulleted headline list of the launches included with their vote counts, and a one paragraph summary of the week's themes (recurring categories, notable patterns) so the editor can decide what to ship.

Configurable inputs: list of Product Hunt topic slugs, minimum number of launches to include (default 7) and maximum (default 10), editor email address, newsletter name/voice for the intro and outro, and timezone for the Friday 3pm trigger.

If a week has fewer than the minimum number of qualifying launches, still create the doc and send the email but note in the email body that it was a light week. If Product Hunt, Google Docs, or Gmail fails, retry once, then send a Gmail message to my editorial address with the error so I know to investigate.

Additional information

What does this prompt do?

Pulls the past seven days of Product Hunt launches in the topics your newsletter covers, ranked by upvotes, and keeps the top seven to ten.
Writes a polished section per launch with a two-sentence hook, a short description of the product and who it is for, and a one-line takeaway.
Wraps the issue with an editor's intro and outro, then drops the whole thing into a brand-new Google Doc titled with the week's date range.
Emails your editorial address a link to the doc, the headline list, and a one-paragraph summary of the week's themes so review is fast.

What do I need to use this?

A Product Hunt account connected so we can read public launches.
A Google account with Google Docs and Gmail access so we can create the doc and send the email.
The Product Hunt topic slugs your newsletter covers (for example, ai, developer-tools, productivity).
The email address of the editor who should receive the review email each week.

How can I customize it?

Change the day or time the draft is generated, or run it more or less often than weekly.
Adjust which topics get pulled, how many launches make the cut, and the tone of the editor's intro and outro.
Swap the editor's email address, add a cc, or change the subject line format of the review email.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a paid Product Hunt account to use this?

No. A free Product Hunt account is enough. The workflow only reads public launch data, which is available on every account.

Can I cover more than one topic in a single newsletter?

Yes. You can list as many topic slugs as you want, and the workflow combines launches across all of them before ranking and trimming to the top seven to ten.

Will the email send the final newsletter to my subscribers?

No. The email goes to your editorial inbox for review. You ship the polished draft from your newsletter tool once your editor signs off.

What if a slow week does not have enough strong launches?

The workflow keeps up to ten launches and ranks by votes, so a quiet week just produces a shorter issue. You can also adjust the minimum vote threshold in the prompt.

Can I change the format of the Google Doc that gets created?

Yes. You can ask for different headings, a table of contents, bolded product names, or any other formatting tweaks, and the workflow will apply them when it builds the doc.