Email Gazette
Turn an unread inbox into a broadsheet newspaper front page that opens in the browser.
Overview
This skill fetches unread emails via the Google Workspace CLI (
), reads and categorizes them, enriches key stories with web research, then generates a single self-contained HTML file styled like a classic newspaper (think The New York Times). It opens directly in the browser and is archived for future reference.
Step 0: Prerequisites Check & First-Run Configuration
Before anything else, verify that the Google Workspace CLI (
) is installed and authenticated. Run:
bash
gws gmail +triage --max 1 --format json
If this fails, stop and tell the user:
"This skill requires the Google Workspace CLI (
) to access your Gmail. You can install it and the related Gmail skills using
npx skills add nicholasgasior/gws
(or however the gws skills are distributed). Once installed, run
to authenticate, then try again."
Do not proceed until
is working.
Configuration file
All user preferences are stored in a JSON config file at
~/.config/email-gazette/config.json
. This is the single source of truth — check for it on every run.
If ~/.config/email-gazette/config.json
, read it and use those settings. No need to ask the user anything.
If it does not exist, this is a first run. Ask the user to configure their gazette, then save their answers to this file. Create the
directory if needed.
json
{
"gazette_name": "The Email Gazette",
"tagline": "All the Email That's Fit to Print",
"output_dir": "~/Desktop/email-gazette",
"topics": ["technology", "AI", "business"],
"email_cap": 50,
"date_format": "YYYY-MM-DD"
}
Ask these questions during first-run setup:
-
Gazette name — "What would you like to call your gazette?" (e.g., "The Morning Wire", "Alex's Daily Brief", "The Inbox Times"). This becomes the masthead title.
-
Tagline — "Want a tagline beneath the masthead?" Suggest a default like "All the Email That's Fit to Print" but let them customize (e.g., "Your inbox, editorialized", "News from the void").
-
Output directory — "Where should I save past editions?" Suggest
as default. Create the directory if it doesn't exist.
-
Topics of interest — "What topics matter most to you? These get headline treatment." Suggest common categories (technology, AI, business, finance, crypto, health, politics, science) but let them specify anything. Everything else still appears, just in smaller print.
-
Email cap — "How many unread emails should I process per edition?" Default: 50. More = richer gazette but slower.
-
Date format for filenames — "How should I name the files?" Default:
(sorts well). Alternative:
.
If the user seems impatient or says something like "just use defaults", use sensible defaults and save them immediately.
The user can reconfigure at any time by saying "reconfigure my gazette" or "change my gazette settings" — in that case, re-ask the questions and overwrite the config file.
Step 1: Fetch Unread Emails
Use the
CLI to list unread inbox messages:
bash
gws gmail +triage --max {EMAIL_CAP} --format json
This returns a JSON array with sender, subject, date, and message ID for each unread message.
Requires: The
CLI must be installed and authenticated. If the command fails, let the user know they need to set up the Google Workspace CLI first.
Step 2: Read Email Content
For each email from triage, fetch the full message to understand its content:
bash
gws gmail users messages get --params '{"userId":"me","id":"MESSAGE_ID","format":"metadata","metadataHeaders":"Subject"}' --format json
This returns the email snippet (a preview of the body content). You don't need to fetch every single email in full — use judgment:
- Full read for emails matching the user's topics of interest, anything that looks like it contains important news, and personal emails that seem urgent
- Subject-only is fine for obvious marketing, automated notifications, and promotional emails
Step 2b: Web Research for Key Topics
After identifying the major stories (typically 3-6), enrich them with external sources. This turns the gazette from a simple email summary into a genuinely informative briefing.
For each major headline story, use web search to find:
- X/Twitter posts from notable accounts discussing the topic
- arXiv papers if the story involves research or a model release
- Official blog posts from the companies involved
- News articles from reputable press
Run searches in parallel where possible. For each story, search for:
[topic] [key company/person] [current year]
. Aim for 2-5 external sources per major story.
Important: Subagents may not have web search permissions. If so, run the web searches directly yourself rather than delegating. Don't search for low-priority "In Other News" items — only enrich the stories that matter.
Step 3: Categorize
Sort every email into one of these tiers, using the user's configured topics of interest to guide what counts as "headline" material:
HEADLINE NEWS (top priority, most visual space)
- Newsletters and updates matching the user's topics of interest
- Breaking or time-sensitive information in those domains
- Major industry news
CRUCIAL ALERTS (visually prominent, draws immediate attention)
- Emails requiring urgent action
- Important deadlines or reminders
- Interview requests, scheduling, or meeting invitations
- Anything from a real person (not a mailing list) that seems urgent or important
IN OTHER NEWS (small print, side panel, minimal space)
- Routine automated notifications
- Low-value marketing newsletters
- Social media digests
- Promotional emails
- Anything that doesn't need attention
Step 4: Generate the Newspaper HTML
Produce a single self-contained HTML file. The aesthetic direction is classic broadsheet newspaper:
Design Direction
Aesthetic: Editorial / classic newspaper with a modern twist. Think The New York Times or The Financial Times meets a beautifully typeset broadsheet.
Typography:
- Use a distinctive serif font for headlines (e.g., from Google Fonts: Playfair Display, Cormorant Garamond, or similar editorial serif)
- A clean readable serif or sans-serif for body text (e.g., Source Serif Pro, Libre Baskerville, or similar)
- The masthead should use the user's configured gazette name, rendered grand and prominent like a real newspaper nameplate
- Include the current date beneath the masthead, formatted like a newspaper date line (e.g., "Saturday, March 8, 2026")
- Show the user's configured tagline in italics beneath the name
Layout:
- Multi-column layout using CSS grid, like a real newspaper
- HEADLINE NEWS gets the most space: a lead story spanning multiple columns at the top, with supporting stories in a grid
- CRUCIAL ALERTS get a visually distinct treatment: a bordered box with a red or bold accent, "URGENT" or "BREAKING" style banners
- IN OTHER NEWS goes at the bottom in noticeably smaller type, compressed like classified ads
- Add subtle column rules (thin vertical lines between columns) for authenticity
Visual details:
- Thin horizontal rules to separate sections
- A subtle paper/cream background color for warmth
- Drop caps on the lead story's first paragraph
- Section headers styled like newspaper section labels (derived from the user's topics, e.g., "TECHNOLOGY", "FINANCE", "AI & MACHINE LEARNING")
- For each article/email summary: a headline (derived from the subject), a brief summary (2-3 sentences), and the source/sender in small italics
- Stories with particularly important or newsworthy content get larger headlines and more column space
Reference numbering and source links:
Every story and claim should have small superscript reference numbers linking to sources. This is a two-part system:
-
Email references — Each email that contributed to a story gets a superscript number (e.g.,
) linking to the email in Gmail:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/MESSAGE_ID
-
Web references — External sources from web research (Step 2b) also get superscript numbers, continuing the sequence. These link directly to the external URL.
At the bottom of each story, render references as a small footnote block. Style in a very small, understated font (academic citation style) so they don't clutter the newspaper aesthetic but are available when needed.
Include a consolidated "Sources" section at the bottom of the gazette (before the footer) listing all references grouped by story — a bibliography for readers who want to dive deeper.
Crucial alerts treatment:
- Visually prominent: boxed section with distinct background color or border
- Labels like "URGENT", "ACTION REQUIRED", "REMINDER" as small badges
- Key details: who it's from, what's needed, any deadline
In Other News treatment:
- Very small font size, dense compact layout
- Just sender, subject, and one line of context
- Each item links to its source email
- Should feel like the fine print at the bottom of a newspaper page
Technical Requirements
- Single self-contained HTML file (all CSS inline or in a block)
- Load fonts from Google Fonts CDN (the only external dependency allowed)
- Responsive: optimized for desktop but shouldn't break on mobile
- No JavaScript required unless you want subtle hover effects
- Save to using the user's configured directory and date format
Step 5: Open in Browser
bash
open {OUTPUT_DIR}/{DATE}.html
On Linux, use
instead. On Windows/WSL, use
or
.
Important Notes
- Read-only. Never modify, delete, or mark emails as read.
- Empty inbox? Generate a charming gazette page that says something like "No News is Good News" with a tasteful empty-state design.
- Group related emails. Multiple emails from the same newsletter or about the same topic should be merged into a single story.
- Editorial voice. Write summaries in a newspaper editorial voice: concise, informative, slightly formal but engaging. Transform email subjects into proper newspaper-style headlines and ledes.
- It's a newspaper, not a list. The gazette should feel like a real publication. Editorialize the presentation — the goal is to make reading email feel like reading the morning paper.