Summarize Google Docs & PDFs with GPT-4 and send to Slack or email

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Important notice

This workflow is provided as-is. Please review and test before using in production.

1. Workflow Overview

AI Powered Document Summarizer & Notifier This workflow monitors a Google Drive folder for new files (Google Docs or PDFs), extracts text, summarizes content with OpenAI, and sends results to Sl...

Best for

Document Extraction automation workflows
AI Summarization automation workflows
advanced n8n builders looking for reusable templates

Tools used

@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmchatopenai, n8n-nodes-base.googledrivetrigger, n8n-nodes-base.googledocs, n8n-nodes-base.if, n8n-nodes-base.set, n8n-nodes-base.extractfromfile, n8n-nodes-base.googledrive, n8n-nodes-base.slack

Source and attribution

This workflow is cataloged by N8N Workflows and links back to its original n8n.io source page by Krishna Sharma.

Original n8n.io source

1.1 Workflow description

Title: Summarize Google Docs & PDFs with GPT-4 and send to Slack or email
Workflow name: Summarize Google Docs & PDFs with GPT-4 and send to Slack or email

📄 AI-Powered Document Summarizer & Notifier

This workflow monitors a Google Drive folder for new files (Google Docs or PDFs), extracts text, summarizes content with OpenAI, and sends results to Slack or Email.

🔧 How It Works

Monitors a Google Drive folder for new files.
Detects file type → Google Doc vs PDF.
Extracts text (via Google Docs API or PDF extractor).
Summarizes & analyzes content using OpenAI.
Sends results to Slack and/or Email.

👤 Who Is This For?

Business teams → Quick digests of reports, proposals, contracts.
Educators / researchers → Summaries of long study materials.
Founders / managers → Daily summaries without opening every file.
Operations teams → Compliance and documentation tracking.

💡 Use Case / Problem Solved

Reading long documents is time-consuming.
Sharing key points across teams requires manual effort.
Important context (sentiment, action items) is often missed.

👉 This workflow solves it by auto-summarizing documents and notifying teams instantly.

⚙️ What This Workflow Does

Monitors Google Drive for new Google Docs or PDFs.
Extracts text automatically.
Uses OpenAI to generate:
- Title
- Summary
- Key Points
- Suggested Action Items
- Language detection
- Sentiment (positive, neutral, negative)
Pushes output to Slack channel and/or Email inbox.

🛠️ Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

Google Drive (OAuth2)
Google Docs (OAuth2)
OpenAI API Key
Slack (OAuth2) or Gmail (OAuth2)

Steps to Configure

Connect Google Drive
- Choose the folder you want to monitor.
Set up file type routing
- Use an IF node to split Docs vs PDFs.
For Google Docs
- Use Google Docs Get → extract text.
For PDFs
- Use Google Drive Download → Extract PDF.
Send text to OpenAI
- Connect to your OpenAI model.
- Customize the system prompt to generate title, summary, sentiment, etc.
Notify
- Send output to Slack channel or Gmail.
Save & activate your workflow.

📌 Notes

Adjust OpenAI prompt to suit your context.
For large PDFs, consider splitting into smaller chunks.

1.2 Logical Blocks

This catalog entry is organized from the workflow JSON. The node-level section below shows the executable blocks available for review before importing the template.

2. Block-by-Block Analysis

Block 1 - OpenAI Chat Model

Type / Role: @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmChatOpenAi - lmChatOpenAi
Config choices: Version 1.2

Block 2 - File Created

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.googleDriveTrigger - googleDriveTrigger
Config choices: Version 1

Block 3 - Get a document

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.googleDocs - googleDocs
Config choices: Version 2

Block 4 - Check Document Type

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.if - if
Config choices: Version 2.2

Block 5 - Set Field

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.set - set
Config choices: Version 3.4

Block 6 - Convert to Text

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.extractFromFile - extractFromFile
Config choices: Version 1

Block 7 - Download PDF

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.googleDrive - googleDrive
Config choices: Version 1

Block 8 - Send message to Slack Channel

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.slack - slack
Config choices: Version 2.3

Block 9 - Email the Summary

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.gmail - gmail
Config choices: Version 2.1

Block 10 - Sticky Note

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices: Version 1

Block 11 - Sticky Note3

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices: Version 1

Block 12 - Sticky Note4

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices: Version 1

Block 13 - Sticky Note5

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices: Version 1

Block 14 - Sticky Note6

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices: Version 1

Block 15 - Sticky Note1

Type / Role: n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote - stickyNote
Config choices: Version 1

Block 16 - Doc Summarizer

Type / Role: @n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.agent - agent
Config choices: Version 2.2

3. Summary Table

Workflow	Summarize Google Docs & PDFs with GPT-4 and send to Slack or email
Complexity	advanced
Nodes	16
Categories	Document Extraction, AI Summarization
Author	Krishna Sharma
Published	16 Sept 2025

4. Reproducing the Workflow from Scratch

1. Download the workflow JSON

Use the JSON export at /data/workflows/8645/8645.json as the source template for this automation.
2. Import the template into n8n

Open n8n, import the downloaded JSON, and review each node before activating the workflow.
3. Configure credentials and variables

Replace placeholder credentials, API keys, webhook URLs, account IDs, and environment-specific values with your own settings.
4. Test with sample data

Run the workflow manually or in a staging workspace, inspect node output, and confirm downstream systems receive the expected data.
5. Activate and monitor

Enable the workflow only after testing, then monitor executions, errors, and rate limits during the first production runs.

5. General Notes & Resources

Review imported nodes carefully before activation. This catalog entry is intended to help you inspect the workflow structure, understand required services, and find related templates faster.

Node names, credentials, schedules, webhook paths, and external service limits may need adjustment for your workspace.

Download workflow JSON Original n8n.io source Document Extraction workflows AI Summarization workflows

Frequently asked questions

What does Summarize Google Docs & PDFs with GPT-4 and send to Slack or email do?

AI Powered Document Summarizer & Notifier This workflow monitors a Google Drive folder for new files (Google Docs or PDFs), extracts text, summarizes content with OpenAI, and sends results to Sl...

What do I need before importing this workflow?

Review the workflow JSON, configure any required credentials in n8n, and test the automation in a safe workspace before using it in production.

Can I customize this workflow?

Yes. Use the block-by-block analysis and the downloadable JSON to inspect each node, then adjust credentials, prompts, schedules, filters, or destinations for your Document Extraction, AI Summarization use case.

Krishna Sharma

3 workflows

Nodes

@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.lmchatopenai n8n-nodes-base.googledrivetrigger n8n-nodes-base.googledocs n8n-nodes-base.if n8n-nodes-base.set n8n-nodes-base.extractfromfile n8n-nodes-base.googledrive n8n-nodes-base.slack

Complexity

advanced

Published 16 Sept 2025

Likes 0

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Install path: /data/workflows/8645/8645.json

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Summarize Google Docs & PDFs with GPT-4 and send to Slack or email

Workflow preview

Important notice

1. Workflow Overview

Best for

Tools used

Source and attribution

1.1 Workflow description

📄 AI-Powered Document Summarizer & Notifier

🔧 How It Works

👤 Who Is This For?

💡 Use Case / Problem Solved

⚙️ What This Workflow Does

🛠️ Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

Steps to Configure

📌 Notes

1.2 Logical Blocks

2. Block-by-Block Analysis

Block 1 - OpenAI Chat Model

Block 2 - File Created

Block 3 - Get a document

Block 4 - Check Document Type

Block 5 - Set Field

Block 6 - Convert to Text

Block 7 - Download PDF

Block 8 - Send message to Slack Channel

Block 9 - Email the Summary

Block 10 - Sticky Note

Block 11 - Sticky Note3

Block 12 - Sticky Note4

Block 13 - Sticky Note5

Block 14 - Sticky Note6

Block 15 - Sticky Note1

Block 16 - Doc Summarizer

3. Summary Table

4. Reproducing the Workflow from Scratch

1. Download the workflow JSON

2. Import the template into n8n

3. Configure credentials and variables

4. Test with sample data

5. Activate and monitor

5. General Notes & Resources

Frequently asked questions