n8n 如何無需 API key 搭建免費 AI 新聞摘要工作流程

Every morning I used to open five tabs to find out what happened in AI overnight. Now an n8n workflow does it for me and sends one short digest to my inbox (or Telegram) at 7:00. It doesn't need an OpenAI key or any paid API, and the whole thing runs on free RSS feeds.

Here's the full video walkthrough:

Below is the written version, plus the importable template.

What you'll build

Schedule (7:00) ─┐
Manual (test) ───┴─> Settings ─┬─> TechCrunch AI RSS ─┐
                               ├─> The Verge AI RSS ──┼─> Merge ─> Rank & summarize ─> Build digest ─┬─> Email
                               └─> Hacker News RSS ───┘                                             └─> Telegram

Get the template (JSON): 01-ai-news-digest.fixed.json

Step 1: Triggers

There are two triggers:

• Schedule Trigger, set to every morning at 7:00
• Manual Trigger ("Run now"), so you can test without waiting for tomorrow

Both feed into the same chain.

Step 2: A Settings node

A Set node holds the two values you'll actually change:

• maxStories: how many stories go into the digest (default 8)
• emailTo: where the digest goes

Keeping config in one node means you never have to dig through Code nodes to change a setting.

Step 3: Three free RSS feeds

Add three RSS Read nodes:

The Hacker News feed comes from hnrss.org, which lets you filter by keywords and a minimum score right in the URL. The points=50 part removes most of the noise before n8n even sees it.

Step 4: Merge

A Merge node combines the three streams into one list of items.

Step 5: Rank & summarize (Code node)

This is where the work happens. The Code node:

1. Dedupes stories that show up in more than one feed
2. Filters to the last 36 hours, so a missed run won't leave gaps and old news won't repeat
3. Ranks each item by how many of your keywords it matches. Edit the keyword list to fit what you care about.
4. Summarizes each story into a short line from its feed description
5. Keeps the top maxStories

Want LLM-quality summaries but still free? You can swap this node for a call to a local Ollama model. It's optional, and the template works without it.

Step 6: Build digest

A second Code node turns the ranked items into one message: a title, then a numbered list of headline + summary + link. The same output works for both email and Telegram.

Step 7: Deliver by email or Telegram

The template includes both Send Email (SMTP) and Telegram nodes. Enable whichever you want:

• Email: add an SMTP credential (your mail provider's SMTP settings work fine)
• Telegram: create a bot with @botfather, add the token as a credential, and set your chat ID

Importing the template

1. Download the JSON template
2. In n8n, go to Workflows → Import from File (or paste the JSON onto the canvas)
3. Add your SMTP or Telegram credential and enable that node
4. Set emailTo in Settings
5. Click Run now (test), check your inbox, then activate the workflow

That's it. Tomorrow at 7:00 you'll get your first digest.

Ideas to extend it

• Add more feeds (company blogs, arXiv categories, newsletters with RSS)
• Post the digest to a Slack or Discord channel
• Store each day's stories in a Google Sheet to build an archive
• Use different keyword lists for different recipients

Prefer a visual no-code tool?

n8n is my pick for this because it's free to self-host and the Code node gives you full control. If you'd rather not host anything, Make can build the same RSS → filter → email flow with its visual scenario builder: try Make.

Disclosure: the Make link above is an affiliate link. If you sign up through it, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I don't have any affiliate relationship with n8n.

If you build this, tell me in the comments which feeds you added. More automation walkthroughs are on the Flow & Funnel YouTube channel.