Building an AI daily digest with Claude API

The Problem

I wanted a daily summary of AI research, industry news, and NBA updates — delivered to my inbox every morning without manually checking 35+ sources.

The Stack

• Google Apps Script — runs on a daily cron trigger
• Claude API — summarizes and curates content
• RSS feeds — 35+ sources across AI, tech, world news, China news, NBA

How It Works

Every morning at 7am, the script fetches RSS feeds, passes the raw content to Claude with a carefully crafted prompt, and emails me a clean digest.

Key Lessons

The prompt engineering matters more than anything else. Claude needs clear instructions on tone, length, and what to prioritize. After a dozen iterations, I landed on a system prompt that produces exactly what I want.