AI News Briefing

Automated daily AI news research agent that searches the web, compiles a structured briefing, and publishes it to Notion -- powered by Claude Code CLI. Supports both macOS (launchd) and Windows (Task Scheduler).

Overview

AI News Briefing is a fully automated pipeline that runs every morning on your machine. It uses Claude Code in headless mode to act as a news research agent: searching the web across 9 AI-related topics, compiling the results into a two-tier briefing (TL;DR + full report), and writing the finished page directly to a Notion database.

The entire process -- from triggering to publishing -- requires zero human intervention. You wake up, open Notion, and your daily AI briefing is already there.

Why it exists

Keeping up with AI news across models, tools, policy, funding, and open source is a full-time job. This project compresses that into an automated daily digest that covers 9 topic areas in a consistent format, delivered to your Notion workspace before you start your workday.

Architecture

flowchart TD
    subgraph Schedulers
        A1[macOS launchd]
        A2[Windows Task Scheduler]
    end

    A1 -->|8:00 AM daily| B1[briefing.sh]
    A2 -->|8:00 AM daily| B2[briefing.ps1]

    B1 -->|Reads| C[prompt.md]
    B2 -->|Reads| C

    B1 -->|Invokes| D[Claude Code CLI]
    B2 -->|Invokes| D

    D -->|Step 1: Search| E[WebSearch Tool]
    E -->|9 topics x multiple queries| F[Web Results]
    F -->|Step 2: Compile| G[Two-Tier Briefing]
    G -->|Step 3: Write| H[Notion MCP]
    H -->|Creates page| I[Notion Database]

    B1 -->|Logs output| J[logs/YYYY-MM-DD.log]
    B2 -->|Logs output| J
    J -->|Auto-cleanup| K[Delete logs older than 30 days]

Data flow summary:

1. The platform scheduler fires the entry point script (briefing.sh on macOS, briefing.ps1 on Windows) at the configured time each day.
2. The script reads the prompt from prompt.md and passes it to the Claude Code CLI in print mode.
3. Claude Code executes the prompt as an agentic task -- performing web searches, compiling results, and calling the Notion MCP tool.
4. Notion receives the finished briefing as a new database page.
5. Logs are written to a date-stamped file and automatically pruned after 30 days.

Prerequisites

Installation

1. Clone the project

git clone https://github.com/hoangsonww/AI-News-Briefing
cd AI-News-Briefing

2. Platform-specific setup

macOS (launchd)

# Make the shell script executable
chmod +x ~/ai-news-briefing/briefing.sh

# Install the launchd plist
cp ~/ai-news-briefing/com.ainews.briefing.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ainews.briefing.plist

# Verify the agent is registered
launchctl list | grep ainews

Optionally, set up the manual trigger command:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
cat > ~/.local/bin/ai-news << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
echo "Starting AI News Briefing..."
launchctl kickstart "gui/$(id -u)/com.ainews.briefing"
echo "Running. Check Notion or: tail -f ~/ai-news-briefing/logs/$(date +%Y-%m-%d).log"
EOF
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/ai-news

Make sure ~/.local/bin is in your PATH (add export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" to your ~/.zshrc if needed).

Windows (Task Scheduler)

Open PowerShell and run the installer script:

cd $env:USERPROFILE\ai-news-briefing
.\install-task.ps1

This registers a Task Scheduler task named AiNewsBriefing that runs daily at 8:00 AM under the current user account.

To customize the time:

.\install-task.ps1 -Hour 7 -Minute 30

Configuration

Change the schedule

macOS: Edit com.ainews.briefing.plist and modify the StartCalendarInterval section, then reload:

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ainews.briefing.plist
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ainews.briefing.plist

Windows: Re-run the installer with new time parameters:

.\install-task.ps1 -Hour 9 -Minute 0

Change the model

Edit the entry point script for your platform:

• macOS: briefing.sh -- change the --model sonnet flag
• Windows: briefing.ps1 -- change the --model sonnet argument

Model trade-offs:

Change the budget cap

Edit the --max-budget-usd value in briefing.sh (macOS) or briefing.ps1 (Windows). The default is 2.00 (USD per run). This acts as a safety cap -- if the agent's token usage would exceed this amount, the run stops.

Change the topics

Edit prompt.md and modify the "Topics to Search" list. You can add, remove, or rename topics. If you change the number of topics, also update the "Topics": 9 value in the Notion properties section at the bottom of the prompt.

Usage

Automatic (scheduled)

Once installed, the briefing runs automatically every day at the scheduled time (default: 8:00 AM). No action needed.

Manual trigger

Using Make (recommended, cross-platform):

make run            # Run in foreground
make run-bg         # Run in background
make run-scheduled  # Trigger via OS scheduler

Platform-native:

# macOS
ai-news
# or: launchctl kickstart "gui/$(id -u)/com.ainews.briefing"

# Windows (PowerShell or cmd)
schtasks /run /tn AiNewsBriefing

Watch the progress

make tail           # Cross-platform: tail today's log

Or platform-native:

# macOS
tail -f ~/ai-news-briefing/logs/$(date +%Y-%m-%d).log

# Windows (PowerShell)
Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\ai-news-briefing\logs\$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd').log" -Wait

A typical successful run takes 2-4 minutes and ends with a message like:

2026-03-09 14:08:08 Briefing complete. Check Notion for today's report.

Makefile Reference

The project includes a cross-platform Makefile that auto-detects your OS and routes commands to the correct platform tools. Requires GNU Make.

Utility Scripts Reference

The scripts/ directory contains 12 utility script pairs (.sh for macOS/Linux, .ps1 for Windows) for managing and troubleshooting the system.

Windows equivalents use the same names with .ps1 extension and PowerShell parameter syntax (e.g., .\scripts\health-check.ps1, .\scripts\topic-edit.ps1 -Action add -Name "AI Hardware" -Description "GPU news").

Notion Setup

Database schema

The prompt expects a Notion database with at least these properties:

You can add additional properties to the database (tags, priority, etc.), but the three above are what the agent writes to.

Data source ID

The prompt references a specific Notion data source ID:

856794cc-d871-4a95-be2d-2a1600920a19

To use your own database, replace this value in prompt.md (in the Step 3 section). To find your data source ID:

1. Open Claude Code and ensure the Notion MCP is connected.
2. Ask Claude: "List my Notion data sources" or use the notion-search MCP tool.
3. Copy the data_source_id for the database you want to use.
4. Replace the ID in prompt.md.

Page format

Each generated page contains:

• TL;DR -- 10-15 bullet points covering the biggest stories (roughly a 1-minute read)
• Divider
• Full Briefing -- 9 sections (one per topic), each with 3-8 detailed bullet points and source attribution
• Key Takeaways table -- a summary table of major trends and signals

How the Prompt Works

The prompt (prompt.md) instructs Claude to execute three sequential steps within a single agentic session:

Step 1: Search for News

Claude uses the WebSearch tool to perform multiple searches per topic, targeting news from the past 24-48 hours. The search strategy includes date-qualified queries like "[topic] news today 2026-03-09" and company-specific queries.

Step 2: Compile the Briefing

Search results are synthesized into a two-tier format:

• Tier 1 (TL;DR): 10-15 one-sentence bullet points covering the top stories across all topics. Designed as a quick-scan summary.
• Tier 2 (Full Briefing): 9 sections with detailed coverage, source attribution, and a closing Key Takeaways table.

Step 3: Write to Notion

Claude calls the mcp__notion__notion-create-pages tool to create a new page in the target database with the compiled briefing as Notion-flavored Markdown content.

Topic Coverage

Logs

Location

All logs are stored in the logs/ directory within the project:

Reading logs

macOS:

cat ~/ai-news-briefing/logs/$(date +%Y-%m-%d).log
tail -f ~/ai-news-briefing/logs/$(date +%Y-%m-%d).log

Windows:

Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\ai-news-briefing\logs\$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd').log"
Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\ai-news-briefing\logs\$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd').log" -Wait

Auto-cleanup

Logs older than 30 days are automatically deleted at the end of each run on both platforms. The macOS-specific launchd-stdout.log and launchd-stderr.log files are not date-stamped and may need periodic manual cleanup.

Troubleshooting

"Claude Code cannot be launched inside another Claude Code session"

This error occurs when the CLAUDECODE environment variable is set, which happens if you trigger the script from inside a Claude Code terminal session. Both briefing.sh and briefing.ps1 unset this variable automatically, but if you see this error:

• Make sure you are running the briefing from a regular terminal, not from within Claude Code.
• Verify the entry point script contains the unset CLAUDECODE / $env:CLAUDECODE = $null line.

Scheduled task does not run at the expected time

macOS (launchd):

• Mac was asleep: launchd will run the job when the Mac wakes up if the scheduled time was missed. If Power Nap is disabled or the lid was closed, the job may not fire until the next login.
• Powered off at scheduled time: The job is skipped entirely for that day.
• Agent not loaded: Verify with launchctl list | grep ainews. If missing, reload the plist.
• Path issues: The plist sets a custom PATH and HOME. If Claude is installed in a non-standard location, update the PATH in the plist.

Windows (Task Scheduler):

• Machine was off/asleep: StartWhenAvailable is enabled, so the task runs as soon as the machine wakes or the user logs in.
• Task not registered: Verify with schtasks /query /tn AiNewsBriefing. If missing, re-run install-task.ps1.
• Execution policy: The task action uses -ExecutionPolicy Bypass. If this is overridden by group policy, contact your IT admin or run briefing.ps1 manually.

Run succeeds but no Notion page appears

• Check that the Notion MCP is configured in Claude Code's MCP settings.
• Verify the data source ID in prompt.md matches a database your Notion integration has access to.
• Look at the log output -- Claude typically prints a Notion URL on success.

Budget exceeded

If the log shows the run stopped mid-way, the --max-budget-usd cap may have been reached. Increase the budget in the entry point script or switch to a cheaper model.

Multiple runs in the same day

Running the briefing multiple times in a day creates multiple Notion pages (one per run). Logs append to the same date-stamped file, so all runs for a given day are captured in one log.

Cost Estimate

With the default configuration (sonnet model, 9 topics, $2.00 budget cap):

Actual costs vary based on the volume of news, number of search queries, and briefing length. The --max-budget-usd 2.00 cap ensures no single run exceeds $2.00.

Project Structure

ai-news-briefing/
├── index.html                   # Landing page / project wiki
├── wiki/                        # Landing page assets
│   ├── style.css                # Styles
│   └── script.js                # Interactions
├── Makefile                     # Cross-platform task runner
├── scripts/                     # Utility scripts (sh + ps1 pairs)
│   ├── health-check.sh/.ps1     # Verify full setup
│   ├── log-summary.sh/.ps1      # Summarize recent runs
│   ├── log-search.sh/.ps1       # Search across all logs
│   ├── dry-run.sh/.ps1          # Test without writing to Notion
│   ├── test-notion.sh/.ps1      # Test Notion MCP connectivity
│   ├── cost-report.sh/.ps1      # Estimate API costs from logs
│   ├── export-logs.sh/.ps1      # Archive logs to tar.gz/zip
│   ├── backup-prompt.sh/.ps1    # Version and restore prompt.md
│   ├── topic-edit.sh/.ps1       # Add/remove/list topics
│   ├── update-schedule.sh/.ps1  # Change daily run time
│   ├── notify.sh/.ps1           # Send native OS notifications
│   └── uninstall.sh/.ps1        # Full cleanup and removal
├── briefing.sh                  # macOS entry point (bash)
├── briefing.ps1                 # Windows entry point (PowerShell)
├── prompt.md                    # Agent prompt (shared across platforms)
├── com.ainews.briefing.plist    # macOS launchd schedule definition
├── install-task.ps1             # Windows Task Scheduler installer
├── logs/                        # Run logs (git-ignored)
├── backups/                     # Prompt backups (git-ignored)
├── .gitignore
├── ARCHITECTURE.md              # Detailed architecture documentation
└── README.md                    # This file

Author

Created by Son Nguyen -- AI researcher and developer focused on building tools that empower people to harness the power of AI in their daily lives.

Thanks for checking out the project! If you have any questions, suggestions, or want to contribute, feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.