Byte-Sized n8n AI Series: Real World Plumbing

Description:

An AI agent without data is like a brain without a body. To be truly useful, your sovereign AI must be able to read your emails, update your spreadsheets, and manage your emails.

In this 90-minute technical deep dive, we solve the "plumbing" problems of AI. We will tackle the complexities of OAuth 2.0 authentication to securely connect to the Google Ecosystem. You will learn how to "wrangle" messy JSON data into clean formats and build a sophisticated Inbox Manager—an autonomous agent that monitors your Gmail, categorizes incoming requests by intent, and logs them into Google Sheets for review.

Duration:

90 minutes

Course Code: BDT 534

Learning Objectives:

After this course, you will be able to:

1. Navigate and configure Google Cloud Console for API access
2. Map and transform complex JSON data structures using n8n Code Nodes
3. Build a multi-step integration between Gmail, LLMs, and Google Sheets

Automation architects and business users who have an AI agent foundation and now need to connect that intelligence to professional productivity suites and messy real-world data.

Familiarity with n8n nodes. Access to a Google Cloud Console account (free tier is fine). A basic understanding of what an API is will be helpful

Course Outline:

1. Data Wrangling: Managing AI’s Input/Output
   1. JSON 101: Understanding the language of the web and AI responses
   2. The “Code Node” Simplified: Using basic JavaScript snippets to map data without being a "coder"
   3. Data Transformation: How to turn a long LLM response into clean rows for a database
   4. Lab: Mapping a sample JSON response into a flat table structure

2. The OAuth Hurdle: Securely Connecting to Google
   1. Google Cloud Console: Creating a project and enabling Gmail/Sheets/Calendar APIs
   2. Credentials and Scopes: Understanding the "handshake" between n8n and Google
   3. Troubleshooting Auth: Common pitfalls in the OAuth consent screen and redirect URLs
   4. Lab: Successfully connecting your n8n instance to a Google account

3. The Inbox Manager: From Email to Action
   1. Intent Categorization: Prompting the LLM to tag emails (e.g., "Urgent," "Inquiry," "Spam")
   2. Connecting the Dots: Building the workflow: Gmail Trigger → AI Processing → Google Sheets Logging
   3. Drafting Responses: Setting up the agent to automatically prepare draft replies
   4. Lab: Deploying a live agent that reads a test email and updates a Google Sheet

Training material provided: Yes (Digital format)

Hands-on Lab: Students will be provided with docker compose file and n8n workflow JSON.