# Build your first automation This tutorial walks you through building a workflow that pulls someone's LinkedIn profile, summarizes their background with AI, and emails the summary to your Gmail inbox. No coding required. Most users finish this in under 10 minutes. ## What you'll need A CodeWords account (free tier works) and a Gmail account. You do not need a LinkedIn account. CodeWords can pull public LinkedIn profile data directly. ## Step 1: Describe your automation idea Open a new chat and describe what you want to build. Be specific about the inputs, processing, and output. > "Build a workflow that takes a LinkedIn profile URL, extracts the person's work history and skills, summarizes it with AI, and emails the summary to my Gmail." Cody reviews your request and puts together a plan: * **LinkedIn extraction**: Pull the person's name, headline, work history, education, and skills from their profile. * **AI summarization**: Generate a concise overview of their professional background. * **Email composition**: Format the summary into a readable email. * **Gmail delivery**: Send it to your inbox. Once you approve the plan, Cody starts building. ## Step 2: Cody builds the LinkedIn extraction Cody uses CodeWords LinkedIn Intelligence to pull structured profile data. This works on any public LinkedIn profile, and no login or Chrome Extension is needed. What Cody builds: * Accepts a LinkedIn profile URL as input. * Extracts structured data: name, headline, work history, education, skills, and certifications. * Returns clean, organized data ready for summarization. ### Test example Input: `https://www.linkedin.com/in/satya-nadella/` Results: * Valid LinkedIn URL recognized * Profile data extracted successfully * Four work history entries, two education entries, and 12 skills found * Completed in about 15 seconds ## Step 3: Add AI summarization and Gmail delivery What Cody adds: * Processes the extracted profile data with an AI model * Generates a professional summary covering career trajectory, key skills, and current role * Connects securely to Gmail using OAuth authentication * Composes and sends an email with the person's name as the subject and the summary in the body ### Gmail connection When Cody needs to connect to Gmail, it asks you to authorize access. This is a one-time step, and you usually do not need to repeat it for future automations that use Gmail. ### Test results * Summary generated successfully * Gmail connection verified (`your.email@gmail.com`) * Email formatted and delivered correctly ## Step 4: Full end-to-end test Cody runs the complete workflow to make sure everything works together: * LinkedIn profile extracted successfully * AI-generated summary is concise and accurate * Gmail message delivered with correct formatting and a link back to the profile Cody then asks whether you are happy with the results: * "Yes, it's exactly what I wanted." Cody deploys your automation. * "I'd like to make adjustments." Tell Cody what to change, for example: "Make the summary shorter" or "Add their education details to the email." ## Step 5: Deployment Once confirmed, Cody deploys your automation and gives you a unique URL for its run page: `https://codewords.agemo.ai/run/linkedin-profile-summarizer-xyz789` From the run page, you can: * Run the automation with any LinkedIn profile URL * Click Remix to modify or improve it * Set up a schedule to run it automatically * Share it with your team ## What you built | Step | What happens | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Input | You provide any public LinkedIn profile URL | | Extract | CodeWords pulls structured profile data (work history, education, skills) | | Summarize | AI generates a professional background summary | | Deliver | The summary lands in your Gmail inbox, formatted and ready to read | ## Troubleshooting ### LinkedIn extraction issues * Invalid URL: Make sure the URL follows the format `https://www.linkedin.com/in/username/` * Empty results: The profile may be set to private. Try a different public profile. * Partial data: Some profiles have limited public information. The summary still works with available data. ### AI summary issues * Summary too long or short: Ask Cody to adjust it, for example: "Make it a three-bullet summary" or "Write a single paragraph." * Missing details: Ask Cody to include specific sections, for example: "Include their education" or "Focus on their last three roles." ### Gmail delivery issues * Permission error: Re-authorize the Gmail integration from your account settings. * Email not arriving: Check your spam or junk folder. ## What's next Now that you have built your first automation, try these: * Change the output: "Send the summary to Slack instead of Gmail." * Add more data: "Also include their recent LinkedIn posts." * Process multiple profiles: "Run this for a list of 10 LinkedIn URLs and save results to Google Sheets." * Explore templates: Browse the [Template Gallery](https://codewords.ai/templates) for more ideas. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.codewords.ai/get-started/build-your-first-automation.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.