Quickstart

Get started by building your first automation on CodeWords through natural prompts

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to automate content extraction and summarization with CodeWords - no code, just natural language. You’ll create a workflow that scrapes content from a web page, summarizes it with AI, and sends the summary to your Gmail inbox.

Building Your First Automation: Web Scraper & Gmail Summarizer

Step 1: Plan Your Automation

Goal: Scrape a web page → summarize content with AI → send summary via Gmail.

User Input Example:

“Build a workflow that scrapes data from a URL and emails the summary to my Gmail.”

Cody’s Planning Process:

  • Template Search: Checks from the available automation templates.

  • Integration verification: Confirms access to necessary app integrations.

  • Automation Plan Generated:

    • Web scraping: Extract main text content from a target URL.

    • AI summarization: Generate a concise, easy-to-read summary.

    • Email composition: Create a formatted email with the summary.

    • Gmail delivery: Send the email directly to the user’s inbox.

Once approved, Cody begins building.

Step 2: Cody builds the extraction module

What Cody Builds:

  • Accepts a public URL as input.

  • Navigates to the web page and extracts the main text content.

  • Ignores ads, navigation, and sidebars for clean data.

Test Example:

  • Input: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/ancient-dna-reveals-woolly-mammoths-final-years

Results:

  • Valid URL recognized

  • Page scraped successfully

  • 1,200 words extracted

  • Content relevance

Step 3: Add AI Summarization and Gmail Delivery

What Cody Adds:

  • Processes the extracted text with an AI summarization model.

  • Generates a 4-point summary of the article’s key findings.

  • Connects securely to Gmail using OAuth authentication.

  • Composes and sends an email with the title as the subject and the summary in the body.

Testing Results:

  • Summary generated successfully

  • Gmail connection verified ([email protected])

  • Email formatted and delivered correctly

Step 4: Final Workflow Test

Goal: Validate the full automation end-to-end.

Cody runs the workflow:

  • The website is scraped successfully.

  • The AI-generated summary is concise and accurate.

  • The Gmail message is delivered with correct formatting and source link.

User Confirmation:

  1. Yes, it’s exactly what I wanted.

  2. I’d like to make adjustments.

Once confirmed, Cody deploys your automation.

Step 5: Deployment and Automation URL

Cody provides a unique execution URL:

https://codewords.agemo.ai/run/web-summarizer-automation-xyz789

You can run or modify your automation anytime.

Step 6: Troubleshooting Guide

Website Scraping Issues

  • Invalid URL: Ensure the link is public and accessible.

  • Blocked content: Some sites prevent scraping. Try a simpler article-based site.

  • Empty results: The page might be image- or video-heavy.

AI Summary Issues

  • Low quality summary: Use more structured or factual content.

  • Adjust prompt: Ask for “3 bullet summary” or “1-paragraph summary.”

Gmail Delivery Issues

  • Permission error: Re-authenticate Gmail integration.

  • Email missing: Check spam/junk folder and whitelist sender.

Summary

You’ve successfully built your first end-to-end CodeWords automation. It:

  • Accepts any public article URL as input.

  • Extracts the core text content automatically using web scraping.

  • Generates an AI-powered summary highlighting the key insights.

  • Delivers the summary directly to your Gmail inbox, fully formatted and ready to read.

Your automation now combines real-time web data extraction, AI summarization, and email delivery — all created through natural language in just a few steps.

Building Your First Automation: Web Scraper & Gmail Summarizer

FAQ

Do I need coding experience to follow this tutorial?

No. Everything in this guide can be done with plain English prompts. CodeWords automatically builds the logic, connects integrations, and handles deployment behind the scenes.

How long will this take to complete?

Most users finish in under 10 minutes. The workflow setup is intentionally short: add your URL, let CodeWords summarize the content with AI, and send the result to your inbox.

What kind of web pages work best?

You can use any publicly accessible, text-based website — like blog posts, articles, or documentation pages. Avoid paywalled or login-protected pages. If you would like to run it on paywalled or login-protected pages you can use our Chrome extension or Web Agent to access these data.

Can I customize what gets summarized or how the email looks?

Yes. You can adjust the AI prompt (“write a short summary,” “list three key points,” etc.) and change the email recipient, subject, or format in the workflow editor.

What if something doesn’t work as expected?

Check that your connected apps (Gmail, Web Agent) are authorized and active. Then open the Run Logs inside CodeWords to see detailed errors. The Troubleshooting Guide

Next Steps

Now that you’ve finished the Quickstart, you can:

Last updated

Was this helpful?