Stop digging through long forum threads to find good learning links. Capture a topic from a simple form, scan community advice on Hacker News, and email clean recommendations to the requester. It suits newsletters, learning programs, and developer education.

Here is how it runs. A form collects the topic and the user’s email. The flow searches Ask HN posts that match the topic, splits out comment IDs, then fetches each comment through the Hacker News API. All comment text is merged into one block. Google Gemini reviews that content and writes a short list of the best resources in markdown. The markdown converts to HTML, and Gmail SMTP sends an email with the selected picks and the number of comments reviewed. You get curated, community backed learning resources without manual research.

Set up needs a Google Gemini API key and Gmail SMTP credentials. Point the form path to your site or share the link, then submit a topic to test. Most teams can go from idea to working curation in under an hour and cut research time from hours to minutes. Use this for topic based newsletters, onboarding guides, or quick study plans.

• Form capture for topic and email using a hosted n8n form
• Ask HN search with a keyword filter and a limit of up to 150 posts
• Comment retrieval by splitting child IDs and calling the Hacker News API
• Text aggregation that merges all comment text into one clean block
• Google Gemini prompt that evaluates comments and returns top resources
• Markdown to HTML conversion for clean email formatting
• SMTP email delivery with topic based subject and comment count

• Reduce manual research from 2 hours to 5 minutes per topic
• Automate over 90 percent of content curation steps
• Process up to 150 threads and hundreds of comments in one run
• Connect Google Gemini, Hacker News and Gmail in one flow
• Deliver results to subscribers within minutes after form submit

1. Import the template into n8n: Create a new workflow in n8n > Click the three dots menu > Select 'Import from File' > Choose the downloaded JSON file.
2. You'll need accounts with Google Gemini, Gmail and Hacker News. See the Tools Required section above for links to create accounts with these services.
3. Open the Google Gemini node. In the Credential dropdown, click Create new credential. Add your API key from Google AI Studio, name the credential clearly, and save. Select the model gemini 1.5 flash if not already set.
4. Open the Email Send node. In the Credential dropdown, create a new SMTP credential. For Gmail, use smtp.gmail.com with port 465 or 587, your Gmail address as the username, and an App Password as the password. Save and test the connection.
5. Review the Form Trigger node. Confirm the path is set to learn and the fields match I want to learn and What's your email ?. Enable the workflow to expose the production webhook URL.
6. Check the Hacker News search settings. The node filters Ask HN posts and uses the submitted topic as the keyword. Keep the limit at 150 or adjust as needed.
7. Verify the HTTP Request node points to https://hacker-news.firebaseio.com/v0/item/{{ $json.children }}.json. No credential is required for this API.
8. Open the Basic LLM Chain node and review the prompt text. Keep the instruction clear so the model returns a short list of links and summaries.
9. Confirm the Markdown node converts the model output to HTML. If your email shows raw markdown, map the HTML output field from the Markdown node in the email body.
10. Test end to end. Open the public form URL, submit a topic and your email, then check the n8n execution and your inbox. If Gmail blocks the send, use an App Password and confirm SMTP settings.