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Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ Intermediate · Estimated time: ~30 minutes
Your manager emails you about an invoice that needs follow-up by Friday. Normally you’d read the email, open Google Calendar to create a reminder, then open Google Docs to write up your notes. Three apps, three context switches, five minutes gone. Instead, you tell AI to do all three at once — read the email, create the calendar event, and write the summary doc. One instruction, three actions, ten seconds. That’s what we’re building. A workflow where AI reads your Gmail, extracts what matters, and takes action across your Google apps — Calendar, Docs, and Drive.
Tutorial led by Chan Meng — Senior AI/ML Engineer, open-source contributor, and former ByteDance developer. Chan has built 30+ live applications and specialises in AI-powered solutions. She is also a panel speaker at this event and the developer behind this website.

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What you will build

Read & Extract

AI reads your emails and pulls out key information — who sent it, what it’s about, and what action is needed

Schedule

Create Google Calendar events directly from email content — follow-ups, deadlines, and reminders

Document

Write summaries and notes to Google Docs — capture important details without opening your browser

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How it works

You give one natural language instruction. Gemini CLI understands what you need, reads your Gmail using the Google Workspace CLI (gws), and then takes action — creating calendar events, writing documents, or uploading files. All from your terminal, all in seconds.

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What you will learn

  • Build cross-app workflows that connect Gmail, Calendar, and Google Docs
  • Extract action items, deadlines, and key details from emails using AI
  • Create Google Calendar events from email content using natural language
  • Write email summaries to Google Docs without opening a browser
  • Upload files to Google Drive from the command line
  • Chain multiple actions into a single AI instruction
No coding required. The AI handles everything — your job is to describe what you want done. If you can explain it to a colleague, you can do this.

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Tools

Gemini CLI

Google’s free AI assistant that runs in your terminal. Supports extensions for Google Workspace — Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Drive.

gws (Google Workspace CLI)

A command-line tool that controls your Google apps — Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets — from the terminal.

Wispr Flow

Optional voice input tool — speak instead of type. Works in any application, including your terminal.

Node.js

Required to install Gemini CLI and gws. A one-time setup.

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Cost

ToolCost
Gemini CLIFree (1,000 requests/day)
gwsFree and open-source
Wispr FlowFree trial (invite link for a free month of Pro)
Node.jsFree
Gmail + Calendar + DocsFree
Total$0

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Prerequisites

A laptop with internet

Windows or macOS. No special hardware needed.

30 minutes

Take your time — there’s no rush. You can always come back and continue later.

A Google account

Any personal or work Google account with Gmail, Calendar, and Docs enabled.
Ready to get started? Head to Set up your tools to get everything connected.