AI-Powered Newsletter Generator (MCP)

1. Project Overview

This project is an AI-powered newsletter generation system built using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It dynamically creates structured newsletters covering 8 distinct sections and provides automated NLP analytics (word count, reading time, sentiment, and keywords).

2. Architecture Explanation

The project is built on Node.js and uses the MCP SDK. It exposes two core tools:

• generate_newsletter: Uses OpenAI's API to dynamically write content based on structured prompt templates.

• analyze_newsletter: Uses local processing to parse the generated markdown, calculate word frequencies, estimate reading time, and score sentiment.

The MCP Server runs over stdio, allowing it to be integrated easily into local LLM clients like Claude Desktop, or run standalone via the CLI.

3. Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)

• npm or yarn

• OpenAI API Key (optional but recommended for actual text generation)

4. Installation Steps

1. Clone the repository or extract the files.

2. Open your terminal in the project root.

3. Run npm install to install the MCP SDK and dotenv.

5. Environment Variable Setup

1. Copy .env.example and rename it to .env.

2. Open .env and paste your OpenAI API key:

   OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-real-key-here

6. How to Start the MCP Server

To start the raw MCP server (which communicates via standard input/output):

npm start

(Note: Because it uses stdio, it will appear to hang. This is normal, as it is waiting for JSON-RPC messages. Press Ctrl+C to exit).

7. How to Generate Newsletter & 8. Run Analytics via CLI

To use the application manually as a standard Node app:

npm run cli

Follow the on-screen prompts to enter a topic. It will automatically generate the newsletter, save it to the /outputs folder, and print out analytics (saving the JSON to /analytics).

9. Example CLI Commands

npm install
npm run cli
# Topic: Quantum Computing in AI

10. How to Use with Claude (MCP Integration)

To use this server as a tool inside Claude Desktop:

1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration file (e.g., claude_desktop_config.json).

2. Add the following entry to your mcpServers block:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "newsletter-generator": {
         "command": "node",
         "args": ["/absolute/path/to/ai-newsletter-mcp/server/index.js"]
       }
     }
   }

3. Restart Claude Desktop.

4. Ask Claude: "Please generate a newsletter about Agentic Workflows using the generate_newsletter tool, and then analyze the result."

11. Future Improvements (For Final Year Project)

• Database Integration: Connect MongoDB or PostgreSQL to track user historical generated newsletters and trends over time.

• Advanced NLP: Replace heuristic sentiment analysis with a local HuggingFace model or an LLM call.

• Web UI: Build a React.js or Next.js frontend to visualize the analytics using charting libraries like Recharts or Chart.js.

• Email Dispatch: Integrate SendGrid or Nodemailer to automatically email the generated newsletter to a list of subscribers.

12. Automated Scheduling & Email Delivery

The project includes an automated workflow that generates, analyzes, and emails newsletters without manual intervention.

📧 Email Configuration

This system uses nodemailer. To send emails (e.g., via Gmail):

1. Go to your Google Account > Security.

2. Enable 2-Step Verification.

3. Search for "App Passwords" and generate a new password for this app.

4. Add the credentials to your .env file:

   EMAIL_USER=your-email@gmail.com
   EMAIL_PASS=your-16-char-app-password

(Security Note: Never commit your .env file or actual password to GitHub!)

⏰ Scheduler Configuration

Edit the config/schedulerConfig.json file to manage delivery:

Demo Mode (Every 5 minutes):

{ "mode": "interval", "intervalMinutes": 5 }

Production Mode (Daily at 8:00 AM):

{ "mode": "daily", "dailyTime": "08:00" }

🚀 How to Run the Scheduler

The scheduler boots up automatically when the MCP server runs. However, to run the scheduler independently for testing:

npm run scheduler

📋 Logging & Common Errors

All automated actions are logged inside the /logs directory.

• SMTP Authentication Error: Check that you are using a Google App Password and not your standard login password.

• Empty Output: Ensure your OPENAI_API_KEY is valid.