Newsletter MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that generates newsletters from Slack conversations and creates Google Docs.

Features

Core Functionality

• Slack Integration: Fetch messages from multiple channels

• Google Docs Creation: Generate formatted newsletters in Google Docs

• Smart Filtering: Identify important messages based on engagement and content

• Multi-channel Support: Process multiple Slack channels simultaneously

Advanced Features (New!)

• User Mention Parsing: Convert Slack user mentions (<@U123456> → @username) for better readability

• Topic-Based Organization: Automatically categorize messages into topics like:

  • Scheduling (meetings, deadlines, appointments)

  • Technical Discussions (code, bugs, features)

  • Announcements (updates, news, important notices)

  • Questions & Help (support, troubleshooting)

  • Celebrations (birthdays, achievements)

  • Project Updates (milestones, progress)

  • Team Building (social events, culture)

  • Tools & Resources (links, documentation)

• Date Extraction: Identify and highlight dates/deadlines mentioned in messages:

  • Specific dates: "March 15th", "3/15/2024"

  • Relative dates: "tomorrow", "next week", "in 2 days"

  • Time references: "at 3pm", "by 5:30"

  • Future/past references: "in 2 weeks", "2 days ago"

Related MCP server: Gmail AutoAuth MCP Server

Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+

• Slack Bot Token

• Google OAuth credentials

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd mcp-server

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Set up environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your Slack bot token

# Set up Google OAuth
# Download credentials.json from Google Cloud Console
# Place it in the project root

Environment Variables

SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-your-slack-bot-token

Usage

Running the Server

# Run as a module (recommended)
python -m src.newsletter_mcp.server

# Or run the script directly
python src/newsletter_mcp/server.py

Available Tools

Basic Tools

• get_slack_channels() - List accessible Slack channels

• get_channel_messages(channel_id, days_back=7) - Fetch messages from a channel

• filter_important_messages(channel_id, days_back=7) - Get important messages only

• create_simple_document(title, content) - Create a Google Doc

• generate_full_newsletter(days_back=7) - Complete newsletter generation

New Advanced Tools

• parse_user_mentions(text) - Parse and resolve Slack user mentions

• organize_messages_by_topic(channel_id, days_back=7) - Group messages by topic categories

• extract_dates_from_messages(channel_id, days_back=7) - Extract dates and deadlines

Newsletter Output

The generated newsletters now include:

1. Executive Summary - Overview of activity across channels

2. Topic-Based Sections - Messages organized by category

3. Date Highlights - Upcoming deadlines and important dates

4. Engagement Metrics - Reaction and reply counts

5. User Attribution - Real names instead of user IDs

Codebase Structure

newsletter-mcp-server/ ├── pyproject.toml ├── README.md ├── .env # Environment variables ├── src/ │ └── newsletter_mcp/ │ ├── init.py │ ├── server.py # Main MCP server │ ├── tools/ │ │ ├── init.py │ │ ├── slack_tool.py # Slack integration │ │ ├── gdocs_tool.py # Google Docs integration │ │ └── gmail_tool.py # Email distribution │ ├── workflows/ │ │ ├── init.py │ │ └── newsletter_workflow.py # Orchestrates the flow │ └── config/ │ ├── init.py │ └── auth_config.py # Authentication management └── tests/ ├── init.py └── test_tools.py

Example Newsletter Structure

Weekly Development Newsletter
Generated on March 15, 2024
Report Period: Mar 8 - Mar 15, 2024

📊 SUMMARY
This week, our team was active across 3 channels with 156 total messages...

🏢 CHANNEL UPDATES

#GENERAL
Members: 25 | Important Updates: 12

📂 ORGANIZED BY TOPIC:

🔹 TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS (8 updates)
  1. @john: Fixed the authentication bug in the API [👍3 💬2]
  2. @sarah: Deployed new feature to staging [👍5]
  3. @mike: Code review completed for PR #123 [💬4]

🔹 SCHEDULING (3 updates)
  1. @alice: Team meeting tomorrow at 3pm
  2. @bob: Deadline for project milestone is March 20th

📅 UPCOMING DATES & DEADLINES:
  • @alice: tomorrow (Team meeting tomorrow at 3pm)
  • @bob: March 20th (Deadline for project milestone is March 20th)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────

Architecture

• SlackTool: Handles Slack API interactions and message processing

• GoogleDocsTool: Manages Google Docs creation and formatting

• GmailTool: Manages sending of email to recipients

• NewsletterWorkflow: Orchestrates the complete newsletter generation process

• MCP Server: Exposes tools via the Model Context Protocol

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Module Import Errors: Ensure you're running from the correct directory

2. Slack API Errors: Verify your bot token has the necessary permissions

3. Google OAuth Issues: Check that credentials.json is in the correct location

4. Environment Variables: Make sure .env file is loaded properly

Debug Mode

The server includes debug logging. Check the console output for detailed information about the connection and processing steps.

Future Implement

-- make init function more async -- improve the error handling -- improve test by using mock -- remove file names from codebase, rather put it in an .env file