Automate Notion, Gmail & Slack with MCP

Notion for tasks. Gmail for communication. Slack for team chat. Great tools—but you're the one copying information between them. This tutorial shows you how to connect all three to Claude, then build workflows that eliminate the busywork.

What You'll Build

The Outcome

All three tools connected to Claude
5 ready-to-use automation workflows
A unified system for tasks & comms

The Workflows

1. Morning Email → Task Extraction
2. Slack Discussion → Notion Doc
3. Cross-Tool Search
4. Weekly Digest Generator
5. Meeting Follow-Up Automator

Part 1: Connect Your Tools

We'll connect each tool one at a time. Your goal is to build a config file that looks like this:

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gmail": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-gmail"]
    },
    "notion": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-notion"],
      "env": {
        "NOTION_TOKEN": "your-notion-token"
      }
    },
    "slack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-slack"],
      "env": {
        "SLACK_TOKEN": "your-slack-bot-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 1A: Connect Gmail

Add the gmail section to your config file (shown above).
Restart Claude Desktop completely.
Ask Claude: "Show me my recent emails".
It will ask you to Sign in with Google. Follow the browser prompt.

See detailed Gmail guide →

Step 1B: Connect Notion

Go to notion.so/my-integrations and create a new integration.
Copy the "Internal Integration Secret".
Paste it into your config file where it says your-notion-token.
Crucial Step: Go to the Notion pages you want Claude to access, click "..." in the top right, select "Connect to", and choose your new integration.

See detailed Notion guide →

Step 1C: Connect Slack

Create a Slack app at api.slack.com/apps.
Under "OAuth & Permissions", add these Scopes: channels:history, channels:read, chat:write.
Install the app to your workspace and copy the "Bot User OAuth Token".
Paste it into your config file where it says your-slack-bot-token.

See detailed Slack guide →

Verification: Before proceeding, ask Claude: "What tools do you have access to?" It should list Gmail, Notion, and Slack tools.

Part 2: The Workflows

Now that your tools are connected, copy-paste these prompts to run powerful automation workflows.

1. Morning Email Triage Saves 30 mins/day

Claude reads your inbox, categorizes urgent items, and automatically creates tasks in Notion for things you need to do.

Review my unread emails from the last 24 hours. For each email: 1. Categorize as: Urgent, Needs Response, Task/Action Item, FYI, or Can Wait. 2. For any "Task/Action Item", create a page in my Notion "Tasks" database. Use the email subject as the title and put a brief summary + sender in the body. 3. Give me a bulleted summary of just the Urgent items and the Tasks you created.

2. Slack Discussion → Notion Doc Saves 15 mins/run

Turn a messy Slack thread into a clean, structured design document or decision log in Notion.

Read the last 50 messages in the #product-design channel. Extract the discussion about "Mobile Navigation". Summarize the key decisions made, open questions, and agreed-upon next steps. Create a new Notion page titled "Mobile Nav Decisions - [Date]" and write this summary there.

3. Cross-Tool Search Saves frustration

"Where did we talk about that?" Let Claude search Slack, Email, and Notion simultaneously.

Search Notion, my recent Emails, and the #general Slack channel for anything related to "Q4 Marketing Plan". Synthesize what you find into a single timeline of our progress and listing the most recent files or links shared.

4. Weekly Digest Generator Saves 1 hour/week

Perfect for managers. Generate a weekly status report based on what your team actually did.

Look at the #engineering and #marketing Slack channels from the past week. Also check my "Project Updates" database in Notion. Draft a "Weekly Highlights" message for me to send to the team. Group updates by project. Keep it high-energy and concise.

5. Meeting Follow-Up Automator Saves 20 mins/meeting

After a meeting, have Claude find the relevant context and draft your follow-up email.

I just had a meeting with [Client Name]. Check my email history with them to see what we discussed last month. Draft a follow-up email to them summarizing that we are moving forward with the "Platinum Plan" we discussed, and listing the 3 next steps from our "Onboarding" Notion page.

Start Automating

You now have a powerful AI assistant connected to your daily tools. These 5 workflows are just the beginning.

Get the Configs

Download our Quick Start Kit to get these configuration codes without typing.

Download Kit

More Workflows

Explore our library of automation examples for operations, sales, and dev.

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