Schedule an AI Daily Brief for Wake-Up Time

A couple of months in, and nothing automated yet

Mark, a solo user tracking his own projects and priorities in xTiles, had been using the planner for a couple of months but hadn't connected an AI tool to it at all. He didn't come in with a specific question — just a general sense that he could be getting more out of it than he already was.

The useful moment isn't when you run it — it's when it's already done

The core idea behind a scheduled brief is timing: instead of remembering to ask an AI tool to review your inbox and Slack each morning, the workflow runs on its own, before you're at your laptop. Set it for 8:30 AM, and by the time you open xTiles, the key information for the day is already sitting there — no manual step to remember.

Connecting ChatGPT — or Claude, either works

Connecting an AI tool to xTiles starts from Account Settings → xTiles MCP, or directly from ChatGPT's own connector search — searching "xTiles" inside ChatGPT's plugin directory finds the same connector without leaving the chat. Claude works the same way from its own connector settings. Neither requires picking one over the other; connect whichever you already use.

Setting the workflow up, once

The setup itself is a short prompt — something like "execute the daily brief workflow" — followed by a few quick questions: your role, which tools to pull from, and what actually matters most to see each day. Once that's answered, the workflow generates a first version, and from there you can set it to run automatically at a specific time, like 8:30 AM, instead of triggering it by hand.

What's actually waiting there by the time you check

A typical brief pulls together anything overdue from the day before (moved forward automatically), a pass through inbox and Slack for what actually needs attention with links back to the original threads, meeting notes if you use a connected tool for them, and newsletters folded into a single summary instead of sitting unread. All of it lands as tiles on the day's page — nothing to assemble manually.

Why a pre-built starting point matters more than it sounds

A blank day and an open inbox both ask the same silent question: where do you start? For anyone who finds mornings genuinely harder to get moving in — a pattern common with executive-function difficulty — having that first pass already done removes exactly the step that tends to cause the most stalling. The brief doesn't decide what matters for you; it just removes the blank-page problem before you've had coffee.

Frequently asked questions

Can I schedule the Daily Brief for a specific time, like right before I wake up?

Yes. After the first setup, you can set the workflow to run automatically at a chosen time — for example 8:30 AM — so it's ready before you open your laptop.

Do I need Claude for this, or does it work with ChatGPT too?

Both work. Connect whichever you already use from Account Settings → xTiles MCP, or find xTiles directly inside ChatGPT's own connector search.

How do I set up the Daily Brief the first time?

Connect your AI tool, then say something like "execute the daily brief workflow." It asks a few quick setup questions — your role, the tools to pull from, and what matters most — then generates a first version you can schedule.

What does the brief actually include?

Overdue tasks carried forward, an inbox and Slack pass with links back to relevant threads, meeting notes if connected, and newsletters folded into one summary instead of sitting unread.

Do I have to trigger it manually every day?

No. Once scheduled, it runs on its own at the time you set — there's no daily manual step once the setup is done.

I'm new to xTiles entirely — do I need to learn the planner first?

No. Connecting an AI tool works independently of how much of the planner you've explored — it populates your daily page automatically either way.