This article provides a complete, practical walkthrough of the Slack Manual Automation Scheduled n8n agent. It connects HTTP Request, Webhook across approximately 1 node(s). Expect a Intermediate setup in 15-45 minutes. One‑time purchase: €29.

What This Agent Does

This agent orchestrates a reliable automation between HTTP Request, Webhook, handling triggers, data enrichment, and delivery with guardrails for errors and rate limits.

It streamlines multi‑step processes that would otherwise require manual exports, spreadsheet cleanup, and repeated API requests. By centralizing logic in n8n, it reduces context switching, lowers error rates, and ensures consistent results across teams.

Typical outcomes include faster lead handoffs, automated notifications, accurate data synchronization, and better visibility via execution logs and optional Slack/Email alerts.

How It Works

The workflow uses standard n8n building blocks like Webhook or Schedule triggers, HTTP Request for API calls, and control nodes (IF, Merge, Set) to validate inputs, branch on conditions, and format outputs. Retries and timeouts improve resilience, while credentials keep secrets safe.

Third‑Party Integrations

• HTTP Request
• Webhook

Import and Use in n8n

1. Open n8n and create a new workflow or collection.
2. Choose Import from File or Paste JSON.
3. Paste the JSON below, then click Import.
4. Show n8n JSON

   Title:  
   Automating Invoice Management with n8n: A Complete Workflow for Orlen Emails to Google Drive
   
   Meta Description:  
   Learn how to fully automate invoice handling from Orlen emails using n8n, Gmail, and Google Drive. This workflow extracts unread invoices, stores them in structured folders, marks them as read, and notifies via Slack.
   
   Keywords:  
   n8n workflow, automate invoices, Orlen invoice automation, Gmail API, Google Drive API, Slack API, Google Drive folder structure, email to cloud automation, invoice management automation, n8n Google Drive workflow
   
   Third-Party APIs Used:
   
   1. Gmail API (via Gmail OAuth2) – for fetching and managing email messages
   2. Google Drive API (via OAuth2) – for querying folders and uploading invoices
   3. Slack API (via Slack OAuth2) – for sending Slack notifications
   
   Article:
   
   Automating Invoice Management with n8n: A Complete Workflow for Orlen Emails to Google Drive
   
   Managing invoices manually can become a tedious and error-prone process—especially as your business grows. But with automation tools like n8n and integrations with services such as Gmail, Google Drive, and Slack, you can fully automate repetitive administrative tasks like capturing and organizing invoices from suppliers.
   
   In this article, we’ll break down a real-world n8n workflow purpose-built for managing invoices from Orlen, a fuel distribution company. This workflow watches for unread invoice emails, extracts attachments, organizes them into structured Google Drive folders, and notifies the team via Slack. Let’s dive into how it all works.
   
    Triggering the Workflow
   
   This workflow can be initiated in two ways:
   
   1. Manual Trigger — With the “On clicking 'execute'” node, a user can trigger the workflow on demand via the n8n UI.
   2. Scheduled Run — The “Every 23:45” cron node ensures that the workflow runs automatically every night at 11:45 PM local time (Europe/Warsaw timezone).
   
   These dual triggers provide both flexibility and automation.
   
    Extracting and Resolving Dates
   
   Next, a function node (“Current date”) collects the current year, month, and day. This ensures the workflow dynamically adjusts to the date it is run, organizing files in time-structured folders (e.g., Drive/Firma/2024/06/).
   
   Code:
   ```javascript
   var today = new Date();
   var year = today.getFullYear();
   var month = today.getMonth() + 1;
   var day = today.getDate();
   
   if(month < 10) {
     month = "0" + month;
   }
   
   items[0].json.year = year;
   items[0].json.month = month;
   items[0].json.day = day;
   
   return items;
   ```
   
    Navigating Google Drive Folders
   
   The automation uses Google Drive API to locate the relevant storage location for the invoice attachment:
   
   - “Get Year folder” queries the Drive for a folder labeled with the current year.
   - “Get Month folder” further drills down into that year folder to locate the matching numeric month sub-folder.
   
   If the folders don’t exist, you could modify this flow to create them dynamically.
   
    Retrieving the Invoice from Gmail
   
   The “Orlen Invoice” node is set to retrieve all unread emails with attachments from the sender orlenpay@orlen.pl. It only pulls emails that are:
   
   - From the specified sender
   - Contain one or more attachments
   - Marked as unread
   
   This ensures only new invoices are picked up by the workflow.
   
    Uploading the Invoice to Google Drive
   
   Once the invoice is fetched, the “Upload Invoice to Google Drive” node uploads the attachment into the correct year/month folder. The file is named based on the attachment’s meta data using:
   
   Orlen {{$binary.attachment_0.directory}}.{{$binary.attachment_0.fileExtension}}
   
   This ensures meaningful and unique filenames that make it easier to locate and manage historical invoices.
   
   ✅ Marking Emails as Read
   
   To prevent duplication, the message is then marked as “read” using another Gmail node (“Mark as Read”) which removes the "UNREAD" label from the processed email.
   
   ⚡ Slack Notification
   
   Finally, the team is instantly notified via the “Slack” node. The message is as follows (in Polish):
   
   Kapitanie!
   Dodano fakturę [filename] do Firma/[year]/[month]
   
   Translation: “Captain! An invoice [filename] has been added to Firma/[year]/[month]”
   
   This brings visibility and transparency to the movement of financial documents—no more digging around or wondering where invoices ended up.
   
   🌐 Final Thoughts
   
   This n8n workflow is a great example of what can be achieved by combining automation platforms with modern APIs. By leveraging Gmail, Google Drive, and Slack, the workflow handles the full life-cycle of an invoice—from retrieval to categorization to communication—with zero human intervention.
   
   Benefits of this approach:
   
   - Eliminates manual downloading, renaming, and organizing of invoices
   - Ensures consistent storage structure by year and month
   - Increases visibility with real-time Slack alerts
   - Prevents duplicate processing via “unread” filter and automatic read marking
   
   As businesses work to simplify operations, automating invoice processing using tools like n8n is a powerful and practical step toward smoother, smarter workflows.
   
   Unlock the potential of automation—and let robots do the paperwork.
   
   ✅ Try It Yourself
   
   Want to build a similar workflow? You’ll need:
   
   - n8n instance (self-hosted or cloud)
   - Connected Gmail and Google Drive accounts with appropriate scopes
   - Slack workspace with an OAuth2-connected bot
   
   Once configured, you can customize this blueprint to work with any other vendor or file type by adjusting search parameters and folder naming conventions.
   
   Say goodbye to manual invoice processing—forever.

5. Set credentials for each API node (keys, OAuth) in Credentials.
6. Run a test via Execute Workflow. Inspect Run Data, then adjust parameters.
7. Enable the workflow to run on schedule, webhook, or triggers as configured.

Tips: keep secrets in credentials, add retries and timeouts on HTTP nodes, implement error notifications, and paginate large API fetches.

Validation: use IF/Code nodes to sanitize inputs and guard against empty payloads.

Why Automate This with AI Agents

AI‑assisted automations offload repetitive, error‑prone tasks to a predictable workflow. Instead of manual copy‑paste and ad‑hoc scripts, your team gets a governed pipeline with versioned state, auditability, and observable runs.

n8n’s node graph makes data flow transparent while AI‑powered enrichment (classification, extraction, summarization) boosts throughput and consistency. Teams reclaim time, reduce operational costs, and standardize best practices without sacrificing flexibility.

Compared to one‑off integrations, an AI agent is easier to extend: swap APIs, add filters, or bolt on notifications without rewriting everything. You get reliability, control, and a faster path from idea to production.

Best Practices

• Credentials: restrict scopes and rotate tokens regularly.
• Resilience: configure retries, timeouts, and backoff for API nodes.
• Data Quality: validate inputs; normalize fields early to reduce downstream branching.
• Performance: batch records and paginate for large datasets.
• Observability: add failure alerts (Email/Slack) and persistent logs for auditing.
• Security: avoid sensitive data in logs; use environment variables and n8n credentials.

FAQs

Can I swap integrations later? Yes. Replace or add nodes and re‑map fields without rebuilding the whole flow.

How do I monitor failures? Use Execution logs and add notifications on the Error Trigger path.

Does it scale? Use queues, batching, and sub‑workflows to split responsibilities and control load.

Is my data safe? Keep secrets in Credentials, restrict token scopes, and review access logs.