Weekly metrics briefing by email

Every Monday at 07:00, the 'Metrics' tab of your spreadsheet is read, one measure per row with this week's and last week's values, and the AI writes a short briefing on what changed, which way and by how much. It is emailed to you with the numbers it was written from underneath.

The briefing is told not to explain why anything moved, because a spreadsheet cannot tell you that and a plausible invented cause is worse than none. It is also told not to estimate, annualise or project, and to call a measure incomplete rather than treat a blank cell as zero. If the sheet has no readable measures you get an email saying so, since an empty sheet usually means something upstream stopped running. If the summary cannot be written, the numbers are sent on their own. Nothing in the sheet is changed.

You need a spreadsheet with a 'Metrics' tab holding 'Measure', 'This week' and 'Last week' columns.

Run every Monday at 07:00.Run every Monday at 07:00.

Set metricsUrl to blank.Set metricsUrl to blank.

Set recipientEmail to blank.Set recipientEmail to blank.

Set metricsTab to Metrics.Set metricsTab to Metrics.

Set maxRows to 100.Set maxRows to 100.

Google SheetsRead the rows of metricsUrl. Save it as sheet.Read the rows of metricsUrl. Save it as sheet.

Set lines to an empty list.Set lines to an empty list.

For each measure in sheet.rows:For each measure in sheet.rows:

If a step below fails, save the error as rowErrorIf a step below fails, save the error as rowError

Try

Trim measure.Measure and save it as label.Trim measure.Measure and save it as label.

If label isn't emptyIf label isn't empty

Yes

Add - label: this week measure["This week"], last week measure["Last week"] to the end of lines and save it as lines.Add - label: this week measure["This week"], last week measure["Last week"] to the end of lines and save it as lines.

No

No steps

On error

Show in the output: Skipped a metrics row: rowError as text.Show in the output: Skipped a metrics row: rowError as text.

If lines is emptyIf lines is empty

Yes

GmailSend an email to recipientEmail.Send an email to recipientEmail. Subject: Weekly briefing - no numbers foundThe metrics sheet had no readable measures this week, so there is no briefing to send. It is worth checking whether whatever fills that sheet is still running.

No

Join lines with a new line and save it as numbers.Join lines with a new line and save it as numbers.

If a step below fails, save the error as briefingErrorIf a step below fails, save the error as briefingError

Try

ClaudeAsk Claude: 'Below is this week's numbers from a metrics sheet, one row per measure, with last week's value alongside. Write a short Monday briefing for whoever runs this business.Ask Claude: 'Below is this week's numbers from a metrics sheet, one row per measure, with last week's value alongside. Write a short Monday briefing for whoever runs this business. Lead with what changed and by how much. Say plainly which way each thing moved. Where a number moved a lot, say so; where it barely moved, say that too rather than dressing it up. Rules you must follow: - Use only the numbers below. Do not estimate, annualise, or project. - Do not explain WHY something moved. You cannot know that from a spreadsheet, and a plausible invented cause is worse than none. - If a measure is missing this week's or last week's value, say it is incomplete rather than treating a blank as zero. This week's numbers: numbers'. Save it as written. Maximum response length: 700

Trim written.response_text and save it as briefing.Trim written.response_text and save it as briefing.

GmailSend an email to recipientEmail.Send an email to recipientEmail. Subject: Weekly briefingbriefing --- The numbers this was written from: numbers

On error

GmailSend an email to recipientEmail.Send an email to recipientEmail. Subject: Weekly briefing - numbers onlyThe written summary could not be produced this week, so here are the numbers on their own. numbers