CMA Merger Case Timeline Automation (GOV.UK → Sheets + Email)

Automate CMA merger case timelines from GOV.UK straight into Google Sheets—plus an emailed HTML report

The CMA Merger Case Timeline Automation (GOV.UK → Sheets + Email) workflow pulls Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) merger case updates from GOV.UK, extracts dated milestones into a Google Sheets Timeline, and generates an email-friendly summary with an attached .html timeline report via SMTP.

What this workflow does

• Runs on demand or on weekday mornings at 08:00 (workflow timezone) (Monday–Friday).
• Builds a list of GOV.UK CMA case API URLs from your configured case paths, validating uniqueness and format.
• Fetches each case’s GOV.UK JSON content and extracts dated milestones from:
  • change history,
  • attachments, and
  • dated HTML entries—marking deadlines as planned.
• Creates a status row per case, including parse errors or “needs review” flags, and generates stable `Row Key` values for upserts.
• Upserts status and milestone rows into the Sheets “Timeline” tab using the Row Key column to update existing entries without deleting history.
• Generates an HTML email digest and a full HTML timeline report, then prepares it as an attached .html file for sending via SMTP (when enabled).

Use cases

• Track CMA merger milestones for your team’s internal schedule directly from GOV.UK updates.
• Maintain a continuously updated timeline in Google Sheets without manual copy/paste.
• Send stakeholders a consistent weekly email report with an attached HTML timeline.

Technical details

• n8n nodes used include: Set, Code, HTTP Request, Google Sheets, and Email Send (SMTP).
• Setup requires a Google Sheet with a “Timeline” tab and exact headers (including Row Key) from the “Google Sheets Headers and First Run” sticky note.