Generate LinkedIn Posts with OpenAI: Gmail Approval + Sheets Tracking

Turn LinkedIn content planning into a Gmail-approved, Sheets-tracked publishing workflow—using OpenAI

This n8n workflow generates LinkedIn post ideas and drafts with OpenAI, routes approvals through Gmail replies (via correlation IDs), tracks every content cycle in Google Sheets, and publishes the selected post to LinkedIn—either as a person or an organization.

What this workflow does

• Generate idea titles with OpenAI: When started manually, it creates a numbered list of LinkedIn post idea titles for your configured niche and audience.
• Log runs and notify via Gmail: It records the idea batch and run settings in Google Sheets, then emails the ideas to your Gmail inbox with a correlation ID in the subject.
• Poll Gmail for approvals: The workflow checks Gmail for unread replies containing the correlation ID, extracts the reply number, and finds the matching row in Google Sheets.
• Draft posts at the “ideas” stage: If the selected row is marked in the ideas stage, it uses OpenAI to generate multiple LinkedIn post drafts for that idea, updates Google Sheets, and emails the drafts for final approval.
• Publish at the “drafts” stage: If the row is in the drafts stage, it takes the chosen draft text and posts it to LinkedIn with public visibility as your configured person or organization.
• Confirm posting: It updates Google Sheets to mark the post as posted and sends a Gmail confirmation email including a preview.

Use cases

• SaaS operators who need consistent LinkedIn posting without manual drafting and selection.
• Automation engineers who want a human-in-the-loop approval flow using Gmail instead of a UI.
• Teams tracking content status end-to-end in Google Sheets (ideas → drafts → posted).

Technical details

• OpenAI for idea titles and LinkedIn post drafts.
• Gmail nodes to send idea/draft emails, poll unread replies, and confirm publication.
• Google Sheets to append idea batches and update rows during ideas/drafts/post stages.
• LinkedIn node (Community Management authentication) to publish as person or organization.
• Includes logic using nodes such as set, switch, no op, and a sticky note for workflow documentation.