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sunshine¢s · the daily brief
every inbox. the next few days. the money stuff. before your coffee's cold.
this is the real system i run for my own family — a morning email that covers our personal and business inboxes, the next few days on the calendar, and pending payments. this guide gets you to a working version in about 30 minutes. no manual forwarding to the brief each morning, and no remembering to ask it.
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create my daily briefuse claude's cloud scheduled tasks for this guide, so your computer can be off or asleep. local desktop tasks are different and need your computer awake. features and menu names shift over time — i'll flag the spots that might look different.
the setup, in four parts
one inbox for the family and the business. a little organising now, a lot less chasing later.
bills, school notes, client emails — the things that look like they need attention, pulled out for you.
the next two to three days across everyone's calendars. fewer ‘wait, that's today?’ moments.
pending payments, expected deposits, and optional live balances. no more being surprised by the 1st.
01 — the daily brief
think of this as the family's collection point. everyone's chosen emails flow into one dedicated gmail account, so claude only needs one inbox connection and one brief can cover everyone. set this up first — the rest builds on it.
step 1
create a new, free gmail account just for this. something like [yourfamilyname].hub works. use a strong, unique password and turn on 2-step verification — the extra sign-in check that helps keep other people out.
from here on, we'll call it [your hub email]. keep it separate from your everyday inbox.
step 2
in each gmail inbox you want included — yours, your partner's, a business address — open gmail on a computer:
repeat for each account, with that person's permission. only want some emails included? create a gmail filter for the senders or subjects you choose, then select “forward it to” the hub instead of forwarding everything.
step 3
if the business email isn't gmail, look for “email forwarding” in that provider's settings and point it at [your hub email]. the names vary; their help page or whoever manages the email can point you there.
workplace rules may restrict forwarding outside the business. check permission first — and send a harmless test email to make sure it lands in the hub.
step 4
in each person's google calendar, open settings → select the calendar → “share with specific people” (sometimes called “shared with”).
add [your hub email] and choose “see all event details”. open the invitation in the hub and accept it. repeat for the calendars you want in the brief.
only share calendars everyone's comfortable including. check you can see the events while signed into the hub.
02 — the daily brief
a connector is just permission for claude to read or use an account you choose. the important bit here: sign in as the hub, not your personal account.
step 1
in claude, open “customize” → “connectors” (or look for connectors in settings). choose gmail, connect it, and sign in as [your hub email]. review the access you're granting. do the same for google calendar, using the hub account again.
step 2
when you create the task, check gmail and google calendar are enabled in its connectors or tools menu. ask claude to confirm it can see a harmless test email and the shared calendars before you schedule anything.
menus and available actions can look a little different by app version or plan. if a connector is missing on a work plan, your administrator may need to allow it.
03 — the daily brief
the brief checks the hub automatically — nobody has to forward things to claude each morning. your forwarding rules do the collecting; the task does the reading.
step 1
ask for bills, bank alerts, school notes, client emails, and recent messages that look like they need a reply or another action. useful: the sender, what's needed, and any deadline. not useful: a dramatic recap of every promotional email.
dial it up or down: if the brief gets long, ask for fewer sections or only items that need action. keep the “looks like it needs attention” wording so it doesn't mistake invisible personal replies for unfinished business.
04 — the daily brief
today is useful. tomorrow and the day after are where you get a little breathing room.
step 1
ask for the next 2 to 3 days across all the calendars shared with the hub. include times, whose calendar it came from, and locations or preparation notes if they're in the event.
check the first run includes everyone's shared calendars, not just the hub's own calendar. if one is missing, check sharing permissions and ask claude which calendars it can see.
dial it up or down: choose two days for a shorter brief, or three if a bit more notice helps. school and work calendars are welcome; your whole life story isn't required.
05 — the daily brief
two ways to do this. start with the steady one, then add live balances if you want them. your morning shouldn't depend on a bank connection having a good day.
step a
keep a simple recurring payments and income list: what it is, how much, which account, and which day of the month. include incoming money too — rent, benefits, paychecks — so claude can look ahead, not just tally bills.
paste the list into the task instructions, or link a document claude can access. update it whenever something changes. zero bank connection needed; the list can't disconnect.
ask claude to flag what's due tomorrow and any timing risk, like a payment scheduled before an expected deposit. a list alone can't confirm your current balance or guarantee a payment will clear — if it needs a balance you haven't supplied, it should say so.
made-up examples — replace every placeholder:
| what | amount | day | account |
|---|---|---|---|
| mortgage | $[amount] | 1st | chequing |
| internet | $[amount] | 19th | credit union |
| paycheck (in) | $[amount] | 15th | [account name] |
estimates are fine. payment dates can drift a day or two with weekends and holidays; tell the task that, and check important dates yourself.
06 — the daily brief
if you've jumped straight here, start with the hub and connect sections first. once those are ready, you're giving claude the instructions for a repeatable morning job.
step 1
start a chat in claude: “every morning at 7am, send my family a daily brief…” or use the copy-and-paste prompt below.
claude will ask a couple of questions and propose a task name, schedule and instructions. review them, especially recipients and which accounts it uses, then click “schedule”.
the other way: open “scheduled” in the left sidebar → “new task” → “set up manually”. enter a task name, prompt, approval mode and frequency (hourly, daily, weekly, weekdays or manual). you may also see model and folder options. menus can vary by version.
step 2
choose “daily” and a time you'll actually want to read it — say 7am. include your time zone and double-check the schedule claude shows you. 7am somewhere else is not the same breakfast.
start with manual approval while you test. if you'd rather skip weekends, choose weekdays instead.
step 3
open the task on the scheduled page and use its run-on-demand option. read the result: did it see the right calendars? did the email arrive? are payment dates sensible? did it say when a source was missing?
tweak the instructions and run it again. it usually takes a couple of tries to get the brief just right. that's normal, not a sign you've broken it.
step 4
once you're happy with the test runs, keep the schedule enabled and set approval mode for hands-off runs. the next section explains that little switch — it's the difference between a morning brief and a morning request for permission.
07 — the daily brief
by default, claude can pause and ask permission before acting. that's right for your first few runs, but a scheduled task can sit waiting for you instead of finishing.
step 1
open “scheduled” in the left sidebar → click the task → edit with the pencil → find “approval mode”. switch from “manually approve” to “automatically approve (auto)” and save. labels may look a little different in your version.
auto means claude keeps working without stopping at every step, but safety-checks each action itself. it blocks actions that look unsafe, including attempts to trick it into following instructions hidden in an email or sending private data somewhere it doesn't belong.
if it keeps getting blocked, it falls back to asking you. auto isn't a guarantee that every run will finish unattended — check your first scheduled runs.
there's also a “skip all approvals” mode that skips those approval checks. i recommend auto over skip. watch the first few runs on manual, then switch to auto once you trust the setup.
08 — the daily brief
pick the delivery that fits your household. one brief, one setup, a copy for everyone — that's the whole point of the hub.
step 1
results show up on the scheduled page when the task runs. the account that created it gets the notification. easiest to start, but only that account sees it.
step 2
tell the task to email the brief to [your address] each morning using the connected gmail. the hub sends it, so it lands where you already look.
step 3
write “email the brief to [partner address] and [your address]” in the prompt. everyone gets their own copy without setting up a separate task.
09 — the daily brief
replace the bracketed bits before you schedule it. start with only your address for the test, then add your partner once you're happy. no account numbers or passwords belong here.
Every morning at [7:00am, my time zone], build our family's daily brief and email it to [your address] and [partner address].
Use the hub Gmail and Google Calendar.
Include:
(1) COMING UP: everything on the calendar for the next 2 days across all calendars.
(2) OUTSTANDING ITEMS: new or recent emails that look like they need attention (bills, school notes, client messages), and say 'looks like it needs attention', never 'unanswered', because replies sent from personal accounts may not be visible here.
(3) PAYMENTS: anything due tomorrow from my payment schedule [paste or link your list], plus a heads-up if an account balance looks too low to cover an upcoming payment before it clears. For payments I send manually, just remind me the day before.
Keep it short, scannable, and friendly. Put the most urgent thing at the top. If something fails or a source is unavailable, say so at the top instead of guessing.Every Sunday evening at [time, my time zone], check our family's cash flow for the next 7 days using [my payment and income schedule] and [available read-only balances, if connected]. Flag any day a payment might not clear before the next expected deposit. For payments I send manually, remind me the day before. Email the check-in to [your address] and [partner address]. If balances or dates are missing, say what you couldn't check instead of guessing.10 — the daily brief
usually it's a permission, a connection, or one instruction that needs a nudge. start here before declaring the whole thing cursed.
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i put a lot of time, testing, and care into building these tools for people. they're completely free to use, but if you got real value out of this guide and want to send some appreciation back, feel free to contribute by e-transfer (canada) or paypal (us & everywhere else) to samanthataekema@gmail.com.
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