Assignment Analysis Agent: From Inbox to Qualified Leads

Personal use: AI pipeline that automatically analyses, scores and forwards only the best-matching interim assignments via Telegram.

AI scraping Match scoring Google Sheets Telegram bot n8n workflows Outlook integration

The challenge

As an interim manager you receive multiple assignment emails from intermediaries every day. Each email contains one or more VNR codes — references to assignments on platforms such as Circle8. Manually visiting every page, reading and evaluating each assignment takes an enormous amount of time.

Moreover, among the dozens of emails there are only a handful of truly interesting assignments: matching in terms of sector, rate, hours and location. The rest is noise.

The core question

"Can AI fully automatically analyse, score and present only the best matches to me — without having to visit a single page myself?"

The answer: a four-part n8n pipeline that automates the entire process from inbox to decision.

Solution: a four-step AI pipeline

Four sequential n8n workflows working together as one automated system.

1. Retrieve & scrape

2. Match score

3. Telegram alert

4. Process response

The status of each assignment progresses through a fixed pipeline in Google Sheets — tracked fully automatically.

determine_match present review_by_joost skip / action

The four workflows in detail

Each workflow has its own responsibility and trigger mechanism.

Workflow 1

Job checker

Picks up incoming Outlook emails with assignment information, extracts all VNR codes and scrapes the corresponding page on Circle8.nl for each code.

  • Extracts VNR codes from email text
  • Sub-agent scrapes each assignment page
  • Writes structured data to Google Sheets
  • Fields: title, client, requirements, rate, duration, location
Outlook trigger
Workflow 2

Job evaluator

Checks Google Sheets every hour for new assignments and has AI calculate a match score based on the interim manager's profile.

  • Reads rows with status determine_match
  • AI compares assignment to experience profile
  • Calculates match score (0–100)
  • Good match → present, otherwise → skip
Every hour
Workflow 3

Alert Joost

Sends a Telegram message every hour during the day (07:00–21:00) with an AI summary of all assignments ready for review.

  • Loops through all present rows
  • AI writes 2-sentence summary per assignment
  • Message contains title, duration, score and link
  • Replies: row number, DETAIL or SKIP
AI + Telegram
Workflow 4

Process response

Listens to Telegram replies and processes the decision. The built-in AI agent has direct access to Google Sheets as a tool.

  • Triggers on any Telegram or chat message
  • AI agent reads & writes in Google Sheets
  • Processes: row number to accept, DETAIL request, SKIP
  • Sends confirmation back via Telegram
Human-in-the-loop

In practice: deciding via Telegram

The power of the system lies in the human-in-the-loop approach. You still make every decision yourself — but only about the assignments that matter. AI filters out the noise.

The daily Telegram message shows per assignment:

  • Row number (for your reply)
  • Title and duration of the assignment
  • AI summary in two sentences
  • Match score and direct link

You reply with a row number to accept, DETAIL [nr] for an in-depth analysis, or SKIP to pass. The AI agent processes your reply and updates Google Sheets.

🗂 New interim assignments for you:

📌 Row 42 | Interim Controller Port Authority
🕒 6 months · 💯 Match: 87
💬 An interim controller is sought to structure monthly reporting during an ERP migration. Interesting for a manager with a data and process optimisation background.
🔗 circle8.nl/opdracht/VNR-80712

📌 Row 43 | Manager Business Operations
🕒 4 months · 💯 Match: 74
💬 A water authority is seeking temporary support in restructuring its operations. Broad scope with a lot of stakeholder management.

✅ Reply with row number, e.g. 42
🔍 DETAIL 42 for in-depth analysis
⏭ SKIP to pass

What does it deliver?

The pipeline runs entirely in the background. No manual searching, no missed opportunities.

Hours saved per week

No more manually visiting websites. Every assignment is automatically retrieved, analysed and scored.

Only relevant assignments

AI filters out the noise. Only assignments with a high match score reach you — the rest is automatically skipped by the system.

Structured assignment database

All assignments are stored in a structured way in Google Sheets: requirements, preferences, rate, duration — everything searchable.

Decide from your pocket

Via Telegram you make the right choice in seconds, wherever you are — without opening your laptop.

Technical details

Technologies used

  • n8n – Workflow automation platform (4 workflows)
  • GPT-4.1-mini (OpenAI) – Scraping agent and match scoring
  • Claude Sonnet (Anthropic) – Fallback language model for summaries
  • Microsoft Outlook API – Retrieving assignment emails
  • Google Sheets API – Central assignment database and pipeline status
  • Telegram Bot API – Alerting and human-in-the-loop decisions
  • Circle8.nl – Source of assignment information (web scraping)

Architecture principles

  • Status-driven pipeline – Google Sheets as central state machine
  • Modular – Each workflow has one responsibility
  • Human-in-the-loop – AI advises, humans always decide
  • Fallback model – Claude as backup when GPT is unavailable
  • Structured output – Strict JSON schema prevents unreadable data
  • Audit trail – Every assignment and decision traceable in Sheets

Want an AI pipeline for your lead flow too?

Whether it's assignments, quotes or incoming requests — we build a system that filters out the noise and brings only the opportunities to you.

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