Build an AI Standup Bot with Slack + Gmail MCP (Complete Recipe)

Standups are supposed to take 15 minutes. In reality, half the team doesn't know what happened yesterday, key updates are buried in Slack threads, and important emails never make it into the conversation.

This recipe solves that. By connecting Claude to both Slack and Gmail via MCP, you get an AI assistant that reads everything that happened across your channels and inbox, synthesises it into a clean standup summary, and posts it directly to your team channel — every morning, without manual effort.

By the end of this recipe, you'll have a working standup bot that:

• Reads specific Slack channels for updates, decisions, and blockers from the past 24 hours
• Scans your Gmail inbox for relevant team emails and threads
• Generates a structured standup with: what happened, what's planned, and any blockers
• Posts the summary directly to your designated standup Slack channel
• Formats everything cleanly — no walls of text

Architecture Overview

The standup bot connects four components through MCP:

How it flows:

1. You trigger Claude with a standup prompt (or a scheduled script does it)
2. Claude → Slack MCP: Calls get_channel_history for each relevant channel
3. Claude → Gmail MCP: Calls search_messages for recent team emails
4. Claude synthesises all data into a structured standup format
5. Claude → Slack MCP: Calls post_message to publish the summary

Prerequisites

Step 1: Set Up the Slack MCP Server

1a — Create a Slack App

1. Go to api.slack.com/apps and click Create New App → From scratch
2. Name it "MCP Standup Bot" and select your workspace
3. Go to OAuth & Permissions in the left sidebar
4. Under Bot Token Scopes, add these permissions:
   • channels:history — Read message history in public channels
   • channels:read — View basic info about public channels
   • groups:history — Read message history in private channels
   • groups:read — View basic info about private channels
   • chat:write — Post messages to channels
   • users:read — View user info for displaying names
   • search:read — Search messages across the workspace
5. Click Install to Workspace and approve the permissions
6. Copy the Bot User OAuth Token — it starts with xoxb-

1b — Install the Slack MCP Server

npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/server-slack

Set your bot token as an environment variable:

export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN="xoxb-your-token-here"

Step 2: Set Up the Gmail MCP Server

2a — Create Google OAuth Credentials

1. Go to Google Cloud Console and create a new project
2. Enable the Gmail API: APIs & Services → Library → search "Gmail API" → Enable
3. Go to Credentials → Create Credentials → OAuth Client ID
4. Choose Desktop App as the application type
5. Download the credentials JSON — save it as credentials.json
6. Go to OAuth Consent Screen and add your email as a test user

2b — Install the Gmail MCP Server

npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/server-gmail

Authenticate on first run — this opens a browser window for Google OAuth:

GMAIL_CREDENTIALS_PATH=/path/to/credentials.json npx @modelcontextprotocol/server-gmail

Complete the OAuth flow in your browser. A token.json file is saved locally — subsequent runs use it automatically.

Step 3: Configure Claude Desktop

Open your Claude Desktop config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add both MCP servers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack"],
      "env": {
        "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "xoxb-your-slack-bot-token"
      }
    },
    "gmail": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-gmail"],
      "env": {
        "GMAIL_CREDENTIALS_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/credentials.json",
        "GMAIL_TOKEN_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/token.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save and fully restart Claude Desktop. Both servers should appear in the MCP tools panel.

Want to verify your server is working before going further? Test it in your browser first:

Step 4: Run Your First Standup

Start with a quick sanity check in Claude Desktop:

List all Slack channels I have access to.

If Claude returns a real list of channels, Slack MCP is working. Then verify Gmail:

Show me emails I received in the last 24 hours.

Once both return real data, you are ready to run the full standup.

Standup Prompts — Copy and Use

Prompt 1 — Standard Daily Standup

You are a standup facilitator. Do the following:

1. Read message history from these Slack channels for the last 24 hours:
   #engineering, #product, #general

2. Search Gmail for emails from the last 24 hours related to
   project updates, decisions, or blockers.

3. Synthesise into this format:

   ✅ DONE YESTERDAY
   [3–5 bullets of key completed work]

   🔄 TODAY'S PLAN
   [3–5 bullets of what's planned]

   🚧 BLOCKERS
   [Any blockers or items needing decisions — "None" if clear]

   📌 KEY DECISIONS MADE
   [Important decisions from Slack or email]

4. Post this summary to the #standup Slack channel.

Keep each bullet to one clear sentence. No walls of text.

Prompt 2 — Engineering Team Standup

Read the last 24 hours of messages from #engineering,
#code-review, and #deployments on Slack.

Also check Gmail for emails about production issues,
deployments, or incidents from the last 24 hours.

Create a standup post:

🛠 SHIPPED
- [Completed PRs, deployments, features]

🔧 IN PROGRESS
- [Active work items and owners]

🐛 ISSUES / BLOCKERS
- [Bugs, incidents, or items needing review]

🚀 DEPLOYMENTS TODAY
- [Planned releases or environment changes]

Post it to #engineering-standup. Use real names where possible.

Prompt 3 — Weekly Leadership Digest

Read the last 7 days from #product, #engineering, #sales,
and #customer-success on Slack.

Search Gmail for team emails from the past week with
"update", "report", "decision", or "blocker" in the subject.

Write a weekly leadership digest:

📈 KEY WINS THIS WEEK
[3–5 notable achievements across teams]

⚠️ RISKS AND BLOCKERS
[Issues needing leadership attention]

📋 DECISIONS NEEDED
[Items waiting for sign-off]

🗓 NEXT WEEK PRIORITIES
[Top 3 priorities based on what you've read]

Post to #leadership-updates. Keep it under 400 words.

Prompt 4 — Personal Standup (Just for You)

Check my Slack mentions and DMs from the last 24 hours.

Check Gmail for emails I need to respond to or act on today.

Create a personal standup:

📬 MESSAGES NEEDING MY RESPONSE
[Slack threads or emails that need a reply from me]

📋 TASKS ASSIGNED TO ME
[Things people have requested or tagged me on]

🎯 MY TOP 3 PRIORITIES TODAY
[Suggested based on what's waiting]

Don't post anywhere — just show it to me.

Automate It — Run Every Morning Automatically

Option A — macOS/Linux Cron Job

# standup.sh
#!/bin/bash
curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-opus-4-6",
    "max_tokens": 1024,
    "messages": [{
      "role": "user",
      "content": "Run the daily standup: read last 24h from #engineering and #general on Slack, check Gmail for team emails, write a standup summary, post it to #standup."
    }]
  }'

Schedule via crontab (9am, Monday–Friday):

crontab -e
# Add:
0 9 * * 1-5 /path/to/standup.sh >> /var/log/standup.log 2>&1

Option B — GitHub Actions (Cloud, No Local Setup)

# .github/workflows/daily-standup.yml
name: Daily Standup Bot
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * 1-5'  # 9am UTC, Mon–Fri
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  standup:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Run standup bot
        env:
          ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
          SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
        run: node standup.js

Tools Used From Each MCP Server

Server	Tool	Used For
Slack MCP	list_channels	Discover available channels
Slack MCP	get_channel_history	Read messages from a channel
Slack MCP	search_messages	Search across all channels
Slack MCP	post_message	Post the standup summary
Slack MCP	get_users	Resolve user IDs to real names
Gmail MCP	search_messages	Find relevant emails by query
Gmail MCP	get_message	Read full email content
Gmail MCP	list_messages	List recent inbox messages
Gmail MCP	send_email	Send standup via email (optional)

Best Practices

Practice	Why It Matters
Limit to 3–5 channels	Reading 20 channels creates noise. Pick the highest-signal ones per team
Use a dedicated standup channel	Keeps bot output separate from live conversation
Set a 24-hour lookback	Prevents duplicate content and keeps summaries focused
Give Claude a persona in your prompt	"You are a standup facilitator" produces better output than a bare instruction
Store tokens in env vars	Never hardcode Slack or Google credentials in your config files
Review the first 5 runs manually	Tune your prompt based on what Claude includes or misses before going hands-off

Troubleshooting

What You Built

• ✅ Connected Claude to Slack via MCP — reads channel history and posts messages
• ✅ Connected Claude to Gmail via MCP — searches and reads inbox threads
• ✅ Built structured standup prompts that synthesise both sources
• ✅ Tested the standup flow end-to-end with real data
• ✅ Set up automation via cron or GitHub Actions to run daily without manual effort

Next Steps

• Add Notion MCP: Include project board updates in the standup alongside Slack and email
• Personalise per team: Run separate prompts for engineering, product, and sales — post to each team's channel
• Add Google Calendar: Pull today's meetings into the "TODAY'S PLAN" section automatically
• Thread replies: Post the standup as a thread starter so team members can reply with personal updates
• Weekly digest: Use Prompt 3 on Fridays for a leadership summary of the full week

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Frequently Asked Questions