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n8n · Nextcloud · Calendar · Deck · Talk

While you were gone.

Pick who is going on holiday, for how long and in which comic style. n8n reads the calendar, the Deck board, mail summaries and project notes of a demo Nextcloud, works out who covers what, and then really writes into Nextcloud: a handover note, a Deck card and a team-chat message. A five-panel comic tells the story.

🔒 It runs in a sealed demo area of a real Nextcloud: its own calendar, board, folder and chat room of the fictional Brightside Studio. Nobody sees real data here, and what you pick is not stored.

For how long?
Comic style

How it works

  1. WebhookYour click starts an n8n workflow on my server. All that is sent: person, length and style, from the lists.
  2. Fix the demo spaceA Code node decides where the workflow may read and write: one calendar, one Deck board, one folder, one Talk room. Every URL is checked against it.
  3. Six reads in parallelCalDAV REPORT with expand gets the events in the absence window (recurring ones already resolved), the Deck API the cards, the Mail API the messages of the demo mailbox, WebDAV GET the project notes, PROPFIND the Outbox folder and the Talk API the chat.
  4. Analyse the absenceA Code node works everything out deterministically: what falls into the window, what is overdue, who covers it, which risks exist. The AI only gets these facts.
  5. AI assistantA language model hosted at IONOS in Germany phrases the handover, the out-of-office reply and the comic in the chosen style. If a field is missing or the model does not answer, n8n fills in a template built from the same facts.
  6. WriteWebDAV PUT: a Markdown note in the Outbox folder. Deck API: a card in the Inbox stack. Talk API: a message in the team room.
  7. CleanupThe workflow deletes its own older cards, notes and messages. The latest 20 notes and 5 messages stay.
  8. IngestThe result reaches the server as JSON, and this page draws the comic from it right in your browser.

Real use: point the workflow at your own calendar, Deck and inbox. Here it deliberately runs on demo data only.

Privacy: nothing from you is sent to Nextcloud, the workflow only works with the fictional demo data. The result (not linked to you) is kept for 14 days so that the link works, and for the hourly limit a salted hash of your IP address for one hour at most. More in the privacy policy

To keep Nextcloud relaxed: 15 seconds between two handovers, four per hour and visitor, 80 per day.

How the workflow is built: the article →

More n8n workflows to try →

⬇ Download the workflow (JSON, as a template only)

Frequently asked questions

Is this real data?

No. Everything belongs to the invented Brightside Studio: calendar, Deck board, demo mailbox and project notes sit in a sealed demo area. The companies and people are made up.

What really happens in Nextcloud?

The workflow creates a Markdown note in the Outbox folder, a Deck card and a Talk message in the demo Nextcloud and cleans up older entries. The out-of-office reply and the comic are only displayed.

Can I use it with my own Nextcloud?

Yes. Download the workflow as JSON, enter your Nextcloud address, an app password, your Deck board, calendar and Talk room, and enter the ids of your own mail account and mailbox in the first Code node (or swap the two Mail nodes for IMAP). The workflow is deliberately not importable without changes.

Do I need the AI?

No. A Code node computes all facts and the handover note. The AI only phrases things and writes the comic. Without it the workflow uses templates.

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