Filter Breaking Geopolitical News with AI Scoring & Telegram Alerts

Description

Geopolitics Breaking News Alert System

Workflow Name: Geopolitics Breaking News Alert System
Author: Devjothi Dutta
Category: Productivity, News & Media, AI/Machine Learning
Complexity: Medium
Setup Time: 45-60 minutes

📖 Description

An intelligent geopolitical monitoring system that filters 200+ daily news articles down to only the critical breaking news that matters to you. This workflow uses smart keyword filtering and AI-powered scoring to eliminate noise, reduce AI costs, and deliver only high-priority geopolitical alerts to Telegram.

The Problem: Traditional news monitoring is overwhelming - hundreds of articles per hour, 95% irrelevant to your region of interest, no urgency prioritization, and critical breaking news gets buried in noise.

The Solution: This workflow combines dual-layer filtering (primary + secondary keywords) with AI scoring to distinguish actual breaking news from general news coverage. By filtering first and scoring second, you reduce AI API costs by 80-90% while ensuring you never miss critical geopolitical developments. Switch between monitoring India, China, Middle East, Russia-Ukraine, or any region by simply changing a configuration file.

Perfect for government analysts, corporate security teams, investment research firms, news organizations, or anyone who needs to stay informed about geopolitical developments without information overload.

👥 Who's it for

For Government & Defense Analysts:
Monitor specific regions for military actions, diplomatic developments, and security threats
Filter by mission-critical keywords to eliminate irrelevant news
AI scoring identifies genuine breaking news vs routine coverage
Reduce analyst workload by 90% through intelligent automation

For Corporate Security & Risk Teams:
Track geopolitical risks affecting global supply chains and operations
Custom keyword filters for industry-specific concerns (e.g., "semiconductor", "tariff", "sanctions")
Real-time alerts for events impacting business continuity
Cost-efficient monitoring with minimal AI API usage

For Investment Research Firms:
Monitor emerging market geopolitical risks affecting portfolio companies
AI scoring differentiates market-moving events from background noise
Configurable alert thresholds based on investment strategy (conservative vs aggressive)
Track multiple regions simultaneously with different configs

For News Organizations & Journalists:
Monitor breaking geopolitical developments for editorial coverage
Filter by urgency to prioritize assignment desk resources
Aggregate multiple international news sources in one place
Extend alerts to newsroom Slack channels or email

✨ Key Features

🎯 Smart Dual-Layer Filtering - Primary keywords ensure regional relevance, secondary keywords filter by event type (military, diplomatic, economic)
🤖 AI-Powered Urgency Scoring - GPT-4o-mini scores articles 1-10 based on geopolitical urgency, distinguishing breaking news from routine coverage
💰 Cost-Efficient Design - Filter first, score second approach reduces AI API calls by 80-90% (only ~5 articles analyzed out of 200)
🌍 Multi-Region Support - Monitor India, China, Middle East, Russia-Ukraine, or any region by switching config files
📰 Multi-Source RSS Aggregation - Combines 6 international news sources (NYT, BBC, Al Jazeera, SCMP, regional feeds)
🔄 Duplicate Detection - Persistent storage prevents re-analyzing same articles across multiple executions
📊 Consolidated Alerts - Single Telegram message with all breaking news, grouped by urgency score
⏰ Flexible Scheduling - Configure trigger interval per your needs (15min for active conflicts, 3hr for routine monitoring)
💾 Config-Driven Architecture - All filters, keywords, and scoring rules in Google Drive JSON file
🔒 Production Ready - Tested end-to-end with real-world India and China configurations
📈 Scalable Design - Run multiple regional configs in parallel, extend to Slack/WhatsApp/Email delivery

🛠️ Requirements

Required Services:
n8n (version 1.0+) - Workflow automation platform
Free tier: n8n cloud or self-hosted Docker
Required feature: Data Tables (for duplicate tracking)
OpenAI API (GPT-4o-mini) - AI scoring engine
Cost: ~$0.10/day for 30min intervals
Free tier: $5 credit for new accounts
Telegram Bot - Alert delivery
Free: Create via @BotFather on Telegram
Get chat ID via @userinfobot
Google Drive - Config file storage
Free: Any Google account
Used for publicly shared JSON config files

Required Credentials:
OpenAI API Key** - Get from platform.openai.com (GPT-4o-mini access)
Telegram Bot Token** - Create bot via @BotFather, get token
n8n Data Table** - Built-in n8n feature (no external credential)

Optional:
Slack Webhook URL (for extending alerts to Slack)
SMTP credentials (for email alerts)
Twilio account (for WhatsApp/SMS alerts)

📦 What's Included

This workflow package includes:
Complete n8n workflow JSON (ready to import)
Complete setup guide - Detailed configuration with Data Table setup, troubleshooting
Technical architecture documentation
Use cases and customization guide
4 pre-built regional configs (India, China, Middle East, Russia-Ukraine)

🚀 Quick Start

Full setup takes 45-60 minutes. For detailed step-by-step instructions, see SETUP_GUIDE.md

Overview

Create n8n Data Table (analyzed_articles with 2 columns)
Upload config to Google Drive (choose region, share publicly, get file ID)
Import workflow (22 nodes ready to configure)
Configure nodes:
Update Google Drive config URL with your file ID
Update 6 RSS Feed URLs for your region
Link 3 Data Table nodes to analyzed_articles table
Add credentials (OpenAI API, Telegram Bot)
Set schedule (15min-daily based on monitoring needs)
Test workflow (verify filtering, scoring, alerts work)
Activate (workflow runs automatically on schedule)

Quick Start Result:
✅ 200+ articles processed → 5-7 filtered → 3-5 scored → 1-3 alerts sent
✅ Telegram receives consolidated breaking news message
✅ Workflow runs every 30min (or your chosen interval)
✅ Total monthly cost: $3-5 (OpenAI API only)

Need help? See detailed SETUP_GUIDE.md for complete instructions with screenshots and troubleshooting.

📊 Workflow Stats

Nodes:** 22
Complexity:** Medium
Execution Time:** ~30-60 seconds per run
Monthly Cost:** $3-5 (OpenAI API usage only)
Maintenance:** Minimal (update RSS feeds if sources change)
Scalability:** Handles 200+ articles per execution, easily scales to 10+ RSS feeds

🎨 Customization Options

Add more regions:** Create new config JSON files for North Korea, Taiwan, Africa, Latin America, etc.
Multi-channel alerts:** Extend to Slack, WhatsApp, Email, Discord, Microsoft Teams, SMS
Severity-based routing:** Send critical alerts (score 9-10) via SMS, others to Telegram
Custom scoring models:** Switch between GPT-4o-mini, GPT-4o, Claude based on config
Exclude keywords:** Add "exclude_keywords" array to filter out sports, entertainment, weather
Alert digest mode:** Aggregate alerts into daily/weekly summary emails instead of real-time
Dashboard integration:** Connect to Grafana or Metabase for visual trend analysis
Webhook triggers:** Use workflow output to trigger other n8n workflows or external systems
Custom RSS feeds:** Add industry-specific or regional news sources
Adjust alert threshold:** Change from score >= 6 to higher/lower based on notification preferences

🔧 How it Works

Schedule Trigger (Configurable):
Workflow runs at your configured interval (15min, 30min, 1hr, 3hr, daily, etc.)
Trigger frequency depends on use case: active conflicts need more frequent monitoring
Config Loading:
HTTP Request node fetches JSON config from Google Drive
Config contains: keywords, scoring rules, AI role, alert threshold, Telegram chat ID
RSS Aggregation:
6 RSS Feed nodes fetch articles from international news sources
Merge node combines all feeds (~200 articles per execution)
RSS Cleanup node strips HTML and normalizes to 5 fields (60-75% size reduction)
Smart Filtering (Cost Optimization Layer 1):
Dynamic Filter checks PRIMARY keywords (geographic/entity: "india", "modi", "delhi")
Also checks SECONDARY keywords (event type: "military", "conflict", "trade deal")
Both conditions required: Article must mention at least one primary AND one secondary
Result: 200 articles reduced to ~5-7 relevant articles (95% reduction)
Why this matters: Eliminates noise BEFORE expensive AI scoring
Duplicate Detection (Cost Optimization Layer 2):
Queries Data Table for previously analyzed article links
Filters out articles already scored in last 7 days
Result: 5-7 filtered articles reduced to 3-5 new articles
Why this matters: Prevents redundant AI API calls (saves 80% on repeat articles)
Dynamic AI Prompt Generation:
Code node builds system prompt from config.ai_role and config.scoring_criteria
Instructs AI: "You are a geopolitical analyst for [REGION]. Score articles 1-10..."
Includes scoring rubric: 9-10 = Military Action, 7-8 = Trade/Economic, etc.
AI Urgency Scoring (Breaking News Detection):
Breaking News Analyzer (GPT-4o-mini) evaluates geopolitical urgency
Scores 1-10: Distinguishes genuine breaking news from routine coverage
Returns: score, category, reasoning, should_alert (true/false based on threshold)
Cost: $0.002 per article (only 3-5 articles scored per execution)
Alert Decision:
IF node checks: should_alert === true (score >= config.alert_threshold)
Only high-priority alerts proceed to Telegram
Articles below threshold are logged but not sent
Alert Aggregation:
Consolidates multiple breaking news alerts into single Telegram message
Groups by urgency score with color-coded emojis (🔴 9-10, 🟠 7-8, 🟡 6-7)
Includes: score, category, title, link for each alert
Telegram Delivery:
Sends consolidated alert to configured Telegram chat
Uses HTML formatting for bold text and clickable links
Chat ID dynamically loaded from config (different regions → different chats)

💡 Pro Tips

Start with Higher Threshold:** Begin with alert_threshold = 7 to avoid alert fatigue, lower to 6 after tuning keywords
Regional RSS Matters:** Use region-specific news sources for better coverage (e.g., Times of India for India, not just BBC/NYT)
Test Keywords First:** Run workflow manually with "Test Workflow" to verify keyword filtering before activating schedule
Monitor AI Costs:** Check OpenAI usage dashboard after first week to confirm ~$0.10/day cost estimate
Tune Secondary Keywords:** Add domain-specific terms to secondary keywords (e.g., "semiconductor" for tech supply chain monitoring)
Use Separate Configs for Critical Regions:** Clone workflow for high-priority regions instead of switching configs manually
Schedule Based on Time Zones:** Align execution intervals with business hours in monitored region (e.g., 9AM-6PM IST for India)
Clear Duplicates for Testing:** Manually clear analyzed_articles Data Table when testing new configs for fresh results
Backup Working Configs:** Export and version control config files before making major keyword changes
Consider Alert Fatigue:** Score 9-10 events are rare (0-1 per day), score 6-8 events are common (2-5 per day) - set threshold accordingly

🔗 Related Workflows

Multi-Region Geopolitics Dashboard** - Combine multiple regional configs into single monitoring dashboard
Geopolitical Risk Scoring for Portfolios** - Integrate with stock portfolio data to assess investment risk
Automated Geopolitical Intelligence Reports** - Generate daily/weekly PDF reports from breaking news data
Conflict Escalation Tracker** - Track score trends over time to detect escalating tensions
Supply Chain Risk Alerting** - Focus on trade/sanctions news affecting global supply chains

📧 Support & Feedback

For questions, issues, or feature requests:
GitHub:** n8n-geopolitics-breaking-news-alert Repository
n8n Community Forum:** Tag @devdutta
Email:** [email protected]

📄 License

MIT License - Free to use, modify, and distribute

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