{"schemaVersion":"1.0","source":"The Workflow Finder","sourceUrl":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com","license":"Free to use with attribution and a link to the cited page","generated":"2026-08-28","workflow":{"title":"Build Automated Research Reports From Any Data Source","slug":"build-automated-data-research-reports","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/workflows/build-automated-data-research-reports","description":"Turn hours of manual research into a structured report in 30 minutes, by connecting your data sources, web research, and a writing model in one automated flow.","difficulty":"Intermediate","timeEstimate":"3 hrs to set up, 30 min per report after","schemaDuration":"PT3H","expectedResult":"An automated pipeline that pulls data from your sources, researches context from the web, and outputs a formatted report with insights and recommendations, on demand.","tags":["Research","Automation","Data","Reporting","Productivity"]},"steps":[{"position":1,"title":"Define your report structure","instructions":"In Notion AI, build a report template with fixed sections: Executive Summary, Key Metrics, Market Context, Risks, and Recommendations. This becomes the schema your automation fills in.","input":"Workflow inputs: the topic, goal, or raw materials the user is starting from.","output":"Handoff artifact consumed by Step 2 (\"Research market context automatically\").","toolSlots":[{"slug":"notion-ai","name":"Notion AI","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/tools/notion-ai","category":"Productivity","pricing":"paid","capabilities":["Note-taking & knowledge management","Document processing","Long-form writing"]}]},{"position":2,"title":"Research market context automatically","instructions":"Use Perplexity's API (via n8n) to pull fresh web research for your topic on demand. Perplexity returns cited summaries that provide accurate market context without hallucinations.","input":"Output of Step 1 (\"Define your report structure\").","output":"Handoff artifact consumed by Step 3 (\"Synthesize research with Elicit or Consensus\").","toolSlots":[{"slug":"perplexity","name":"Perplexity","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/tools/perplexity","category":"Research","pricing":"freemium","capabilities":["Web research","Source synthesis"],"hasApi":true},{"slug":"n8n","name":"n8n","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/tools/n8n","category":"Automation","pricing":"freemium","capabilities":["Workflow automation","API integration"]}]},{"position":3,"title":"Synthesize research with Elicit or Consensus","instructions":"For research-heavy reports, route academic or evidence-based questions through Elicit or Consensus to surface peer-reviewed findings, then merge with the Perplexity output.","input":"Output of Step 2 (\"Research market context automatically\").","output":"Handoff artifact consumed by Step 4 (\"Generate the written report\").","toolSlots":[{"slug":"elicit","name":"Elicit","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/tools/elicit","category":"Research","pricing":"freemium","capabilities":["Web research","Source synthesis"]},{"slug":"consensus","name":"Consensus","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/tools/consensus","category":"Research","pricing":"freemium","capabilities":["Web research","Source synthesis"]}]},{"position":4,"title":"Generate the written report","instructions":"Send the combined data and research context to Claude via n8n. Prompt it to fill in each section of your Notion template and output in clean markdown.","input":"Output of Step 3 (\"Synthesize research with Elicit or Consensus\").","output":"Handoff artifact consumed by Step 5 (\"Format and distribute\").","toolSlots":[{"slug":"claude","name":"Claude","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/tools/claude","category":"Writing","pricing":"freemium","capabilities":["Long-form writing","Code generation","Web research"],"hasApi":true},{"slug":"n8n","name":"n8n","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/tools/n8n","category":"Automation","pricing":"freemium","capabilities":["Workflow automation","API integration"]}]},{"position":5,"title":"Format and distribute","instructions":"Use n8n to post the completed report to Notion, send a summary to Slack, and optionally export a PDF via a Notion-to-PDF integration for external stakeholders.","input":"Output of Step 4 (\"Generate the written report\").","output":"Final workflow output: An automated pipeline that pulls data from your sources, researches context from the web, and outputs a formatted report with insights and recommendations, on demand.","toolSlots":[{"slug":"n8n","name":"n8n","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/tools/n8n","category":"Automation","pricing":"freemium","capabilities":["Workflow automation","API integration"]},{"slug":"notion-ai","name":"Notion AI","url":"https://www.theworkflowfinder.com/tools/notion-ai","category":"Productivity","pricing":"paid","capabilities":["Note-taking & knowledge management","Document processing","Long-form writing"]}]}]}