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Usage Guide

Learn how to use Neuron Daily Newsletter Automation effectively. The system runs automatically, but offers powerful manual controls for advanced users.

🚀 Daily Operation

Once installed, the system runs automatically every weekday morning:

graph LR
    A[5:30 AM] --> B{New Newsletter?}
    B -->|Yes| C[📖 Open Tabs]
    B -->|No| D[⏭️ Skip]

    E[6:00 AM] --> F{Changed?}
    F -->|Yes| G[📖 Open New Tabs] 
    F -->|No| H[⏭️ Skip]

    I[6:30 AM] --> J{Changed?}
    J -->|Yes| K[📖 Open New Tabs]
    J -->|No| L[⏭️ Skip]

    M[7:00 AM] --> N{Final Check}
    N -->|Yes| O[📖 Open New Tabs]
    N -->|No| P[✅ Done]

What happens automatically: 1. Smart Detection: Checks if newsletter content changed 2. Link Extraction: Finds article links from the newsletter 3. Blacklist Filtering: Skips previously opened links 4. Browser Opening: Opens Chrome with article tabs 5. Database Update: Records opened links

Your Morning Routine

  1. Wake up → Newsletter tabs already open
  2. Read articles at your own pace
  3. Close tabs when finished
  4. System automatically blacklists read articles
  1. Check device → Newsletter tabs waiting
  2. Browse content that interests you
  3. Leave tabs open for later reading
  4. System tracks what you've accessed
  1. Open browser → Previous tabs still available
  2. Catch up on morning's articles
  3. Use time rewind to restore older content
  4. System adapts to your schedule

🎮 Manual Controls

Basic Commands

# Run automation manually
neuron-automation

# Check system status
neuron-automation --status

# View statistics
neuron-automation --stats

# Show version information  
neuron-automation --version

# Update to latest version
neuron-automation --update

# View recent blacklisted links
neuron-automation --recent-blacklisted 10

# Time rewind (restore links from X days ago)
neuron-automation --rewind 7

# Preview rewind without making changes
neuron-automation --rewind-preview 5

# Show all blacklisted content
neuron-automation --show-blacklisted

System Management Commands

# Test configuration and browser
neuron-automation --test

# Check system health
neuron-automation --health-check

# View effective configuration
neuron-automation --show-config

# Update to latest version from GitHub
neuron-automation --update

# Check for available updates
neuron-automation --check-updates

📊 Understanding Statistics

View Your Reading Analytics

neuron-automation --stats

Sample output: 

📊 Neuron Automation Statistics
════════════════════════════════════════

🔗 Link Management:
   Total links processed: 1,247
   Currently blacklisted: 892 (71.5%)
   Available for reading: 355 (28.5%)

📅 Recent Activity (7 days):
   Newsletter runs: 28
   New links found: 156
   Links opened: 89
   Blacklist efficiency: 57.1%

⏰ Last Activities:
   Last run: 2025-01-15 06:30:15
   Last new content: 2025-01-15 06:30:15
   Database size: 2.3 MB

Key Metrics Explained

Metric Meaning Good Range
Blacklist efficiency % of links you don't see again 60-80%
Available for reading New content waiting 20-50 links
Newsletter runs Automation executions 20-35/week
Database size Storage used <10 MB

🔄 Time Rewind Feature

What is Time Rewind?

Restore previously blacklisted links to make them available for reading again. Perfect for:

  • Learning reinforcement: Re-read important topics
  • Missed content: Recover articles you meant to read
  • Testing patterns: Experiment with content rotation
  • Accident recovery: Undo over-aggressive blacklisting

Quick Rewind Examples

# See what 7-day rewind would restore (safe preview)
neuron-automation --rewind-preview 7

# Restore links blacklisted in last 3 days
neuron-automation --rewind 3

# Restore everything from last week
neuron-automation --rewind 7 --backup

# Show recently blacklisted items
neuron-automation --recent-blacklisted 15

Rewind Scenarios

# Monday: Normal automation runs
neuron-automation

# Tuesday: Want to revisit Monday's content
neuron-automation --rewind 1

# Result: Yesterday's articles reappear

# Friday: Review the entire week
neuron-automation --rewind 7

# Weekend: Re-read important articles
# Monday: Fresh start with new blacklist

# Find articles about AI from last 14 days
neuron-automation --recent-blacklisted 50 | grep -i "ai\|artificial"

# Restore all recent content
neuron-automation --rewind 14

# Research specific topics

🎯 Advanced Usage

Custom Automation Runs

# Force run even if no new content
neuron-automation --force

# Run with custom link limit
neuron-automation --max-links 20

# Run in test mode (no browser, show what would happen)
neuron-automation --dry-run

# Run with verbose output
neuron-automation --verbose

Database Management

# Backup database
neuron-automation --backup-db

# Clean old entries
neuron-automation --cleanup --older-than 90

# Export data
neuron-automation --export-csv links_export.csv

# Database statistics
neuron-automation --db-stats

Integration with Other Tools

Morning Script Integration

#!/bin/bash
# morning-routine.sh

echo "Starting morning automation..."
neuron-automation --stats
neuron-automation --health-check

if neuron-automation --dry-run | grep "new content"; then
    echo "📰 New newsletter content available!"
    neuron-automation
else
    echo "📭 No new content today"
fi

Cron Job Alternative

# Add to crontab for custom scheduling
# Run at 6:15 AM on weekdays
15 6 * * 1-5 /usr/local/bin/neuron-automation --quiet

🔧 Troubleshooting Usage

Common Issues

No New Content Found

# Check newsletter URL
neuron-automation --test-connection

# Force refresh content detection
neuron-automation --force --verbose

# Check last successful run
neuron-automation --stats

Too Many/Few Links Opening

# Adjust link limits
neuron-automation --max-links 25

# Check blacklist efficiency
neuron-automation --stats

# Reset blacklist if needed
neuron-automation --reset-blacklist --confirm

Browser Not Opening

# Test browser configuration
neuron-automation --test-browser

# Check Chrome installation
google-chrome --version

# Try headless mode first
neuron-automation --headless

Debug Mode

# Enable detailed logging
neuron-automation --debug

# View recent logs
tail -50 ~/.config/neuron-automation/logs/neuron_automation.log

# Monitor live logging
tail -f ~/.config/neuron-automation/logs/neuron_automation.log

📱 Mobile & Cross-Device Usage

Reading Across Devices

The automation runs on your main computer, but you can access the content anywhere:

  1. Sync bookmarks across devices via Chrome sync
  2. Share links using Chrome's sharing features
  3. Save for later using read-later services
  4. Export links and access on mobile

Remote Monitoring

# Check status remotely via SSH
ssh your-computer "neuron-automation --stats"

# Run automation remotely
ssh your-computer "neuron-automation --force"

# View logs remotely  
ssh your-computer "tail -20 ~/.config/neuron-automation/logs/neuron_automation.log"

Next Steps

  • Daily Operation

    Master the automatic daily workflow and optimize your reading routine.

    Daily Workflow

  • Manual Commands

    Complete reference for all available commands and options.

    Command Reference

  • System Management

    Monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your automation system.

    System Management

  • Time Rewind Guide

    Advanced time rewind techniques and learning optimization strategies.

    Time Rewind Tool

Neuron Daily Newsletter Automation

Why This Exists: Reading the Neuron Daily newsletter is a great way to start the day, but manually clicking through all the article links takes time. This automation opens everything at once, so you can spend your morning reading instead of clicking. Built collaboratively with Claude AI to solve a real daily workflow need.

If this saves you time too, give it a ⭐ and let us know how it works for you!

Cross-platform automation system that automatically opens the latest Neuron Daily newsletter with all article links in separate tabs every weekday morning.

Supported Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows