Etimo Weekly

An AI-powered newspaper generator that transforms Slack messages into a fun, Swedish-language weekly newspaper. Aggregates messages, reactions, threads, and anonymous tips, then uses LLM reporters with distinct personalities to write articles.

Quick Start

pnpm install
pnpm dev

Open http://localhost:3000 (API docs at http://localhost:3000/docs)

Environment Variables

Create a .env file:

# Required
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET=...

# Service overrides (default: real services)
SERVICES_SLACK=slack        # "slack" or "fake"
SERVICES_LLM=openai         # "openai" or "fake"
SERVICES_TTS=openai          # "openai" or "fake"

# Optional
OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-5.2
TTS_MODEL=tts-1
PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=development

Running the AI Agent

Generate a new newspaper edition from Slack data:

pnpm agent                        # Generate newspaper (PDF)
pnpm agent -- --include-audio     # With audio narration (MP3 per article)
pnpm agent -- --include-html      # Also save HTML output
pnpm agent:fake                   # Run with mock services (no API keys needed)

Output is saved to dist/generated/:

• etimo-veckoblad-{N}.pdf — each edition gets a unique PDF
• etimo-veckoblad-{N}.html — archived HTML (if --include-html)
• index.html — always points to the latest edition

Anonymous Tips

Users can DM the Slack bot to submit anonymous tips. Tips are woven into the gossip column ("Kontorsskvaller") by Den Mystiska Reportern.

Flow

1. User sends a DM to the bot in Slack
2. Slack delivers the event to POST /slack/events
3. Request signature is verified (HMAC-SHA256)
4. Rate limit is checked (5 tips/hour per user)
5. Tip text is saved to data/tips.json (user ID is not stored)
6. Bot sends a confirmation DM back to the user
7. On the next agent run, consumeTips() reads all tips and clears the file
8. Tips are fed to the LLM as material for the gossip column

Dev Endpoints

These are disabled in production:

• POST /test/tip — submit a test tip ({ "text": "..." })
• GET /test/tips — view all pending tips

Local Testing with ngrok

To test the Slack webhook locally, you need a public URL:

1. Install ngrok and authenticate:

   ngrok config add-authtoken <your-token>

2. Start the dev server and ngrok:

   pnpm dev                # terminal 1
   ngrok http 3000         # terminal 2

3. Copy the ngrok https:// URL and configure it in your Slack app:

   • Event Subscriptions > Request URL: https://<id>.ngrok-free.app/slack/events
   • Subscribe to bot events: message.im

4. DM the bot — you should see the tip logged in your dev server terminal.

Note: the ngrok URL changes on every restart (free plan). Update the Slack Request URL accordingly.

Slack App Setup

Required Bot Token Scopes

Scope	Purpose
channels:history	Read public channel messages
channels:read	List public channels
groups:history	Read private channel messages
groups:read	List private channels the bot is in
chat:write	Send confirmation DMs
im:history	Read DM messages
im:read	Access DM channels
reactions:read	Read emoji reactions
users:read	Resolve user IDs to names
emoji:read	Fetch custom workspace emojis
search:read	Search messages

App Home Settings

Enable Messages Tab and check "Allow users to send Slash commands and messages from the messages tab" — otherwise users will see "Sending messages to this app has been turned off."

After changing scopes or settings, reinstall the app to your workspace.

Architecture

src/
  agent/
    index.ts              # Agent state machine (Gather -> Analyze -> Generate -> Crossword -> Audio -> Review)
    run.ts                # CLI entry point for agent
    reporters.ts          # Reporter characters with distinct voices
  routes/
    slack.ts              # Slack Events API webhook (DM -> anonymous tip)
    tips.ts               # Dev endpoints for tip management
    newspaper.ts          # Newspaper viewing routes
  services/
    slack/                # Slack API client (real + mock)
    llm/                  # LLM integration (real + mock)
    tts/                  # Text-to-speech (real + mock)
    tips/                 # File-based tip storage
  plugins/
    rate-limit.ts         # Per-user rate limiting for tips (5/hour)
  persistence/
    edition-store.ts      # Edition history and crossword solutions
  crossword/
    generator.ts          # Crossword puzzle generator
  templates/
    render.ts             # HTML rendering with emoji support
  utils/
    emoji.ts              # Slack emoji shortcode -> Unicode/image conversion
  schemas/
    article.ts            # Zod schemas for articles and editions
data/
  tips.json               # Pending anonymous tips (consumed on agent run)
  edition-store.json      # Edition counter and history
dist/generated/           # Output PDFs, HTML, and audio files

Scripts

Script	Description
pnpm dev	Start dev server with hot reload
pnpm agent	Generate a newspaper edition
pnpm agent:fake	Generate with mock services
pnpm build:pdf	Generate PDF from existing edition
pnpm build:static	Build static HTML
pnpm test	Run tests (watch mode)
pnpm test:run	Run tests once
pnpm lint	Check linting
pnpm lint:fix	Auto-fix linting issues

Tech Stack

• TypeScript
• Node.js + Fastify
• Vercel AI SDK (OpenAI provider)
• Slack Web API
• Puppeteer (PDF generation)
• Zod (schema validation)
• Vitest (testing)
• Biome (linting/formatting)