## Introduction
In fast-paced product development environments, retrospectives are critical to foster continuous improvement. However, scheduling these meetings post-release can often be overlooked or delayed due to manual coordination efforts. Automating the scheduling of team retrospectives ensures consistent follow-ups after each product release, freeing product managers and team leads from administrative overhead. This benefits developers, product owners, and stakeholders by guaranteeing timely reflections on the release outcomes.
This tutorial guides you through building an automated workflow in n8n to schedule retrospective meetings post-release by integrating tools such as GitHub (or your version control system), Google Calendar, and Slack.
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## Tools and Services Integrated
– **n8n**: open-source workflow automation tool
– **GitHub**: to detect release events (alternatively, GitLab/Bitbucket or your release management tool)
– **Google Calendar**: to create retrospective meeting events
– **Slack**: to notify the team about the scheduled retrospective
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## Automation Workflow Overview
The automation triggers when a new release is published in the GitHub repository. Once detected, it automatically creates a calendar event for the retrospective meeting within a defined timeframe (typically 1–2 days after release). After the event is created, it sends a notification to the team’s Slack channel with meeting details.
High-level steps:
1. **Webhook Trigger:** Capture GitHub release event
2. **Set Scheduling Date:** Calculate retrospective meeting date/time
3. **Create Calendar Event:** Schedule meeting in Google Calendar
4. **Notify Team:** Send Slack message with event details
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## Step-by-Step Technical Tutorial
### Prerequisites
– n8n instance running (cloud or self-hosted)
– GitHub repository with webhook access
– Google account with Calendar API enabled
– Slack workspace and bot/token with permission to post messages
### Step 1: Configure GitHub Webhook Trigger in n8n
1. In n8n, create a new workflow.
2. Add a **Webhook** node:
– Set Method to `POST`.
– Define a unique path (e.g., `/github-release-trigger`).
3. In your GitHub repository, navigate to **Settings > Webhooks**.
4. Add a webhook:
– Payload URL: Your n8n webhook URL (e.g., `https://your-n8n-instance/webhook/github-release-trigger`).
– Content type: `application/json`.
– Select the **Release** event.
– Save the webhook.
5. Back in n8n, activate the workflow and execute it once to initialize listening.
### Step 2: Validate Incoming Release Event
Add a **IF** node after the Webhook to filter for *published* releases (you only want to trigger on a release that has just been published).
– Expression:
“`
{{$json[“action”] === “published”}}
“`
If true, continue; if false, stop the workflow.
### Step 3: Calculate Meeting Time
After confirming a new release is published, use the **Function** node to set the date/time for the retrospective meeting. For example, schedule the meeting 2 days after release at 3 PM.
– Add a **Function** node:
“`javascript
const releaseDate = new Date($json[“release”][“published_at”]);
// Set retrospective 2 days after release at 3 PM
releaseDate.setDate(releaseDate.getDate() + 2);
releaseDate.setHours(15, 0, 0, 0); // 3:00 PM
return [{ json: { retrospectiveDate: releaseDate.toISOString() } }];
“`
### Step 4: Create a Google Calendar Event
1. Add a **Google Calendar** node:
– Operation: `create`
– Calendar ID: your team’s calendar ID or `primary`
– Set the event’s summary/title, e.g., `Team Retrospective – Release {{$json[“release”][“tag_name”]}}`
– Set start and end times:
– Start time: `{{ $json[“retrospectiveDate”] }}`
– End time: add 1 hour to the start time (can do this via another Function node or directly in the expression)
– Add attendees if needed
2. Configure authentication with Google Calendar API credentials.
### Step 5: Notify Slack Channel
1. Add a **Slack** node:
– Operation: `postMessage`
– Channel: your retrospectives or product team channel (e.g., `#product-team`)
– Message:
“`
Retrospective meeting for release *{{$json[“release”][“tag_name”]}}* has been scheduled on *{{ $node[“Google Calendar”].json[“start”][“dateTime”] }}*.
Check your Google Calendar for details.
“`
– Use bot token authentication.
### Step 6: Error Handling and Robustness
– **Webhook verification:** Use a secret token in GitHub webhook settings and configure n8n to verify the signature to prevent unauthorized triggers.
– **Calendar conflict:** Before creating events, optionally add logic to check for existing events to avoid duplicates.
– **Slack failures:** Add a fallback mechanism or send email notifications if Slack messages fail.
– **Timezones:** Confirm all dates/times use UTC or the intended timezone to prevent scheduling errors.
### Step 7: Activate and Test
1. Activate the workflow.
2. Create a test release on GitHub.
3. Verify the following:
– Workflow triggers appropriately.
– Calendar event gets created at the correct time.
– Slack channel receives the notification.
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## Scaling and Adaptations
– **Multi-team retrospectives:** Pass team-specific parameters and dynamically select calendar and Slack channels.
– **Variable scheduling:** Allow customization of meeting time via release metadata or manual input.
– **Enhanced notifications:** Include Zoom/Meet links by integrating video conferencing APIs.
– **Reporting:** Add steps to generate a retrospective meeting agenda or feedback forms automatically.
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## Summary
Automating post-release retrospective scheduling using n8n streamlines the product development cycle, reduces manual work, and enforces a culture of continuous improvement. By integrating GitHub webhooks, Google Calendar, and Slack, you can build a robust workflow that ensures retrospectives are reliably planned and communicated.
**Bonus Tip:**
Incorporate a survey tool like Typeform or Google Forms to automatically send retrospective feedback invitations after the meeting, and use n8n to compile responses into a dashboard for easier analysis.
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This structured, technical approach empowers product teams and automation engineers to build reliable and scalable retrospectives scheduling automation within their workflow ecosystems using n8n.