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Track competitor YouTube videos using WayinVideo summarization and Gmail

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Created by: Incrementors || incrementors
Incrementors

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Last update 8 hours ago

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Description

Paste any competitor's YouTube URL in chat — and this n8n workflow does everything automatically. WayinVideo API reads the entire video, extracts the summary, key highlights with timestamps, and hashtags — then builds a clean styled HTML report and delivers it straight to your inbox via Gmail.

Built for marketers, growth teams, agencies, and founders who need to monitor competitors' video content without spending hours watching videos manually.

What This Workflow Does

This automation handles your complete competitor video intelligence pipeline:

  • Chat-triggered — User pastes any YouTube video URL and the workflow starts instantly
  • AI-powered summarization — WayinVideo AI reads the video and extracts title, summary, and key highlights automatically
  • Smart polling loop — Waits and retries every 30 seconds until processing is complete — no manual checking needed
  • Timestamped highlights — Each highlight includes exact start/end timestamps and sub-events for deep insight
  • Hashtag extraction — Pulls all relevant tags from the video automatically
  • Styled HTML email report — Builds a professional branded report and sends it to your inbox via Gmail

Setup Requirements

Tools You'll Need:

  • Active n8n instance (self-hosted or n8n Cloud)
  • WayinVideo account with API access
  • Gmail account with OAuth2 access

Estimated Setup Time: 5–10 minutes

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Get Your WayinVideo API Key

WayinVideo is the AI engine that analyzes and summarizes your competitor's video content.

  1. Go to WayinVideo
    and create a free/paid account
  2. Navigate to Dashboard → API section
  3. Copy your Bearer API token
  4. Open the "🎬 Submit Video for Summary" node in n8n
  5. Replace YOUR_WAYINVIDEO_API_KEY with your actual token in the Authorization header
  6. Do the same in the "🔄 Poll for Summary Results" node — replace the same placeholder there too

⚠️ The API key appears in two places — Submit node and Poll node. Replace both or the workflow will fail!

2. Connect Gmail (OAuth2)

  1. In n8n: Go to Credentials → Add Credential → Gmail OAuth2 API
  2. Complete the Google OAuth authentication flow
  3. Open the "📨 Send Analysis via Gmail" node
  4. Select your Gmail credential from the dropdown
  5. Replace [email protected] with the actual email address where you want to receive reports

3. Configure the Chat Trigger

This workflow is triggered when a user sends a video URL in the n8n chat interface.

  • The trigger node receives $json.chatInput — this is the competitor video URL the user pastes
  • Make sure your n8n instance has the Chat Trigger enabled
  • No additional setup needed — it works out of the box

4. Customise Settings (Optional)

In the "🎬 Submit Video for Summary" node:

Parameter Default Value What It Does
target_lang en Summary language
video_url $json.chatInput Video URL from chat

Change summary language options:

  • en → English (default)
  • hi → Hindi
  • es → Spanish
  • fr → French
  • de → German

In the "📧 Build Competitor Analysis Email" node:

  • Edit the HTML template to match your brand colors
  • Add or remove sections like hashtags, highlights, or timestamps
  • Modify the email header text or footer branding

5. Test & Activate

  1. Open n8n and go to this workflow
  2. Click the "Chat" button to open the chat interface
  3. Paste any competitor YouTube video URL and press send
  4. Watch the workflow run step by step in the Execution View
  5. Check your inbox — the styled HTML report should arrive within 1–3 minutes
  6. Once confirmed, toggle the workflow Active at the top ✅

How It Works (Step by Step)

Step 1 — Chat Trigger
User pastes a competitor video URL in the n8n chat. The URL is captured as $json.chatInput and passed to the next node.

Step 2 — Submit Video to WayinVideo API
The workflow sends a POST request to the WayinVideo API (/api/v2/summaries) with the video URL and target language. The API returns a Job ID used to track processing status.

Step 3 — Wait 30 Seconds
The workflow pauses for 30 seconds to give WayinVideo time to start processing. This avoids hitting the API too early before the summary is ready.

Step 4 — Poll for Summary Results
Using the Job ID from Step 2, the workflow calls:

GET /api/v2/summaries/results/{job_id}

to check if the summary is ready.

Step 5 — Summary Ready? (Smart Loop)
The IF node checks if the response status equals SUCCEEDED:

  • YES (summary ready) → Moves forward to build the email report
  • NO (still processing) → Loops back to "Wait 30 Seconds" and retries automatically

This smart retry loop runs every 30 seconds until the summary is done. No manual intervention needed.

Step 6 — Build Competitor Analysis Email
The Code node extracts all data from the API response and builds a styled HTML email containing:

  • ✅ Video title and URL
  • ✅ Full AI-generated summary
  • ✅ Key highlights with start/end timestamps
  • ✅ Sub-events with individual timestamps
  • ✅ Hashtags and topic tags

Step 7 — Send via Gmail
The final Gmail node sends the complete HTML report directly to your specified inbox — formatted and ready to read.

Troubleshooting

Summary not generating / API returns empty:

  • Verify your WayinVideo API key is correct in both the Submit and Poll nodes
  • Check your WayinVideo account has active credits
  • Ensure the video URL is publicly accessible (private or age-restricted YouTube videos won't work)
  • Try with a shorter video first (under 20 minutes) to test

Workflow stuck in polling loop:

  • Long videos (1+ hour) can take 5–10 minutes to process — this is completely normal
  • Check your WayinVideo dashboard to see if the job is still running
  • If stuck for more than 15 minutes, check API status
    Email not being received:
  • Re-authenticate your Gmail OAuth2 credential
  • Check your spam/junk folder
  • Verify the recipient email address is correct in the Send Gmail node
  • Make sure Gmail OAuth2 has send permissions enabled

Video URL not accepted:

  • Paste only the raw URL with no extra text
  • Use full YouTube URL format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
  • Some region-locked or private videos may not be accessible by the API

Support

Need help setting this up or want a custom version built for your specific use case?

📧 Email: [email protected]
🌐 Website: https://www.incrementors.com/contact-us/