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🧰 Automate Anything with AI and MCPs
Published about 1 month ago • 5 min read
🧰 Smart tools. Useful tips. Weekly.
Hola friend 👋,
I’m Josep. Each week, I hunt down practical tools and productivity hacks to help digital doers like you do more with less effort.
Know someone who’d love this newsletter? 2,000+ readers already do (thanks 🙌). Share it with friends & colleagues so they can join too.
This week: connecting your favorite apps to AI to automate (almost) anything.
The topic sounds a bit complex, but stick with me: it’s not that bad. We're talking about something called the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a new way for AI assistants like Claude to talk to other apps and get real work done for you.
Think of it like giving your AI a set of keys to your other tools (e.g. Canva or Notion). It does require a little technical setup – usually involving an API key and pasting some text (JSON) – but once it’s done, you can ask your AI to do things like organize your files, update your CRM, or even design social media posts for you.
And since we were messing around with Canva, we also tried its AI Assistant. We were impressed, but did it outperform ChatGPT and Google Gemini? Find out in my video below.
I’ve been using Perplexity and the Claude Desktop app to test this out, and it’s a genuine game-changer.
Canva has jumped headfirst into the world of AI automation, and its MCP connection is seriously impressive. You can now connect your Canva account directly to AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT.
The setup is surprisingly simple and requires no code. Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant to create designs for you automatically. For example, you could say, "Create an Instagram post to promote my latest blog article about remote work," and it will generate a design in seconds, ready for you to tweak and publish.
If you want to use an AI assistant other than Claude or ChatGPT, Canva’s MCP Server has you covered (installation guide). Just set up an API connection, copy the JSON Canva provides, and add it to your chosen AI tool – for example, Perplexity (for desktop). This unlocks the same seamless Canva integration with your favorite assistant, no matter which one you use.
Canva also offers its own AI assistant, allowing you to create designs, generate images, and even videos. I tested it and compared it with ChatGPT and Gemini in the video above – I quite liked it.
🛠️ Alternative to: Manual design work, hiring a designer for simple tasks
If you’re going to explore MCP, the Claude Desktop app is the place to start. Anthropic (the company behind Claude) invented the protocol and is pushing it forward the most.
Claude already connects directly with popular tools like Notion, HubSpot, Figma, and Stripe without any complicated setup. But the real magic happens with its Zapier integration. Suddenly, you can connect Claude to the 8,000+ apps in Zapier’s library and build powerful automations with simple text commands.
You can use it to streamline your content workflow. For example, you can ask Claude to "monitor [your-niche] in Google News, create a blog post about it in a Google Docs, and upload it to WordPress as a draft". To achieve this, you would simply need to instruct Claude in natural language (for example, by typing your request into the chat box).
And of course, you can tailor it to your own needs by combining different tools and prompts to make AI handle your tasks for you. It’s the closest I’ve come to having a real-life assistant who understands exactly what I need.
🛠️ Alternative to: Custom-built AI agents, Make.com and n8n
If you live in Notion like many of us do, you’ll love its MCP features. Notion AI can now connect to your AI Assistant tools, allowing you to automate tasks and bring information into your workspace without lifting a finger.
You can use it to summarize documents, draft emails, or even brainstorm ideas. But with MCP, you can go a step further. Imagine telling Claude Desktop to “pull the latest sales data from Stripe and create a summary report page in Notion,” or “check my To-Do tasks in Notion and analyze their priority.” You could even ask it: “Based on my Google Calendar events, create a timetable so I can complete these tasks by the end of the week.”
Notion is also making big strides with its AI assistant, and I’m really curious to see how it develops. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to try it out soon. If you’d like to see a live demo, just reply to this email with “Yes, test Notion AI Assistant.”
Sometimes the simplest tools are the best. I’ve been using the ColorZilla browser extension for years and thought everyone knew about it, but recently two friends told me how they’d just discovered it and were blown away.
So, just in case you’ve missed it, ColorZilla is a must-have for anyone who does anything on the web. It’s an advanced eyedropper tool that lets you grab the exact color from any pixel on any webpage.
Just click the icon in your toolbar, hover over the color you want, and click to copy the hex code to your clipboard. It’s perfect for matching brand colors, grabbing inspiration for a design, or just satisfying your curiosity. It even keeps a history of your recently picked colors.
It's simple, reliable, and completely free. An absolute classic.
🛠️ Alternative to: Inspecting element, screenshotting and using an image editor
If you work from home, you know how blurry the lines between work and life can get. One simple hack I’ve found incredibly effective is taking a 10-minute walk right before starting my workday.
Your brain needs that transition time it used to get from a commute, and a short walk is the perfect replacement – many say.
There’s nothing I love more than walking my dog in the woods of La Costa Brava (where I live). When I can't do it because it's raining or I'm in a rush, my day just doesn't feel the same. It clears my head and signals to my brain that it's time to focus.
Bonus tip: Make sure you change out of your pajamas. Even if it's just into "nice sweatpants."
🍿 Plot Twist of the Week
Mark Zuckerberg's big moment at Meta Connect 2025 turned into a viral cringe-fest when his new $799 AI glasses failed spectacularly – twice.
First, the AI cooking assistant got completely confused while trying to help make a Korean steak sauce, insisting the chef had "already combined the base ingredients" when he was literally standing in front of an empty bowl.
Then, Zuckerberg couldn't even receive a WhatsApp call using his fancy neural wristband, awkwardly repeating hand gestures on stage while stammering, "This is, uh... it happens." Meta's CTO blamed "brutal WiFi," but social media wasn't buying it – check out the fail here.
The lesson? Even billion-dollar tech demos can't escape Murphy's Law. Sometimes, things just don't work, no matter how much money you throw at them.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading! Next time, we'll explore how to manage your time effectively.
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