A tech news digest picked for your job, not for clicks
Tech news is a firehose of launches, funding rounds and hot takes, and most of it does not touch your work. This prompt has your todo.is agent read tech news sites, developer forums and release notes each day, pick the stories that matter for your role and stack, and send a brief you can read with your coffee.
The prompt
- Send me a tech news digest every [SCHEDULE] on [WHERE TO SEND IT]. I work as [YOUR ROLE] and care about [TOPICS AND TOOLS]. Read major tech news sites, Hacker News, and the official blogs or release notes of [PRODUCTS TO FOLLOW]. Pick the 8 most relevant stories from the last 24 hours. For each, write a bold headline, 2 sentences on what happened, one line on why it matters to someone in my role, and the link. Add a short "releases and updates" list for my tools, and a "skip" line for big stories that got attention but don’t matter to me. No funding-round news unless it’s about a tool I use.
What to change
- [SCHEDULE]: e.g. "weekday at 8:00" or "Monday and Thursday at 9:00".
- [WHERE TO SEND IT]: Slack, email, Telegram, WhatsApp or Discord.
- [YOUR ROLE]: e.g. "backend developer at a small SaaS company" or "IT manager at a school".
- [TOPICS AND TOOLS]: e.g. "Postgres, Kubernetes, cloud costs, security vulnerabilities".
- [PRODUCTS TO FOLLOW]: e.g. "GitHub, AWS, Postgres, Docker, VS Code".
Example result
- Tech digest · Wed Oct 8
- For: backend developer · Postgres, Kubernetes, cloud costs, security
- Top stories
- 1. Critical vulnerability in a popular Node.js logging library
- A remote code execution bug affects older versions. A patched version is out.
- Why it matters: check your lockfiles today, even if you only use it indirectly. (link)
- 2. Major cloud provider changes egress pricing for one region group
- Data transfer between some regions gets cheaper from next month.
- Why it matters: worth a look if you replicate databases across regions. (link)
- 3. Postgres community publishes the release candidate for the next major version
- Includes faster vacuum and new JSON functions.
- Why it matters: test your migrations on the candidate before the final release. (link)
- 4. Hacker News discussion: "We moved off Kubernetes and saved 40%"
- A small company explains why a simpler setup worked for them. Thoughtful comments on when Kubernetes is worth it. (link)
- 5. Container image registry adds rate limits for anonymous pulls
- Why it matters: CI pipelines that pull without logging in may start failing. (link)
- Releases and updates for your tools
- • Docker: new desktop release with faster file sharing on macOS
- • VS Code: monthly update; Python debugging improvements
- • Kubernetes: patch release fixes a scheduler bug
- Skipped today
- • A phone maker’s new foldable, a social app redesign, two AI funding rounds, a celebrity CEO interview.
- Reply "more security" or "less opinion" to tune tomorrow’s digest.
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and describe your role, topics and tools.
- Paste it into todo.is or send it to your agent on Slack or Telegram.
- Your agent reads the sources every morning and sends a short, ranked digest with links.
- Tune it by replying, for example "add frontend news" or "Fridays only".
Tips for a better result
- Describe your role precisely. "Backend developer at a fintech" gets far better picks than "tech".
- List the tools you run in production so release notes and security fixes show up.
- The "skip" line keeps you aware of big headlines without spending time on them.
- Share it with your team by sending it to a Slack channel instead of a private chat.
tech news digest: FAQ
- What are the best sources for tech news? A mix works best: a few established tech news sites, community forums like Hacker News, and the official blogs and release notes of the tools you use. Your agent can read all of them and pick what fits you.
- Can the digest go to my whole team? Yes. Send it to a Slack or Discord channel, or to a shared email address.
- Can I get it weekly instead of daily? Yes. Change the schedule to "every Monday at 9:00" and ask for the 10 most important stories of the week.
- Does it include paywalled articles? Your agent can only read pages it can open. For paywalled stories it uses the public summary or other coverage and links the original.
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