Honestly one of the things that eats up my time is just keeping track of billsāreading them, managing due dates, and making sense of multiple formats. Feels boring and repetitive. So for this challenge, I put together a Postman Notebook that lets APIs handle the heavy lifting.
Hereās the basic flow:
Upload or scan a bill ā API reads and extracts the key details. Data gets structured ā breaks down items, amounts, dates, and totals. Apply logic ā highlights due dates, tax breakdowns, and potential errors. Add notifications ā reminders so nothing slips through. Store neatly ā everything is organized, searchable, and exportable.
Why this is actually useful for me: No more manual data entry. Helps avoid missed payments. Makes expense tracking effortless. Could easily scale into a personal finance tracker.
One of those little chores I always forget is watering my plants. Sometimes I water them when they donāt need it (overwatering ), and sometimes I forget completely. Itās boring, repetitive, and I wanted an API to handle it for me.
basic flow by step by step:
Check weather ā API fetches humidity and rainfall data for my city Apply logic ā decides if plants need watering today Send reminder ā optional Slack/Telegram message or just console notification Stay consistent ā plants stay healthy without me stressing about it
Why this is useful for me:
No more guessing āshould I water today?ā
Saves water and keeps plants healthier
Turns a tiny daily chore into an effortless automation
Can easily expand into a home-automation setup
My Entry for the Postman Weekly Challenge: Automate a Chore with an API
Like most people, I wake up every morning to a cluttered inboxāimportant emails buried under promotional messages, newsletters, and notifications. More often than not, I miss key opportunities because everything is mixed together.
Thatās why I built Action Mail
What Action Mail Does
Action Mail automates the entire process of handling your inbox so you never miss what matters:
Summarizes each email ā Uses an AI-powered summarization API to extract the key points from every message.
Suggests the right action ā Determines whether an email is just informational or requires you to take action.
Creates tasks automatically ā If an action is needed, Action Mail adds it as a task on your calendar (via Google Calendar API).
Sends SMS reminders ā Uses a messaging API (like Twilio) to remind you so you donāt forget to follow through.
Why This Matters
Instead of spending time sifting through clutter, Action Mail ensures I stay on top of important details, meetings, and opportunitiesāautomatically.
APIs I Used
Gmail API ā To fetch emails from my inbox.
AI/LLM API (like Gemini/OpenAI) ā To summarize emails and detect action items.
Google Calendar API ā To add tasks/events automatically.
Twilio API ā To send SMS reminders.
The Result
Now, instead of waking up stressed about unread emails, I start my day knowing that Action Mail has: Summarized my inbox Created tasks for me Sent reminders so I wonāt forget
No more missed emails. No more forgotten follow-ups. Just clarity and action.
Thatās a wrap! This weekās challenge is officially closed.
Thanks to everyone who shared their Notebooks. Weāre reviewing submissions now. While you wait, drop a on your favorite responses to help us choose a winner.
The winner will be announced on Friday.
FYI: we are hosting an office hour for Notebooks later today! It is a great way to connect with the product team and learn how your Notebooks can be improved. Your Notebook can potentially win $1,000 if you submit it for the global challenge.
Big congrats to @akdeepankar for their creative Notebook that checks if the colors in a design meet certain accessibility standards. This Notebook was short and concise, but super valuable! We had a good number of submissions, and this was a tough choice. We loved how clear and clever this one was, and it totally nails the āwhy didnāt I think of that?ā vibe. They take home the $250 cash prize .
Next challenge drops Wednesday. Be ready.
We had a lot of really amazing submissions this week. Some common mistakes we noticed were:
Not using the request block at all. This challenge required you to use at least one API call, so having a request block in your Notebook is essential.
Not keeping the submission simple.
Some requests are not running as expected.
Some APIs required payment and arenāt free to use, hence the workflows could not be tested.
Attempting to fit too many use cases into the same Notebook.
I encourage everyone to participate in the main challenge that closes next Monday. Thereās $1,000 up for grabs for 4 people, and you can submit the same Notebook you did for this challenge. Join the #notebooks-challenge channel on Discord and ask for feedback on your Notebook. This allows you to spend some time making final improvements before the submission deadline.
Handing Off Bill Management with Smart Bill AI
Upload or scan a bill ā API reads and extracts the key details.
Data gets structured ā breaks down items, amounts, dates, and totals.
Apply logic ā highlights due dates, tax breakdowns, and potential errors.
Add notifications ā reminders so nothing slips through.
Store neatly ā everything is organized, searchable, and exportable.
No more manual data entry.
Hereās my Notebook: Smart Bill Notebook
Plant Care with Smart Watering Reminder
), and sometimes I forget completely. Itās boring, repetitive, and I wanted an API to handle it for me.
My Entry for the Postman Weekly Challenge: Automate a Chore with an API
Summarized my inbox
on your favorite responses to help us choose a winner.
Challenge Winner!