𝗜 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗔 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼-𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻8𝗻
I wanted to build an automated social media system for zero dollars.
The goal was simple. I send a prompt to a Telegram bot. Gemini writes a post. Pollinations.ai creates an image. The system sends everything back to me for review.
I used these tools:
- n8n: To connect all the services.
- Google Gemini: To write the text.
- Pollinations.ai: To generate images.
- Telegram: To act as my control center.
Free tools are powerful, but they break. Here is how I fixed the problems.
Problem 1: Gemini added too much extra text. Gemini often included conversational filler or markdown. It would say, "Here is your tweet:" before the actual text. This ruins a social post.
The Fix: I used an n8n Code node. I wrote a small JavaScript function to strip away all extra words and markdown. I also added a check to make sure the text fits social media character limits.
Problem 2: Images were inconsistent. Pollinations.ai would produce different styles every time. Sometimes the images did not match the tone of the text.
The Fix: I added a second step. I used Gemini to write a specific image prompt based on the social post. This prompt includes style details like "digital art" or "tech-focused." I also increased the timeout settings in n8n so the workflow does not crash during slow generations.
Problem 3: Telegram reviews were messy. Receiving raw text and long URLs was hard to read.
The Fix: I built a message template in n8n. Now, Telegram shows the text and the image together. I added buttons for "Approve" or "Discard." This turns a simple bot into a professional dashboard.
The Lesson: You can build massive automation for free. However, you must spend time on data cleaning and error handling. The "breaks" are where you learn how APIs actually work.
What breaks happen in your automation projects?
Optional learning community: https://t.me/GyaanSetuAi