7 Power Picks: Notion Automations at Scale & Raycast v2's Best New Tricks

Notion pick 1: Scheduled automations with Send mail to -- the weekly digest you don't have to write

1. Open your database -> click the *** lightning bolt** -> New automation.
2. Set trigger: Every week -> pick your day and time (e.g., Monday 08:00), choose your timezone.
3. Add action: Send mail to -> connect your Gmail account on first use.
4. In the To field, add Define variables first -- create a variable called Project Name that references the page's Name property. Use this variable in the Subject line: Weekly update: {Project Name}.
5. In the Message body, insert property mentions for Status, Due Date, and Assignee.
6. Click Create. 1

Notion pick 2: Slack standup pipeline with Send Slack notification to + property filters

1. In your tasks database: *** -> New automation**.
2. Trigger: Every day at 09:00, filtered to only pages where Status = "In Progress".
3. Action: Send Slack notification to -> connect your Slack workspace (one-time OAuth).
4. Choose the target channel (e.g., #standup).
5. In the message body, use property mentions: {Assignee} is working on {Name} -- status: {Status}. Due: {Due Date}.
6. Add a second Send Slack notification to action targeting #eng-alerts for pages where Priority = "Urgent".
7. Click Create.

Notion pick 3: Define variables + Edit pages in -- cascade updates across linked databases

1. In your Projects database: *** -> New automation**.
2. Trigger: Property edited -> Status -> is set to -> "Completed".
3. Action 1: Define variables -> create ProjectRef = {Name} (the project page name).
4. Action 2: Edit pages in -> select your Tasks database -> filter: Related Project = {ProjectRef}.
5. Edit: set Status property = "Done".
6. Optionally add Action 3: Send notification to the Assignee property, so task owners know their queue just cleared.
7. Click Create.

Cross-tool pick: Raycast Notion extension -- quick capture without opening a browser tab

1. Install the Notion extension from the Raycast Store.
2. On first run, authenticate via OAuth (Raycast handles this; if you later can't find a database, go to Notion Settings -> My Connections -> Raycast Extension -> Access Selected Pages).
3. In Raycast Snippets, create a new snippet with keyword :ntask and text: Task: {cursor} -- this is your jump point.
4. Set a Raycast Quicklink: URL = raycast://extensions/notion/notion/create-page, name it "New Notion Task", assign a Hyper Key shortcut (e.g., +T).
5. Press +T -> the extension opens -> pick your Tasks database -> fill Title -> press Return.
6. Optional: In the extension preferences, set a default database so it opens directly without the picker.

Raycast pick 1: Dictation is now a system-wide typing replacement (v2 Beta + v0.63)

1. Download Raycast v2 Beta from raycast.com/new (macOS) or update Windows Raycast to v0.63+.
2. Open Settings -> General -> Dictation -> toggle it on.
3. Assign a dedicated hotkey (e.g., hold Option+D or a double-press of a modifier key).
4. Set "Learn spelling" to On -- it adapts to your vocabulary after a few sessions.
5. In "Adjust tone per app", add Slack and set tone to "Casual", add your code editor and set tone to "Technical" for minimal auto-correction.
6. Use Dictation History command to review, edit, or copy recent dictated text.

Raycast pick 2: AI Memory -- stop re-explaining your stack on every AI Chat session

1. In Raycast v2, open AI Chat -> click the Memory icon (or search "Edit AI Memory" in the launcher).
2. Add structured blocks. Example layout:

## Work context {#work-context}
- Stack: Next.js 15, TypeScript, Tailwind, Supabase
- Notion workspace: "Acme Inc" -- main project DB = "Sprint Tasks"
- Timezone: UTC+8, prefer ISO dates
- Coding style: functional, no classes, short comments

## Communication style {#communication-style}
- Prefer bullet answers over paragraphs
- If uncertain, say "I'm not sure" rather than guessing

3. Save. This context persists across all AI Chat sessions until you edit it.
4. Pair with AI Agents: open the Agents panel in AI Chat, pick "Code assistant" for coding sessions or "Deep Research" for longer research tasks -- each agent loads on top of your Memory.

Raycast pick 3: TinyPNG extension + Hyper Key -- compress images without leaving the keyboard

1. Install the TinyPNG extension from the Raycast Store.
2. Get a free Tinify API key from tinify.com/developers (500 compressions/month free).
3. In the extension preferences, paste the API key.
4. In Raycast Settings -> Extensions -> TinyPNG, assign a Hyper Key shortcut: +C ("C" for compress).
5. Select one or more image files in Finder, press +C -> images are compressed in place and replaced.
6. To compress a single image right after a screenshot: use Raycast's Clipboard History command, select the screenshot entry, press CmdK (Show Actions) -> "Compress with TinyPNG".

Up next

• Notion Agents: Notion's new personal AI agent feature is still early, but the setup for connecting it to a specific database for "smart research capture" is taking shape -- we'll cover it when the setup guide is stable.
• Raycast v2 Focus sessions (not yet shipped in Beta): Focus blocks distracting apps and websites and is listed in the Raycast v2 roadmap -- the full setup walk-through will land here once it's out.
• Raycast Auto Quit + Focus combo: pairing the built-in Auto Quit app manager with a Focus session for a zero-distraction deep-work mode.