Need daily insights into user activity from your database? This tutorial shows how to build a user activity summary workflow in Needle that queries your database and delivers actionable insights.

Overview

The workflow connects to your database, analyzes user activity metrics, and generates daily summaries—transforming raw database queries into strategic product intelligence.

Key Actions

1. Scheduled Daily Trigger – Runs every morning to analyze yesterday's activity
2. Database Query – Fetches user activity data (logins, actions, features used)
3. AI Analysis – Identifies patterns, trends, and anomalies in user behavior
4. Insight Generation – Creates summary with key metrics and observations
5. Slack/Email Delivery – Sends report to product and growth teams

What You'll Need

• Database Access – PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, or other database Tip: Create a read-only user for security
• Activity Schema – Tables tracking user actions, logins, feature usage
• Slack Channel – For daily reports (e.g., #product-metrics)

How It Works

Every morning:

1. The workflow runs SQL queries to fetch yesterday's data:

   SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT user_id) AS active_users,
          COUNT(*) AS total_actions,
          feature_name,
          COUNT(*) AS feature_usage
   FROM user_activity
   WHERE DATE(created_at) = CURRENT_DATE - 1
   GROUP BY feature_name
   

2. Data retrieved includes:
   • Total active users (DAU)
   • New user signups
   • Feature usage breakdown
   • Top actions performed
   • Geographic distribution
3. AI analyzes the data to find:
   • Daily active users vs. 7-day average
   • Trending features (increased usage)
   • Declining features (decreased usage)
   • Unusual patterns or spikes
4. A summary is generated with sections:
   • 📊 Overview: DAU, change from average, new signups
   • 🔥 Trending: Features with highest growth
   • 📉 Declining: Features with reduced usage
   • 🌍 Geography: Top countries/regions
   • 💡 Insights: AI-detected patterns and recommendations
5. Report is posted to Slack with optional charts

Wrap-up

With this Needle workflow, product and growth teams get daily user activity intelligence without manual SQL queries or dashboard building—spotting trends, catching issues early, and making data-driven decisions. Perfect for SaaS products, marketplaces, and any platform tracking user engagement.