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##Looks like we found a thief monkey By the way, I liked the trick how you reached till here. You have a good sense of humor. You will improve a lot if you join our course with this passion.
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00:00:00 In this lesson, I'll teach you how to use NodeMailer, a free module for Node.js applications that allows for easy email sending.
00:00:08 And of course, we'll integrate it with our workflows.
00:00:11 So, let's run npm install nodemailer.
00:00:14 I'll put that straight within our terminal.
00:00:16 And to make NodeMailer work, we'll use our Gmail account as our email transporter.
00:00:21 So, head over to your Gmail account, go to Settings in your profile, and for this to work, if you haven't already, you'll have to turn on the two-step
00:00:30 verification for your email.
00:00:31 It's like an extra layer of security, it's good to have it anyway, but in this case you'll have to have it for NodeMailer to work.
00:00:38 so just follow the steps to turn it on, but if you're a good developer that cares about security, I believe it's already on for you.
00:00:44 Then, once you enable it, you select your account and click Manage Your Account.
00:00:49 Right here on the homepage, search for App Passwords and click the first link under Security.
00:00:56 Then, enter the app name.
00:00:58 In this case, I'll choose Subscription Tracker.
00:01:01 and click create, and then just copy the password you were given.
00:01:04 Back within your editor, head over to .env.development.local, and at the bottom, add a new node mailer comment, and here we can say email password is equal to,
00:01:18 and then you can paste the password that you just got.
00:01:21 And here you can also export the email password.
00:01:24 Then let's create a new configuration file.
00:01:27 I think you can see how useful having this structure is.
00:01:30 And I'll call it node-mailer.js Here we can configure a transporter using Gmail as a service by saying const transporter is equal to node-mailer.createTransport
00:01:51 And make sure to import node-mailer right at the top from node mailer, like this.
00:02:00 Next, we can define service as Gmail and then auth equal to user will be equal to your account email.
00:02:09 In my case, it'll be javascriptmastery00atgmail.com.
00:02:14 Choose the Gmail account that you enabled your two-step verification on and through which you created your app password.
00:02:22 It has to be the same one.
00:02:24 And then right here, we can put the pass, which will be equal to email underscore password coming from dot slash env.js.
00:02:33 Now, we can create a common reusable HTML templates for all different kinds of reminders.
00:02:39 To create it, create a new folder called utils, like utility functions, and within utils, create a new file called email dash template dot js.
00:02:52 I've just used v0 to quickly generate a template, it's basic HTML and CSS, and I told it to include all the important things,
00:03:00 such as username, email, subscription date, and all that good stuff.
00:03:04 So I'll leave it either below this lesson, or within the assets part of the GitHub Readme of this project.
00:03:10 So just copy from there and then paste it here.
00:03:14 You'll notice that it is a single function called the generateEmailTemplate, which is basically just a div with a lot of CSS styles,
00:03:21 but then it mentions the subscription name, the plan name, the user name, and all the important stuff that we pass through it.
00:03:29 We also have different templates like 7 days before, 5 days before, 2 days before, and then we call the actual function and generate the subject and the
00:03:38 body of that specific email.
00:03:40 Once again, nothing special is happening here, we're just returning HTML.
00:03:44 Now, let's put it to use.
00:03:45 Let's write the actual logic that'll send the reminder email.
00:03:49 We can do it within a new file within the utils folder, and let's call it send-email.
00:03:55 email.js.
00:03:57 Within here, we can export const sendReminderEmail, which will be equal to an async function, it'll look something like this,
00:04:07 and as the first and only parameter, it'll accept an object, so we can destructure it, and it'll have the to property, who we're sending the email to,
00:04:16 the type property, and the subscription.
00:04:22 So now that we have destructured those, we can say if there is no to, or if there is no type, we can simply throw a new error and say something like missing
00:04:35 required parameters.
00:04:39 If it exists, we can create a new template by calling the email templates.
00:04:47 and calling the find() method on it, where we're going to look into the type that we have, and then based on the t.label,
00:04:56 we'll compare it with the type that we have, And that'll be the template we'll use for this specific reminder.
00:05:03 If it's five days until, we'll find that in the email templates and we'll save five days reminder.
00:05:09 If it's seven days, it'll be seven.
00:05:10 If it's one, it'll be one.
00:05:12 Once we have the template, we can check if we have it.
00:05:15 If we don't, we can say invalid email type.
00:05:20 And finally, we can form an object containing the full user info.
00:05:25 I'll call it mail info, username, is subscription.user.name.
00:05:36 Next, we're going to have a subscription name, which will be equal to subscription.name.
00:05:44 Let's spell it properly.
00:05:47 After that, we're going to have the renewal date, which will be equal to dayjs subscription.renewaldate And I'm gonna even format it to MMM DYYYY.
00:06:08 This is just a format where it'll say something like January 1st, 2030, or something like that.
00:06:14 We're gonna also have a plan name, so that'll be the subscription.name.
00:06:20 We also have the price, and it'll be equal to, let's format it, subscription, dot currency, after that, subscription dot price,
00:06:35 and then finally, in parentheses, we can render the subscription dot frequency.
00:06:44 So it's going to say something like USD 10 monthly.
00:06:51 And we can also render a payment method, which will be equal to subscription dot payment method.
00:07:00 Perfect.
00:07:02 Finally, let's form the actual message by saying const message is equal to template dot generate body, and we'll generate the mail info.
00:07:15 And finally, there is the subject of that email, which will be equal to template.generateSubject.
00:07:23 We'll pass the mail info.
00:07:25 And finally, we can form the final mail options by saying const mailOptions is equal to, from will be equal to the account email,
00:07:37 to will be equal to to, subject will be equal to subject, And finally, HTML will be equal to the message that is coming from the template.
00:07:51 Oh, and let's make sure that we know where this account email is coming from.
00:07:55 It has to be the same as the one that we have chosen right here in node mailer config.
00:08:00 So we could actually separate it from here and export it by saying export const account email is equal to, and now I can copy this string,
00:08:12 put it here.
00:08:14 So I can refer to the account email and then we're exporting it.
00:08:22 And back in the send email, we can import this account email coming from config-node-mailer.js.
00:08:30 Finally, from the node mailer, we'll also import our instance of the transporter with our configuration.
00:08:40 And now that we have all the information, we can say transporter.sendmail with all the mail options.
00:08:50 And as the second parameter, we're going to get access to the error or the information for that email.
00:08:56 And if there is an error, we will simply return a console log.
00:09:04 and say error, as well as error sending email.
00:09:08 Else, we will simply console log email sent, and I'll also add the info response of that email.
00:09:16 Now, where are we gonna call this send reminder email function from?
00:09:21 Well, we're gonna call it from the workflow controller.
00:09:24 So head over into the workflow controller, and remember this comment.
00:09:28 We're finally back right here.
00:09:31 I'll simply say await send reminder email make sure to import it from utils sendemail.js and to it we have to pass a couple of things it'll be an object
00:09:46 of the to property and we want to send it to subscription.user.email so whoever created that subscription And we have to pass the type of the subscription,
00:09:57 which will be equal to reminder.label.subscription.
00:10:01 So either five days until, seven days until, three days until, and so on.
00:10:06 Let's open up our terminal to see if we have any errors, because we have modified a lot of code.
00:10:11 Looks like we have one error in workflow controller line 49. And that is right here where I added a weight.
00:10:20 To be able to add a weight right here, I have to make the function I'm calling the weight within async.
00:10:27 So let me add it there.
00:10:31 And that fixed the error.
00:10:32 Now we have another error in sendEmail.js.
00:10:36 So if I head over here, we're importing the transporter.
00:10:41 But are we actually exporting it?
00:10:44 Oh, looks like we're not.
00:10:45 So let's run export default transporter.
00:10:49 And with that, that second error is now gone.
00:10:52 Subscription Tracker API is running and we're connected to the database.
00:10:57 So, back in our HTTP client, let's try to create a new subscription.
00:11:02 This time, I'll do it for Amazon Prime in a currency of USD, category entertainment, and feel free to test it with different days right here.
00:11:12 I'll choose a date that is 7 days from my current date.
00:11:17 You can of course choose a date that is 7 days from your date.
00:11:21 And if I now click Send, of course we get a 201. We've gotten good at getting those and not errors.
00:11:27 We get back the subscription that we created with automatically calculated renewal date.
00:11:33 And we got a new workflow that we ran.
00:11:36 Oh, it looks like I have another reference error.
00:11:39 It is happening within the workflow controller.
00:11:41 I haven't defined a subscription.
00:11:44 So let me quickly head over into the workflow controller.
00:11:47 And here, it looks like I'm referring to a subscription, but I don't really have access to it within this trigger reminder function.
00:11:55 So when we're calling this trigger reminder, and we're calling it right here, Maybe as the third parameter I need to pass the actual subscription.
00:12:05 Here we do have it, as you can see.
00:12:10 Then I can accept it as the third parameter, subscription, and now we should have access to it.
00:12:17 What about the reminder?
00:12:18 I don't think we have that either, and it's not like we can very easily pass it.
00:12:23 But this reminder label is basically just this label, which we're already passing through.
00:12:29 And this label has to exactly match the one within email templates, where it says seven days before reminder, five days before reminder,
00:12:39 two days before reminder, and one day before reminder.
00:12:42 So that's 7521, and then we have the final.
00:12:45 I think I can even get rid of this final.
00:12:47 We can just keep it 7521. And it has to match exactly.
00:12:52 So let's copy it and let's compare it.
00:12:55 Here I have reminder, days before days before, but actually we have to start with the number, then days before, and then finally reminder like this.
00:13:07 So that's gonna then look something like this, two days before reminder.
00:13:13 Perfect.
00:13:14 So now we're passing that as a label.
00:13:16 So the type can be just label, and then we can pass the entire subscription equal to subscription.
00:13:23 We need it to send that email reminder.
00:13:25 So, let's test it once again by creating another subscription.
00:13:29 And take a look at this.
00:13:31 Sleeping until reminder five days before.
00:13:35 Email sent.
00:13:38 Okay.
00:13:38 And we get the ID of the email.
00:13:41 Beautiful.
00:13:42 Now, of course, this email will get to the email of the user that created the subscription.
00:13:48 So if you want to know which one is that, you can copy the ID of the user that created the subscription, and then go to get localhost api v1 users,
00:13:59 and then paste over that user ID, and you'll get your email right here.
00:14:04 And check this out.
00:14:05 What a nice caption right here.
00:14:07 Reminder, your Amazon Prime subscription renews in 7 days.
00:14:11 Hello Adrian, your Amazon Prime subscription is set to renew.
00:14:15 Plan, price, payment method.
00:14:18 If you'd like to make changes or cancel the subscription, visit your account settings before the renewal date or contact our team.
00:14:26 Of course, none of these links are real, but you get the idea of what is possible by creating your own API, now with workflows allowing you to trigger
00:14:36 and send emails to people that want to get reminded.
00:14:40 Now, let's try to make another subscription, but this one will have a closer renewal date.
00:14:46 so we're not looking to trigger the seven-day reminder, but maybe the two-day or one-day reminder.
00:14:51 Right now, it's February 7th for me, so I'm gonna make it seem like I subscribed on the 9th of January, which means that there should only be two days
00:15:02 left until the renewal on February 9th.
00:15:04 You can change it depending on your current date and time.
00:15:07 But before we trigger it, there's just one fix that we have to add in our workflow controller, and that is right here where we're triggering the reminder.
00:15:17 Currently, if we're only two days away, what would happen is we're gonna go into this for loop, and we're gonna trigger all of the reminders in the row,
00:15:27 7, 5, 3, 2, 1. But instead, if we're already so close to the renewal date, we have to have an if statement right here, and check.
00:15:36 If now is same, reminderDate day.
00:15:41 Only if that is the case, then trigger this reminder.
00:15:45 Oh, and if I'm not mistaken, instead of using the word now, we can just call the day.js as a function, because that will render the current date and time.
00:15:54 and then we're checking whether currently is the same as the reminder date.
00:15:59 Only then send it.
00:16:00 Now, let's trigger that new subscription that has a renewal date that is only two days away.
00:16:06 There we go, we get a 201 created with new subscription data and a new workflow run ID.
00:16:13 Back in the terminal, we now only see one email sent instead of like seven.
00:16:18 And most importantly, take a look at this.
00:16:21 Email caption changed to a bold saying, final reminder, Amazon Prime renews tomorrow.
00:16:29 Hey Adrian, your subscription is set to renew on February 8th, one days from today.
00:16:35 Beautiful.
00:16:37 So now that we know that our workflows are flowing, emails are sending, and subscriptions are getting created and tracked,
00:16:45 ready for us to cancel them if we don't want to keep paying.
00:16:48 Which means that our app has done its job.
00:16:52 In the next lesson, let's deploy and host it to your own virtual private server, so you have complete flexibility over how you want to host it and how
00:17:02 you want to let other people access it.
00:17:04 Who knows, maybe even put it behind the paywall and start making some money from it.
00:17:09 The possibilities are endless.
00:17:12 But enough talking, let's deploy it on a VPS.