CandyMail - Email Automation for Node.js

Candymail makes it easy to trigger and send multi-step email sequences in Node.js using a single JSON file. Built for bootstrappers, indie makers with special care.

New in 1.0.8

Add HTML Templates
Unsubscribe Option added to email footer

Features

Portable: Create, share and reuse email marketing strategies between different products
Simple to use: Time to send, subject, body of the emails can all be set up in a single JSON file
Free: No need to pay for monthly Mailchimp etc. payments for email automation plans

Use Cases

Build better onboarding by guiding the user through the app with paced training emails
Reduce churn by sending exciting community content every few days
Convert more customers to paid plans by offering discounts based on the user's usage activity

Installation

Install candymail using yarn:

yarn add candymail

Or npm:

npm install --save candymail

Getting Started

Configuration

Create a candymail.automation.json file on the root level of your project.

Here's a sample:

{
  "automations": [
    {
      "name": "automation1",
      "description": "tell users about pro features",
      "trigger_name": "proplan",
      "emails": [
        {
          "trigger": "time",
          "sendDelay": 1,
          "subject": "Have you tried Feature A?",
          "body": "Feature A will let you do ABC things. <p>We can also do HTML!</p>",
          "from": "abc@gmail.com"
        },
        {
          "trigger": "time",
          "sendDelay": 3,
          "subject": "Try our feature B!",
          "body": "We released feature B just last week and can't wait for you to try it out :)",
          "from": "abc@gmail.com"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Supported Email Providers

Gmail
Looking for more support? Send me a message.

Simple Usage

const path = require('path')
const candymail = require('candymail')

const automationPath = path.resolve('candymail.automation.json')

candymail.init(automationPath, {
  senderEmail: **GMAILEMAIL**,
  senderPassword: **GMAILPASSWORD**
})

candymail.start()

const user = 'howivey729@chatdays.com'
candymail.runAutomation('automation1', user)

console.log('Emails added to queue', candymail.getAllScheduledMessages())

Usage with Express Server

const path = require('path')
const candymail = require('candymail')
const express = require('express')
const app = express()
const port = 3000

const automationPath = path.resolve('examples', 'candymail.automation.json')
candymail.init(automationPath, {
  senderEmail: process.env.MAIL_USER,
  senderPassword: process.env.MAIL_PASSWORD,
  hostingURL: 'http://localhost:3000',
})

candymail.start()

const someConditionSatisfiedByUser = () => {
  const user = 'mewice9875@chomagor.com'
  candymail.runAutomation('automation1', user)
}

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.send(
    'Welcome to Candymail Demo. Go to /trigger to trigger the `automation1` email automation. Be sure to replace email with yours in the `someConditionSatisfiedByUser` method to be able to view the messages.'
  )
})

app.get('/trigger', (req, res) => {
  someConditionSatisfiedByUser()
  res.send(candymail.getAllScheduledMessages())
})

app.get('/unsubscribe', (req, res) => {
  const { email } = req.query
  candymail.unsubscribeUser(email)
  res.send(`Sent a unsubscribe request for ${email}`)
})

app.listen(port, () => {
  console.log(`Learn about our new features at http://localhost:${port}/trigger`)
})

Note: Having problems with Gmail? Enable Allow less secure apps in Google Account settings here.

Automation File Options

Property	Required	Description
trigger	No	Name of the trigger (Not usable)
sendDelay	Yes	Delay after which the email will be sent (in hours). From time 0, not from the last email
subject	Yes	Subject of the email
body	Yes	Body of the email: HTML or Text
from	Yes	Sender's Email Address

Methods

init (automationPath, config)

Initializes automations specified in the automation path and sets the configuration with sender's email and password.

automationPath: Absolute path to the candymail.automation.json file. Example: path.resolve('example', 'candymail.automation.json') if the file is located at *ROOT*/example/candymail.automation.json.
config: {senderEmail -> Gmail Address of the sender, senderPassword -> Gmail Password of the sender }

start()

Starts the internal timer that will send emails at appropriate times.

runAutomation(automationName)

Triggers an automation based on name specified in the candymail.automation.json file. Needs candymail.start() to have been called.

automationName: Name of automation in candymail.automation.json. Example: 'automation1'.

getAllScheduledMessages()

Get the list of all scheduled messages.

getScheduledMessagesAtTime(time)

Get the list of scheduled messages for a particular time.

time: Time should be specified in this format: MM/DD/YYYY:HH. For Example: 8/20/2020:2.

clearAllScheduledMessages()

Clears all scheduled messages.

stop()

Stops the internal timer. Can be restarted with candymail.start()

destroy()

Destroys the internal timer.

unsubscribeUser(email)

Unsubscribes a user's email. No further emails will be sent out to the user.

Notes

Only the hour value will be used in the cron, minutes will be ignored. +1 hour at 11:58 is 12.
Object keys: MM/DD/YYYY:HH. Hours are specified in 24-hour format.
There is currently no Unsubscribe option in the emails. Being worked on right now.
Only supports GMail. More providers being added right now.

Looking to contribute?

Read the CONTRIBUTING.md and pick up issues to work on from the Project Roadmap here.

Got Feedback? Hit me up at sunnyashiin@gmail.com
Now available for freelance work.

Omkaragrawal / candymail