A simple, command line mail merge tool.
mailmerge
uses plain text files and the jinja2 template engine.
Table of Contents
- Quickstart
- Install
- Example
- Advanced template example
- HTML formatting
- Markdown formatting
- Attachments
- Contributing
- Acknowledgements
$ pip install mailmerge
$ mailmerge
mailmerge
will guide you through the process. Don't worry, it won't send real emails by default.
System-wide install.
$ pip install mailmerge
System-wide install requiring administrator privileges. Use this if you get a Permission denied
error.
$ sudo pip install mailmerge
Fedora package install.
$ sudo dnf install python3-mailmerge
This example will walk you through the steps for creating a template email, database and STMP server configuration. Then, it will show how to test it before sending real emails.
$ mailmerge --sample
Creating sample template email mailmerge_template.txt
Creating sample database mailmerge_database.csv
Creating sample config file mailmerge_server.conf
Edit these files, and then run mailmerge again
The defaults are set up for gmail. Be sure to change your username. If you use 2-factor authentication, you may need to set up a one-time password for use by an app. mailmerge
will give an error with a URL to the right GMail support page. Other configuration examples are in the comments of mailmerge_server.conf
.
[smtp_server]
host = smtp.gmail.com
port = 465
security = SSL/TLS
username = YOUR_USERNAME_HERE
The TO
, SUBJECT
, and FROM
fields are required. The remainder is the body of the message. Use {{ }}
to indicate customized parameters that will be read from the database. For example, {{email}}
will be filled in from the email
column of mailmerge_database.csv
.
TO: {{email}}
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Hi, {{name}},
Your number is {{number}}.
Notice that the first line is a header that matches the parameters in the template example, for example, {{email}}
.
Pro-tip: Add yourself as the first recipient. This is helpful for testing.
email,name,number
myself@mydomain.com,"Myself",17
bob@bobdomain.com,"Bob",42
First, dry run one email message. This will fill in the template fields of the first email message and print it to the terminal.
$ mailmerge --dry-run --limit 1
>>> message 0
TO: myself@mydomain.com
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Hi, Myself,
Your number is 17.
>>> sent message 0 DRY RUN
>>> Limit was 1 messages. To remove the limit, use the --no-limit option.
>>> This was a dry run. To send messages, use the --no-dry-run option.
If this looks correct, try a second dry run, this time with all recipients using the --no-limit
option.
$ mailmerge --dry-run --no-limit
>>> message 0
TO: myself@mydomain.com
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Hi, Myself,
Your number is 17.
>>> sent message 0 DRY RUN
>>> message 1
TO: bob@bobdomain.com
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Hi, Bob,
Your number is 42.
>>> sent message 1 DRY RUN
>>> This was a dry run. To send messages, use the --no-dry-run option.
We're being extra careful in this example to avoid sending spam, so next we'll send only one real email. Recall that you added yourself as the first email recipient.
$ mailmerge --no-dry-run --limit 1
>>> message 0
TO: myself@mydomain.com
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Hi, Myself,
Your number is 17.
>>> sent message 0
>>> Limit was 1 messages. To remove the limit, use the --no-limit option.
Now, check your email make sure the message went through. If everything looks OK, then it's time to send all the messages.
$ mailmerge --no-dry-run --no-limit
>>> message 0
TO: myself@mydomain.com
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Hi, Myself,
Your number is 17.
>>> sent message 0
>>> message 1
TO: bob@bobdomain.com
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Hi, Bob,
Your number is 42.
>>> sent message 1
This example will send progress reports to students. The template uses more of the advanced features of the jinja2 template engine documentation to customize messages to students.
TO: {{email}}
SUBJECT: EECS 280 Mid-semester Progress Report
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Dear {{name}},
This email contains our record of your grades EECS 280, as well as an estimated letter grade.
Project 1: {{p1}}
Project 2: {{p2}}
Project 3: {{p3}}
Midterm exam: {{midterm}}
At this time, your estimated letter grade is {{grade}}.
{% if grade == "C-" -%}
I am concerned that if the current trend in your scores continues, you will be on the border of the pass/fail line.
I have a few suggestions for the rest of the semester. First, it is absolutely imperative that you turn in all assignments. Attend lecture and discussion sections. Get started early on the programming assignments and ask for help. Finally, plan a strategy to help you prepare well for the final exam.
The good news is that we have completed about half of the course grade, so there is an opportunity to fix this problem. The other professors and I are happy to discuss strategies together during office hours.
{% elif grade in ["D+", "D", "D-", "E", "F"] -%}
I am writing because I am concerned about your grade in EECS 280. My concern is that if the current trend in your scores continues, you will not pass the course.
If you plan to continue in the course, I urge you to see your instructor in office hours to discuss a plan for the remainder of the semester. Otherwise, if you plan to drop the course, please see your academic advisor.
{% endif -%}
Again, we'll use the best practice of making yourself the first recipient, which is helpful for testing.
email,name,p1,p2,p3,midterm,grade
myself@mydomain.com,"My Self",100,100,100,100,A+
borderline@fixme.com,"Borderline Name",50,50,50,50,C-
failing@fixme.com,"Failing Name",0,0,0,0,F
Test one message without actually sending any email.
$ mailmerge --template progress_report_template.txt --database progress_report_database.csv
>>> message 0
TO: myself@mydomain.com
SUBJECT: EECS 280 Mid-semester Progress Report
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Dear My Self,
This email contains our record of your grades EECS 280, as well as an estimated letter grade.
Project 1: 100
Project 2: 100
Project 3: 100
Midterm exam: 100
At this time, your estimated letter grade is A+.
>>> sent message 0 DRY RUN
>>> Limit was 1 messages. To remove the limit, use the --no-limit option.
>>> This was a dry run. To send messages, use the --no-dry-run option.
Mailmerge supports HTML formatting.
This example will use HTML to format an email. Add Content-Type: text/html
just under the email headers, then begin your message with <html>
.
TO: {{email}}
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Content-Type: text/html
<html>
<body>
<p>Hi, {{name}},</p>
<p>Your number is {{number}}.</p>
<p>Sent by <a href="https://github.com/awdeorio/mailmerge">mailmerge</a></p>
</body>
</html>
This example shows how to provide both HTML and plain text versions in the same message. A user's mail reader can select either one.
TO: {{email}}
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="outer-boundary"
This is a MIME-encoded message. If you are seeing this, your mail
reader is old.
--outer-boundary
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Hi, {{name}},
Your number is {{number}}.
Sent by mailmerge https://github.com/awdeorio/mailmerge
--outer-boundary
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/related;
type="text/html"; start="<body@here>"; boundary="inner-boundary"
--inner-boundary
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-ID: <body@here>
<html>
<body>
<p>Hi, {{name}},</p>
<p>Your number is {{number}}.</p>
<p>Sent by <a href="https://github.com/awdeorio/mailmerge">mailmerge</a></p>
</body>
</html>
Mailmerge supports Markdown formatting by including the custom custom header Content-Type: text/markdown
in the message. Mailmerge will render the markdown to HTML, then include both HTML and plain text versions in a multiplart message. A recipient's mail reader can then select either format.
TO: {{email}}
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
CONTENT-TYPE: text/markdown
You can add:
- Emphasis, aka italics, with *asterisks*.
- Strong emphasis, aka bold, with **asterisks**.
- Combined emphasis with **asterisks and _underscores_**.
- Unordered lists like this one.
- Ordered lists with numbers:
1. Item 1
2. Item 2
- Preformatted text with `backticks`.
- How about some [hyperlinks](http://bit.ly/eecs485-wn19-p6)?
# This is a heading.
## And another heading.
Here's an image not attached with the email:
![python logo not attached](http://pluspng.com/img-png/python-logo-png-open-2000.png)
This example shows how to add attachments with a special ATTACHMENT
header.
TO: {{email}}
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
ATTACHMENT: file1.docx
ATTACHMENT: ../file2.pdf
ATTACHMENT: /z/shared/{{name}}_submission.txt
Hi, {{name}},
This email contains three attachments.
Pro-tip: Use Jinja to customize the attachments based on your database!
Dry run to verify attachment files exist. If an attachment filename includes a template, it's a good idea to dry run with the --no-limit
flag.
$ mailmerge
>>> message 0
TO: myself@mydomain.com
SUBJECT: Testing mailmerge
FROM: My Self <myself@mydomain.com>
Hi, Myself,
This email contains three attachments.
Pro-tip: Use Jinja to customize the attachments based on your database!
>>> encoding ascii
>>> attached /Users/awdeorio/Documents/test/file1.docx
>>> attached /Users/awdeorio/Documents/file2.pdf
>>> attached /z/shared/Myself_submission.txt
>>> sent message 0 DRY RUN
>>> This was a dry run. To send messages, use the --no-dry-run option.
Contributions from the community are welcome! Check out the guide for contributing.
Mailmerge is written by Andrew DeOrio awdeorio@umich.edu, http://andrewdeorio.com.