Dispatch

A command-line tool for sending parameterized emails

Usage

Generate a new email configuration with:

$ dispatch generate

The generate command will prompt for information and then create the following files:

• The configuration file is a JSON file containing the information needed to generate and send email: the sender's name, address, email server; the to, cc, and bcc fields; the subject line; and paths to the body and data files.
• The body file is a file containing the body of the email. It can optionally contain parameters of the form {varname} that will be substituted during dispatch. The body can be a single HTML file, a single text file, or both an HTML file and a text file for a multipart/alternative email.
• The data file is a CSV file containing the data for the emails to send. A header row is required: it should specify one column for each of the {varname} parameters present in the email body or sender/recipient addresses. The data file should then include one row for each email to be sent.

Once the emails are configured, send them with:

$ dispatch send <CONFIG_PATH>

The send command will prompt you for an email password and then send the emails.

Optionally, add the --dry-run flag to view the contents of the emails before sending them.

Installation

To build and install from source (requires Rust 1.60 or newer):

$ cargo install --path .

Configuration

Configuration File

The configuration file is a JSON file (called config.json by default). The file can have the following fields:

• username: The username to use for SMTP credentials when sending messages. Usually, this is your email address.
• subject: The subject line of the email.
• data_path: The path to the data file. This can be an absolute path or a relative path starting from the directory where the configuration file is stored.
• body_path: The path to the body file. This can be an absolute path or a relative path starting from the directory where the configuration file is stored.
• server (optional): The SMTP server to use. If none provided, smtp.gmail.com is used.
• from (optional): Who the email is from. This can be just an email address (name@example.com) or can have a name (Example Name <name@example.com>). Often, this is the same email address as username, but an alias may be used as well. If no from address is specificed, the username is used.
• reply_to (optional): The email address to use when a recipient replies to a message. Must be an email address, with or without a name.
• to (optional): The email address(es) for the "To" header of the email. Can be a single address or an array of addresses. Each address may have a name.
• cc (optional): The email address(es) for the "Cc" header of the email. Can be a single address or an array of addresses. Each address may have a name.
• bcc (optional): The email address(es) for the "Bcc" header of the email. Can be a single address or an array of addresses. Each address may have a name. or text. If none provided, html is used.
• related_content (optional): A list of related content (e.g. inline images) to include in the email.

The subject field (subject) and mailbox fields (from, reply_to, to, cc, bcc) of the configuration file file may include parameters of the form {varname}, to be substituted with values from the data file.

Example configuration file:

{
  "username": "name@example.com",
  "from": "Example Name <name@example.com>",
  "to": "{email}",
  "subject": "Hello",
  "data": "data.csv",
  "body": "body.html",
  "content_type": "html",
  "server": "smtp.gmail.com"
}

Body File

The body file is an HTML or text file specifying the body of the email. The body file may include parameters of the form {varname}, to be substituted with values from the data file.

When using "content_type": "html", newlines in the body file are converted to <br/>.

Example body file:

Hi {name},

This is an example email.

Data File

The data file is a CSV file specifying how to parameterize each email.

• A header row is required. The column names in the header row should correspond to the parameters in the configuration file and in the body file.
• There should be one additional row for each email to send, specifying what values to use for each of the parameters.

Example data file:

email,name
person1@example.com,Person 1
person2@example.com,Person 2

Related Content (optional)

To add an inline image, add the following to related_content in the configuration file, giving each a content_id of your choice.

"related_content": [
  {
    "content_id": "chosen_image_id",
    "mime_type": "image/png",
    "path": "path_to_image.png",
  }
]

Add the image into the HTML body of your email with:

<img src=cid:chosen_image_id />

Notes

• For Google email addresses with 2-factor authentication, you'll need to create and use an App Password to use Dispatch.
• This tool used to be a Python script. If you're still looking for that version of the tool, you can find it tagged as v0.1.0.

Authors

• Brian Yu

License

• GNU GPLv3