12 Days Of Digitalocean (day 12) - Sending Confirmation Emails With Resend

4 weeks ago

ARTICLE AD BOX

Welcome to nan past clip of our 12 Days of DigitalOcean series! We’ve recreation a agelong way, building an Email-Based Receipt Processing Service that extracts receipt specifications from https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/setting-up-postmark-for-receipts utilizing DigitalOcean’s GenAI Agent, securely stores attachments successful DigitalOcean Spaces, and saves nan extracted accusation successful Google Sheets.

Today, we’ll adhd nan past touch—sending confirmation emails backmost to nan sender pinch nan receipt details, attachment links, and a nexus to nan Google Spreadsheet. This past measurement ties everything together, ensuring that users get contiguous feedback that their receipts personification been successfully processed.

🚀 What You’ll Learn

By nan extremity of this tutorial, you’ll cognize really to:

Use nan Resend API to nonstop confirmation emails programmatically.
Securely negociate delicate credentials utilizing business variables.
Format and nonstop transactional emails pinch receipt details, attachment links, and spreadsheet URLs.
Test and troubleshoot a complete email processing workflow.

🛠 What You’ll Need

If you’d for illustration to build along, we presume that you’ve followed Day 11: Save Receipt Data and Attachments successful Google Sheets and already have:

A deployed Flask app for processing receipt emails.
Google Sheets and DigitalOcean Spaces integration group up.

If you’re conscionable consenting successful learning really to merge Resend for sending confirmation emails, you’ll need:

A Resend account: Sign up astatine Resend.
An API key: Generate it from your Resend dashboard.

Step 1: Create a Resend Account and Get nan API Key

To nonstop emails programmatically, we’ll usage Resend, a developer-friendly API for sending transactional emails. It simplifies sending emails truthful you don’t personification to wrestle pinch mounting up an email server, managing SMTP configurations, aliases worrying astir spam filters.

First, spell to Resend and mobility up for a free account. Once logged in, navigate to nan API Keys conception of nan dashboard and make a caller API key.
Give your API cardinal a descriptive name, for illustration Receipt Processor App, and group its permission to Full Access.
Copy nan API Key: Your API cardinal will beryllium shown only once—copy it and support it safe. You’ll petition it successful nan adjacent measurement to authenticate your app pinch Resend.

Step 2: Update Your Environment Variables

Now that we personification nan Resend API key, let’s prevention it arsenic an business adaptable successful DigitalOcean, conscionable for illustration we’ve been doing passim this series.

For nan Resend integration, we petition to prevention 2 business variables:

RESEND_API_KEY: The API cardinal you generated successful Step 1, which authenticates your app pinch Resend.
RESEND_EMAIL_FROM: The sender email reside you’ll usage to nonstop confirmation emails. This should beryllium an reside verified successful your Resend account.

To adhd these variables, recreation these steps:

Head complete to your DigitalOcean App Platform dashboard, find your Flask app, and navigate to nan Settings tab. Under Environment Variables, adhd nan 2 variables:
- Key: RESEND_API_KEY
  - Value: Paste nan API cardinal you generated successful Step 1.
- Key: RESEND_EMAIL_FROM
  - Value: Enter a verified sender email reside from your Resend account.
Save your changes to make nan Resend API cardinal disposable to your Flask app, which we will update next.

Step 3: Install nan Resend Python Library

Next, we’ll instal nan Resend Python room to grip nan API for us. It keeps your codification cleanable and avoids dealing pinch earthy HTTP requests. Run this successful your terminal:

pip install resend

Step 4: Update requirements.txt

Instead of editing requirements.txt by hand, usage pip frost to database each installed limitations pinch nonstop versions. Run this:

pip frost > requirements.txt

This updates requirements.txt pinch everything your app needs, including resend.

Step 5: Write nan Function to Send Emails

Now it’s clip to adhd nan logic for sending confirmation emails. Think of it for illustration emailing a friend to fto them cognize their package has arrived—only here, it’s for receipts.

We’ll represent a send_confirmation_email usability that takes nan recipient’s email, receipt details, attachment links, and Google Spreadsheet URL. Using Resend, it will format this into an email and nonstop it. Here’s nan function:

def send_confirmation_email(to_email, receipt_data, attachment_urls, spreadsheet_url): """ Send a confirmation email pinch receipt specifications and attachment URLs. """ email_from = os.getenv('RESEND_EMAIL_FROM') taxable = "Receipt Processed Successfully" email_body = f""" <h1>Receipt Confirmation</h1> Your receipt has been successfully processed. Here are nan details: <ul> <li>Vendor: {receipt_data.get('vendor', 'N/A')}</li> <li>Amount: {receipt_data.get('amount', 'N/A')}</li> <li>Currency: {receipt_data.get('currency', 'N/A')}</li> <li>Date: {receipt_data.get('date', 'N/A')}</li> </ul> Attachments: <ul> {''.join(f'<li><a href="{url["url"]}">{url["file_name"]}</a></li>' for url in attachment_urls)} </ul> You tin position nan processed accusation successful nan spreadsheet: <a href="{spreadsheet_url}">Google Spreadsheet</a> """ try: resend.Emails.send({ "from": email_from, "to": to_email, "subject": subject, "html": email_body }) logging.info(f"Confirmation email sent to {to_email}.") except Exception as e: logging.error(f"Failed to nonstop confirmation email: {e}")

Step 5: Deploy to DigitalOcean

To deploy nan updated Flask app, recreation nan steps from Day 7: Building and Deploying nan Email-Based Receipt Processor. Here’s a speedy summary:

Push Your Updated Code to GitHub: After making nan basal changes to your Flask app, perpetrate and push nan updated codification to GitHub. This will trigger an automatic deployment successful DigitalOcean’s App Platform.
git add . git perpetrate -m "Add Resend integration for confirmation emails" git push guidelines main
Monitor Deployment: You tin measurement nan advancement successful nan Deployments conception of your app’s dashboard.
Verify Your Deployment: After nan deployment completes, navigate to your app’s nationalist URL and proceedings its functionality. You tin too cheque nan runtime logs successful nan dashboard to corroborate that nan app started successfully.
Check Runtime Logs: If point isn’t moving arsenic expected, usage nan Runtime Logs tab successful nan App Platform dashboard to debug runtime issues. Look for immoderate errors related to nan Resend API aliases different app components.

Step 5: Test nan Entire Workflow

Now that your app is afloat configured and ready, it’s clip to proceedings nan afloat workflow. We’ll guarantee that nan email assemblage is processed, attachments are decoded and uploaded to DigitalOcean Spaces, receipt specifications and attachment URLs are saved successful Google Sheets, and a confirmation email is sent to nan sender.

Here’s really you tin proceedings measurement by step:

Send a Test Email: Send an email to Postmark pinch a matter assemblage and an attachment. If you’re unsure really to configure Postmark, cheque Day 8: Connecting Postmark to Your Flask App, wherever we walked done mounting up Postmark to guardant emails to your app.
Check Postmark Activity JSON: In nan Postmark dashboard, navigate to nan Activity tab. Locate nan email you sent and guarantee that nan JSON payload includes nan matter assemblage and Base64-encoded attachment data. This confirms Postmark is correctly forwarding nan email accusation to your app, arsenic we group up successful Day 8.
Monitor nan Logs: Check nan runtime logs successful your DigitalOcean App Platform dashboard to guarantee nan app processes nan JSON payload. You should spot logs showing that receipt specifications were extracted and attachments were uploaded to DigitalOcean Spaces. You tin entree nan runtime logs successful nan Logs tab of nan DigitalOcean App Platform dashboard. If you’re not acquainted pinch DigitalOcean logs, we explored this during Day 9: Automating Receipt Parsing withDigitalOcean’s GenAI Agent.
Verify Spaces Upload: Visit your DigitalOcean Space to corroborate that nan files were uploaded successfully. You should spot nan attachments successful your bucket arsenic configured successful Day 10: Storing Attachments successful DigitalOcean Spaces. If everything went arsenic expected, your attachment URLs will beryllium accessible.
Check Google Sheets: Open your Google Sheet and corroborate that a caller connection pinch receipt specifications and attachment URLs has been added, arsenic we group up connected Day 11: Saving Receipt Details successful Google Sheets. The connection should include:
- Vendor, amount, currency, and time extracted from nan email body.
- Comma-separated URLs for nan uploaded attachments successful nan past column.
Verify nan Confirmation Email: Finally, cheque nan inbox of nan sender’s email reside to guarantee nan confirmation email was received. This email should contain:
- The extracted receipt specifications (vendor, amount, currency, and date).
- Links to nan uploaded attachments successful DigitalOcean Spaces.
- A nexus to nan Google Spreadsheet wherever nan receipt accusation is logged.

Troubleshooting

If nan workflow doesn’t activity arsenic expected, coming are a less troubleshooting steps to follow:

Check nan Resend Emails Dashboard for Errors: Visit nan Resend dashboard to spot if immoderate errors occurred while sending nan confirmation email.
Verify Environment Variables: Make judge nan API cardinal (RESEND_API_KEY) and sender email (RESEND_EMAIL_FROM) are correctly configured successful your business variables connected nan DigitalOcean App Platform dashboard.
Inspect DigitalOcean Runtime Logs: Open nan Runtime Logs tab successful your DigitalOcean App Platform dashboard to cheque for errors while processing nan email aliases uploading attachments. These logs tin proviso adjuvant insights, peculiarly for interactions pinch Postmark aliases Resend.
Review Postmark Activity: In Postmark’s Activity tab, corroborate that nan proceedings email was decently forwarded to your Flask app. If location are immoderate issues, Postmark will show errors related to forwarding aliases configuration problems.

🎁 Wrap-Up

Congratulations! You’ve successfully completed nan 12 Days of DigitalOcean bid and built a afloat functional Email-Based Receipt Processing Service.

Today, you:

Integrated nan Resend API for sending transactional emails.
Configured business variables to securely negociate delicate credentials.
Sent confirmation emails pinch receipt details, attachment links, and a spreadsheet URL.
Tested nan afloat workflow from email submission to past confirmation.

By adding confirmation emails, you’ve wrapped up a task that processes emails, extracts details, stores attachments, and keeps everything organized successful Google Sheets. It’s user-friendly, practical, and caller to lick real-world problems.

📚 The 12 Days of DigitalOcean

This marks nan extremity of nan 12 Days of DigitalOcean series. Over nan past 12 days, we’ve built 2 real-world applications, 1 measurement astatine a time. Along nan way, you’ve utilized devices for illustration DigitalOcean’s Serverless Functions, App Platform, Spaces Object Storage, PostgreSQL, DigitalOcean GenAI, Twilio, Google Sheets API, Postmark, PaperTrail, and Resend. Each information came together to style point greater than nan sum of its parts.

Here’s a speedy recap of what you’ve built:

🎂 Days 1–6: Build a Birthday Reminder Service

This app tracks birthdays and sends SMS reminders automatically. It’s lightweight, serverless, and easy to maintain.

Day 1: Set Up a PostgreSQL Database
Create a database to shop relationship details.
Day 2: Connect to PostgreSQL pinch Python
Securely nexus to your database and fetch data.
Day 3: Check Birthdays and Send SMS Notifications
Use Twilio to notify users astir upcoming birthdays.
Day 4: Deploy to DigitalOcean Functions
Deploy your app to nan unreality pinch DigitalOcean Functions.
Day 5: Automate Daily Reminders pinch Triggers
Schedule reminders to tally each clip automatically.
Day 6: Set Up External Logging
Monitor and troubleshoot your app pinch Papertrail.

By Day 6, you personification a afloat automated activity moving successful nan cloud. It conscionable works.

📧 Days 7–12: Build an Email Receipt Processor

This app handles emailed receipts, extracts nan needed details, and organizes everything successful a database.

Day 7: Build and Deploy a Flask App
Set up a lightweight app to process receipt emails.
Day 8: Integrate Postmark for Email Processing
Forward emails to your app for processing.
Day 9: Extract and Clean Data pinch DigitalOcean’s GenAI
Use GenAI to extract strategy accusation from email content.
Day 10: Configure DigitalOcean Spaces for Secure Storage
Store email attachments securely pinch entity storage.
Day 11: Save Receipt Data to Google Sheets
Organize strategy accusation successful a spreadsheet for easy access.
Day 12: Send Confirmation Emails Notify users astir successfully processed receipts.

By Day 12, you’ve built a complete instrumentality that handles receipts end-to-end.

What You’ve Learned

Storing and Managing Data: You utilized PostgreSQL for strategy accusation retention and Google Sheets for easy, sharable accusation logging.
Automating Workflows: With DigitalOcean Functions and scheduling triggers, you automated processes and made your apps tally for illustration clockwork.
Adding Intelligence to Your Apps: By integrating DigitalOcean’s GenAI, you brought intelligent accusation extraction and connection into your workflows, making your apps smarter and overmuch capable.
Handling Files Securely: You worked pinch DigitalOcean Spaces to shop and negociate files successful a reliable, scalable way.
Enhancing Apps pinch APIs: APIs for illustration Twilio, Postmark, and Resend brought functionality for illustration SMS notifications, email forwarding, and confirmation emails to your apps.
Debugging and Monitoring: Using devices for illustration Papertrail, you learned to debug and show your apps effectively, keeping them moving smoothly.

What’s next

This is conscionable nan beginning—what you’ve learned coming tin beryllium applied to countless different projects. Here are a less ways to support going:

Join nan reside connected DigitalOcean’s Discord to nexus pinch different developers, banal what you’ve built, and get inspired.
Explore overmuch successful our tutorial room for overmuch ideas and projects.

If you recreation along, I’d emotion to spot what you create—feel free to banal your advancement aliases feedback pinch maine connected Twitter.

Keep it simple. Build point useful. Happy building! 🚀