Formatted emails

backend/.env.example

@@ -6,12 +6,22 @@ DB_PASSWORD=password
 DB_HOST=hostname
 DB_PORT=port
 
-# Email server configuration with AWS SES, can be left as placeholders if not sending emails
+# Email configuration
+DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL=email
+# AWS SES for production, can be left as placeholders in development
 AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY_ID=access_key_id
 AWS_SES_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=secret_access_key
 AWS_SES_REGION_NAME=region_name
 AWS_SES_REGION_ENDPOINT=region_endpoint
-DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL=email
+# SMTP for development, can also be left as placeholders if SEND_EMAILS is False
+SMTP_HOST=host
+SMTP_PORT=port
+SMTP_HOST_USER=user
+SMTP_HOST_PASSWORD=password
+# Secret key for authorization into the Next.js email template renderer
+# Must be the same as the one in the frontend .env file
+# Can be left as a placeholder for development
+EMAIL_BRIDGE_SECRET=secret
 
 # The URL of the main site, used for generating links (no trailing slash)
 BASE_URL=https://example.com

backend/api/account/views.py

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 
 import bcrypt
 from device_detector import DeviceDetector
-from django.core.mail import send_mail
 from django.db import transaction
 from django.db.models import Q
 from rest_framework.response import Response
@@ -30,15 +29,16 @@
     ACCOUNT_COOKIE_NAME,
     AUTHED_PWD_RESET_EXP_SECONDS,
     LONG_SESS_EXP_SECONDS,
-    SEND_EMAILS,
     SESS_EXP_SECONDS,
     ThrottleScopes,
 )
 from api.utils import (
+    EmailTemplateKey,
     MessageOutputSerializer,
     check_rate_limit,
     delete_session_cookie,
     prune_account_sessions,
+    send_templated_email,
 )
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("api")
@@ -244,14 +244,11 @@ def start_authed_password_reset(request):
     )
     logger.debug("Authed password reset code for %s: %s", user.email, reset_code)
 
-    if SEND_EMAILS:
-        send_mail(
-            subject="Plancake - Password Reset Code",
-            message=f"Your password reset code is: {reset_code}.\n\nNot you? You should change your password immediately to protect your account.",
-            from_email=None,  # Use the default from settings
-            recipient_list=[user.email],
-            fail_silently=False,
-        )
+    send_templated_email(
+        to_email=user.email,
+        template_key=EmailTemplateKey.PASSWORD_RESET_CODE,
+        context={"code": reset_code},
+    )
 
     return Response(
         {"message": ["An email has been sent to your address with the reset code."]},

backend/api/auth/views.py

@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 
 import bcrypt
-from django.core.mail import send_mail
 from django.db import transaction
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 
@@ -31,19 +30,19 @@
 )
 from api.settings import (
     ACCOUNT_COOKIE_NAME,
-    BASE_URL,
     EMAIL_CODE_EXP_SECONDS,
     PWD_RESET_EXP_SECONDS,
-    SEND_EMAILS,
     ThrottleScopes,
 )
 from api.utils import (
+    EmailTemplateKey,
     MessageOutputSerializer,
     check_rate_limit,
     delete_session_cookie,
     get_client_ip_address,
     get_client_user_agent,
     get_session,
+    send_templated_email,
     set_session_cookie,
 )
 
@@ -83,14 +82,11 @@ def register(request):
     # Check if the email already exists
     if UserAccount.objects.filter(email=email).exists():
         logger.info("Email %s is already in use!", email)
-        if SEND_EMAILS:
-            send_mail(
-                subject="Plancake - Email in Use",
-                message=f"Looks like your email was already used for a Plancake account.\n\nNot you? Nothing to worry about, just ignore this email.",
-                from_email=None,  # Use the default from settings
-                recipient_list=[email],
-                fail_silently=False,
-            )
+        send_templated_email(
+            to_email=email,
+            template_key=EmailTemplateKey.EMAIL_IN_USE,
+            context={},
+        )
     else:
         # Create an unverified user account
         ver_code = str(uuid.uuid4())
@@ -103,14 +99,11 @@ def register(request):
             )
         logger.debug("Verification code for %s: %s", email, ver_code)
 
-        if SEND_EMAILS:
-            send_mail(
-                subject="Plancake - Email Verification",
-                message=f"Welcome to Plancake!\n\nClick this link to verify your email:\n{BASE_URL}/verify-email?code={ver_code}\n\nNot you? Nothing to worry about, just ignore this email.",
-                from_email=None,  # Use the default from settings
-                recipient_list=[email],
-                fail_silently=False,
-            )
+        send_templated_email(
+            to_email=email,
+            template_key=EmailTemplateKey.EMAIL_VERIFICATION,
+            context={"code": ver_code},
+        )
 
     return Response(
         {"message": ["An email has been sent to your address for verification."]},
@@ -147,14 +140,11 @@ def resend_register_email(request):
             unverified_user.verification_code,
         )
 
-        if SEND_EMAILS:
-            send_mail(
-                subject="Plancake - Email Verification",
-                message=f"Welcome to Plancake!\n\nClick this link to verify your email:\n{BASE_URL}/verify-email?code={unverified_user.verification_code}\n\nNot you? Nothing to worry about, just ignore this email.",
-                from_email=None,  # Use the default from settings
-                recipient_list=[email],
-                fail_silently=False,
-            )
+        send_templated_email(
+            to_email=email,
+            template_key=EmailTemplateKey.EMAIL_VERIFICATION,
+            context={"code": unverified_user.verification_code},
+        )
 
     except UnverifiedUserAccount.DoesNotExist:
         logger.info("Unverified user with email %s does not exist!", email)
@@ -333,14 +323,11 @@ def start_password_reset(request):
             )
         logger.debug("Password reset token for %s: %s", email, reset_token)
 
-        if SEND_EMAILS:
-            send_mail(
-                subject="Plancake - Reset Password",
-                message=f"Click this link to reset your password:\n{BASE_URL}/reset-password?token={reset_token}\n\nNot you? Nothing to worry about, just ignore this email.",
-                from_email=None,  # Use the default from settings
-                recipient_list=[email],
-                fail_silently=False,
-            )
+        send_templated_email(
+            to_email=email,
+            template_key=EmailTemplateKey.PASSWORD_RESET,
+            context={"token": reset_token},
+        )
 
     except UserAccount.DoesNotExist:
         logger.info("Password reset failed for %s: User does not exist.", email)

backend/api/settings.py

@@ -148,13 +148,25 @@ class ThrottleScopes:
     {"error": {"general": ["An unknown error has occurred."]}}, status=500
 )
 
-# AWS SES Credentials
-EMAIL_BACKEND = "django_ses.SESBackend"
-AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY_ID = env("AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY_ID")
-AWS_SES_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = env("AWS_SES_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY")
-AWS_SES_REGION_NAME = env("AWS_SES_REGION_NAME")
-AWS_SES_REGION_ENDPOINT = env("AWS_SES_REGION_ENDPOINT")
+# Email settings
+if DEBUG:
+    # For use with something like Mailpit
+    EMAIL_BACKEND = "django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend"
+    EMAIL_HOST = env("SMTP_HOST")
+    EMAIL_PORT = env.int("SMTP_PORT")
+    EMAIL_USE_TLS = False
+    EMAIL_HOST_USER = env("SMTP_HOST_USER")
+    EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = env("SMTP_HOST_PASSWORD")
+else:
+    # For production, uses AWS SES
+    EMAIL_BACKEND = "django_ses.SESBackend"
+    AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY_ID = env("AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY_ID")
+    AWS_SES_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = env("AWS_SES_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY")
+    AWS_SES_REGION_NAME = env("AWS_SES_REGION_NAME")
+    AWS_SES_REGION_ENDPOINT = env("AWS_SES_REGION_ENDPOINT")
 DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL = env("DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL")
+EMAIL_BRIDGE_SECRET = env("EMAIL_BRIDGE_SECRET")
+EMAIL_TIMEOUT = 10  # seconds
 ADMIN_EMAILS = env.list("ADMIN_EMAILS", default=[])
 SEND_EMAILS = env.bool("SEND_EMAILS", default=False)
 CRITICAL_EMAIL_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 1800  # 30 minutes

backend/api/utils.py

@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 from enum import Enum
 from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo, ZoneInfoNotFoundError
 
+import requests
+from django.core.mail import EmailMultiAlternatives
 from django.db.models import Q
 from ipware import get_client_ip
 from redis import Redis
@@ -17,10 +19,13 @@
 from api.redis_pools import sync_pool
 from api.settings import (
     ACCOUNT_COOKIE_NAME,
+    BASE_URL,
     COOKIE_DOMAIN,
     DEBUG,
+    EMAIL_BRIDGE_SECRET,
     GUEST_COOKIE_NAME,
     LONG_SESS_EXP_SECONDS,
+    SEND_EMAILS,
     SESS_EXP_SECONDS,
     TEST_ENVIRONMENT,
     ThrottleScope,
@@ -472,3 +477,72 @@ def notify_live_update(event: LiveUpdateEvent):
         f"event_{event.event_code}",
         event.dumps(),
     )
+
+
+class EmailTemplateKey(str, Enum):
+    EMAIL_IN_USE = "email_in_use"
+    EMAIL_VERIFICATION = "email_verification"
+    PASSWORD_RESET = "password_reset"
+    PASSWORD_RESET_CODE = "password_reset_code"
+
+
+def send_templated_email(to_email, template_key: EmailTemplateKey, context) -> bool:
+    """
+    Fetches rendered HTML from Next.js and sends it as an email.
+
+    Returns True if the email was sent successfully, False otherwise.
+
+    This function will check the SEND_EMAILS environment variable, and if set to False
+    then the email will not be sent and True will be returned every time.
+    """
+    if not SEND_EMAILS:
+        return True
+
+    url = BASE_URL
+    headers = {
+        "Content-Type": "application/json",
+        "Authorization": f"Bearer {EMAIL_BRIDGE_SECRET}",
+    }
+    payload = {
+        "template_key": template_key,
+        "context": context,
+    }
+
+    html_content = None
+    text_fallback = None
+    msg_subject = None
+    success = False
+
+    try:
+        response = requests.post(
+            url + "/api/render-email/", json=payload, headers=headers, timeout=5
+        )
+
+        if response.status_code == 200:
+            data = response.json()
+            html_content = data.get("html")
+            text_fallback = data.get("text")
+            msg_subject = data.get("subject")
+            success = True
+            logger.info(f"Successfully rendered email for template '{template_key}'")
+        else:
+            logger.error(
+                f"Failed to render email for template '{template_key}'. "
+                f"Status code: {response.status_code}, Response: {response.text}"
+            )
+    except requests.RequestException as e:
+        logger.error(f"Error rendering email for template '{template_key}': {e}")
+
+    try:
+        if html_content:
+            EmailMultiAlternatives(
+                subject=msg_subject,
+                body=text_fallback,
+                alternatives=[(html_content, "text/html")],
+                to=[to_email],
+            ).send()
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error(f"Error sending email: {e}")
+        success = False
+
+    return success

backend/requirements.txt

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ billiard==4.2.1
 boto3==1.39.14
 botocore==1.39.14
 celery==5.5.3
+certifi==2026.6.17
+charset-normalizer==3.4.9
 click==8.2.1
 click-didyoumean==0.3.1
 click-plugins==1.1.1.2
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ django-ipware==7.0.1
 django-ses==4.4.0
 djangorestframework==3.16.0
 h11==0.16.0
+idna==3.18
 isort==8.0.1
 jmespath==1.0.1
 kombu==5.5.4
@@ -31,6 +34,7 @@ python-ipware==3.0.0
 PyYAML==6.0.3
 redis==6.2.0
 regex==2026.4.4
+requests==2.34.2
 s3transfer==0.13.1
 six==1.17.0
 sqlparse==0.5.3

frontend/.env.example

@@ -1,9 +1,17 @@
 # Enable debug mode, important to have this false in production for security
 NEXT_PUBLIC_DEBUG=true
 
+# The base URL for the frontend, used for generating links in emails (no trailing slash)
+BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000
+
 # The API URL for both the client and the Next.js server to communicate with the backend
-# Note the lack of a trailing slash
+# (no trailing slash)
 NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://example.com
 
 # The URL for the feedback form
-NEXT_PUBLIC_FEEDBACK_FORM_URL=https://forms.example.com/feedback
+NEXT_PUBLIC_FEEDBACK_FORM_URL=https://forms.example.com/feedback
+
+# Secret key for authorization into the email template renderer
+# Must be the same as the one in the backend .env file
+# Can be left as a placeholder for development
+EMAIL_BRIDGE_SECRET=secret