MailDeliveryTask

This gem provides generators and mixins to queue up mail delivery in database transactions to be delivered later. Doing so prevents mail from being sent twice if the transaction is rolled back:

transaction do
  model = MyModel.create!(foo: 'hello')
  MyMailer.mailer_action(model: model).deliver
  raise
end

Despite database transaction rolling back the creation of the MyModel record, the mail is still delivered. This problem becomes more difficult in nested transactions. To avoid this, we create a a MailDeliveryTask::Attempt record inside the database. These records are then delivered at a later time using a job:

transaction do
  model = MyModel.create!(foo: 'hello')

  # To be sent by a job later
  MailDeliveryTask::Attempt.create(
    mailer_class: MyMailer,
    mailer_action_name: :mailer_action,
    mailer_args: { my_model: model },
    idempotence_token: "my_model##{id}"
  )

  raise
end

The above pattern ensures mail delivery tasks will not be created nor sent when the transaction fails.

The gem provides the following:

• Models
  • Generators for the MailDeliveryTask::Attempt migration, model, factory, and specs.
  • Tracking completion using completed_at.
  • Fields for mailer_class_name, mailer_action_name, and mailer_args.
  • MailDeliveryTask::BaseAttempt mixin to provide model methods.
  • Persistence token support.
  • A num_attempts field gives you flexibility to handle retries and other failure scenarios.
  • status and completed_at are fields that track state.
• Jobs
  • Generators for MailDeliveryTaskJob and MailDeliveryBatchJob jobs and specs
  • MailDeliveryTask::BaseDeliveryJob and MailDeliveryTask::BaseDeliveryBatchJob mixins.

We're relying heavily on generators and mixins. Including the MailDeliveryTask::BaseAttempt module allows us to generate a model that can inherit from both ActiveRecord::Base (Rails 4) and ApplicationRecord (Rails 5). The BaseAttempt module's methods can easily be overridden, giving callers flexibility to handle errors, extend functionality, and inherit (STI). Lastly, the generated migrations provide fields used by the BaseAttempt module, but the developer is free to add their own fields and extend the module's methods while calling super.

This gem is also designed to be compatible with any ApplicationMailer implementation through the use of the mailer_class_name, mailer_action_name, and mailer_args (keyword args) fields.

1. Add the gem to your application's Gemfile and execute bundle install to install it:

gem 'mail_delivery_task'

2. Generate migrations, base models, jobs, and specs. Feel free to add any additional columns you may need to the generated migration file:

$ rails generate mail_delivery_task:install

3. You will need a working ActionMailer class to send mail through SMTP / Butter. Note: the mailer's arguments MUST be keyword arguments to be compatible with the mailer_args field in the MailDeliveryTask model.

class DummyMailer < ApplicationMailer
  # Keyword args required!!!
  def action_name(to_address:)
    mail(
      to: to_address,
      subject: 'How to setup mail_delivery_task',
      body: "It's really easy.",
      content_type: 'text/plain',
    )
  end
end

4. Rename the model and migrations as you see fit. Make sure your model contains include MailDeliveryTask::BaseAttempt.

class MailDeliveryTask < ActiveRecord::Base
  include MailDeliveryTask::BaseAttempt
end

5. Implement the handle_deliver_mail_error and handle_persist_mail_error in your MailDeliveryTask model. These two methods are used by MailDeliveryTask::BaseAttempt when exceptions are thrown delivering and persisting the mail. See cookbook below for details on persistence and error handling.

6. Do not send mail directly using the ActionMailer class above. Instead, create MailDeliveryTasks to be sent later by a job (generated) that includes a MailDeliveryTask::BaseDeliveryJob:

class MailDeliveryJob < ActiveJob::Base
  include MailDeliveryTask::BaseDeliveryJob
end

transaction do
  # Using the DummyMailer class above...
  MailDeliveryTask::Attempt.create(
    mailer_class: DummyMailer,
    mailer_action_name: :action_name,
    mailer_args: { to_address: 'jchang@squareup.com' },
    idempotence_token: 'token',
  )
end

7. Make sure to schedule the mail delivery job to run frequently using Clockwork.

Below are patterns that defeat the purpose of using this gem:

# DO NOT DO THIS
transaction do
  task = create_mail_delivery_task
  task.deliver!
  raise
end

The above example allows mail to be delivered even if the transaction fails.

# DO NOT DO THIS
MailDeliverytask::Attempt.create!(
  mailer_class: 'DummyMailer',
  mailer_action_name: 'action_name',
  mailer_args: {},
).deliver!

These two examples above do not make use of a job to deliver mail.

Setting the scheduled_at field allows delayed execution to be possible. A task that has an scheduled_at before Time.current will be executed by MailDeliveryTask::BaseDeliveryBatchJob.

By default, when persistence or deliverance fails, it just raises the error encountered. However, if you want to raise a custom error or wrap the error, you can override both of these by overriding the handle_deliver_mail_error and handle_persist_mail_error methods.

class MailDeliveryTask::Attempt < ApplicationRecord
  include MailDeliveryTask::BaseAttempt

  class DeliverMailError < StandardError; end
  class PersistMailError < StandardError; end

  def handle_deliver_mail_error(error)
    raise DeliverMailError, 'my custom error message'
  end

  def handle_persist_mail_error(error)
    raise PersistMailError, 'my custom error message'
  end
end

Lastly, the num_attempts field in MailDeliveryTask::Attempt allows you to track the number of delivery attempts the mail has. Use this to implement retries and permanent failure thresholds for your mail delivery tasks.

expire! should be used for mail that is no longer applicable, such as a mail for plan past due when the plan is no longer past due.

fail! should be used to mark delivery as failed when the mail should have been, but was not, delivered successfully.

If you wish to persist mail, override the persist_mail method:

class MailDeliveryTask::Attempt < ApplicationRecord
  include MailDeliveryTask::BaseAttempt

  private

  def persist_mail(mail)
    store_in_s3(mail.to_s)
  end
end

Don't forget to set the persistence_token.

Add the following lines to rails_helper.rb:

require 'mail_delivery_task/testing'

RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.include MailDeliveryTask::Testing::MailerHelper, type: :mailer
end

Now custom matchers like be_deliverable are enabled:

expect(mail).to be_deliverable

For a full list of matchers, see here.

Sometimes the mail delivery method found in the BaseAttempt is insufficient. In this case you can override the method in your MailDeliveryTask::Attempt:

class MailDeliveryTask::Attempt < ApplicationRecord
  include MailDeliveryTask::BaseAttempt

  private

  def deliver_mail(mail)
    mail.deliver_some_other_way
  end
end

• Install dependencies with bin/setup.
• Run tests/lints with rake
• For an interactive prompt that will allow you to experiment, run bin/console.

Copyright 2017 Square, Inc.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.