nvim-mail-merge

nvim-mail-merge is a small mail merge plugin for Neovim. It is primarily designed to work with NeoMutt by default but also offers support for mailx. This plugin can send emails in either HTML format (neomutt only) or plain text.

FEATURES

• Create an individual and personalized message for each recipient of a .csv file:
  Prepare a .csv file including the MAIL field along with variables of your choice. nvim-mail-merge automatically fills in the information based on your values for personalized emails.
• Converts and sends an email written in Markdown to HTML format:
  Write your email using the standard Markdown syntax. nvim-mail-merge converts it to HTML format for optimal formatting of your message (neomutt only).
• Sends plain text format emails using either neomutt or mailx.
• Preview the fully merged email before sending to ensure everything looks as expected.
• Save the history of sent emails (date, subject, email)
• Monitor the progress of deliveries and view encountered errors in the quickfix window.

REQUIREMENTS

This plugin requires :

• pandoc for HTML format emails
• NeoMutt configured correctly (see .neomuttrc minimal example)
• For plain text format emails, you also have the option to use mailx, which might be faster

INSTALLATION WITH CONFIG

lazy.nvim

{ 
  'martineausimon/nvim-mail-merge',
  ft = { 'markdown' }, --optional
  config = function()
    require('nvmm').setup({
      mappings = {
        attachment = "<leader>a",
        config = "<leader>c",
        preview = "<leader>p",
        send_text = "<leader>st",
        send_html = "<leader>sh",
      },
      options = {
        mail_client = {
          text = "neomutt", -- or "mailx"
          html = "neomutt"
        },
        auto_break_md = true, -- line breaks without two spaces for markdown
        neomutt_config = "$HOME/.neomuttrc",
        mailx_account = nil, -- if you use different accounts in .mailrc
        save_log = true,
        log_file = "./nvmm.log",
        date_format = "%Y-%m-%d",
        pandoc_metadatas = { -- syntax with [['metadata']] is important
          [['title= ']],
          [['margin-top=0']],
          [['margin-left=0']],
          [['margin-right=0']],
          [['margin-bottom=0']],
          [['mainfont: sans-serif']]
        }
      }
    })
  end
}

To monitor the progress of deliveries and view encountered errors, you can manually open quickfix with :copen (see :h quickfix), or add this autocommand to your init.lua :

vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd('QuickFixCmdPost', { 
  command = "cwindow",
  pattern = "*"
})

USAGE

DIRECT SEND

This plugin can directly send the buffer to specified recipient(s) (comma separated emails if several) with these commands :

:NVMMSendText charlie.haden@aol.com,paul.motian@yahoo.fr (send the buffer in plain text format)

:NVMMSendHtml charlie.haden@aol.com,paul.motian@yahoo.fr (convert buffer from markdown to html and send)

MAIL MERGE

1) Create a .csv file containing the data of each contact

⚠ The first line of this file must contain the headers, and one of the headers must be exactly MAIL (containing the email address)

example : /home/user/list.csv

CIV,LASTNAME,FIRSTNAME,MAIL
M.,Tyner,Mc Coy,mccoy.tyner@gmail.com
Mrs.,Garrison,Jimmy,jimmy.garrison@caramail.com
M.,Jones,Elvin,elvin.jones@yahoo.com

2) Write a template mail in markdown in NeoVim

Variables must be preceded by the symbol $

example : nvim ~/template.md

Hello $CIV $LASTNAME,

Your message

Best regards,

Your name

3) Configure the mail merge

In NeoVim, run the command :NVMMConfig (default mapping <leader>c) and enter the exact path of the csv file, then the subject of the mail. The subject can contain variables, always preceded by the symbol $.

4) Add attachment (optional)

Run :NVMMAttachment (default mapping <leader>a) to add attachment to your mail. It can be a complete path (e.g. /home/user/file.pdf) or a variable, completed from your csv file content (e.g. : $ATT).

5) Preview the sending

The :NVMMPreview function (default mapping <leader>p) allows you to preview the sending with the data of the first recipient of the csv file.

6) Send

Run one of the following commands :

:NVMMSendText (default <leader>st)
:NVMMSentHtml (default <leader>sh)

Log file

By default, NVMM writes a log file ./nvmm.log with the date, format (text or html), subject and recipient's email when sending all.

TIPS AND TRICKS

neomuttrc minimal example

This config works with a Gmail account, and pass to keep your password encrypted. With Gmail you'll also need an app password.

Add this lines to your NeoMutt config file (default $HOME/.neomuttrc) :

set my_pass = `pass eric.dolphy@gmail.com`
set from = "eric.dolphy@gmail.com"
set realname = "Eric Dolphy"
set imap_user = "eric.dolphy@gmail.com"
set imap_pass = $my_pass
set smtp_url = "smtps://eric.dolphy@smtp.gmail.com"
set smtp_pass = $my_pass
set copy = no

mailx minimal config example

This config works with a Gmail account. With Gmail you'll also need an app password.

Add this lines to your mailx config file ($HOME/.mailrc) :

• one account :

set v15-compat
set from="jim.hall@gmail.com(Jim Hall)"
set smtp-use-starttls
set smtp-auth=login
set mta=smtps://jim.hall:app_password@smtp.gmail.com:465

• multiple accounts :

Don't forget to set mailx_account in setup() function

account main {
  set v15-compat
  set from="jim.hall@gmail.com(Jim Hall)"
  set smtp-use-starttls
  set smtp-auth=login
  set mta=smtps://jim.hall:app_password@smtp.gmail.com:465
}

account anotheraccount {
  set v15-compat
  set from="ron.carter@gmail.com(Ron Carter)"
  set smtp-use-starttls
  set smtp-auth=login
  set mta=smtps://ron.carter:app_password@smtp.gmail.com:465
}