NodeWave Email API

A comprehensive serverless email API built with Nodemailer for Vercel deployment. This API handles contact form submissions from the NodeWave Vue.js frontend with advanced debugging, validation, and multiple email service support.

🚀 Features

• ✅ Serverless Architecture - Zero-config deployment to Vercel
• ✅ Multiple Email Services - Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or custom SMTP
• ✅ Comprehensive Validation - Input sanitization and error handling
• ✅ Debug Mode - Advanced logging controlled by environment variables
• ✅ CORS Support - Ready for frontend integration
• ✅ HTML & Text Emails - Professional email templates
• ✅ Security First - No credentials in code, environment-based config

📁 Project Structure

nodewave_email/
├── api/
│   └── contact.js          # Main serverless function
├── public/                 # Static assets (required by Vercel)
├── package.json           # Dependencies and scripts
├── vercel.json           # Vercel deployment configuration
├── .env.example          # Environment variables template
├── .env                  # Local development config (git-ignored)
├── .gitignore           # Git ignore patterns
├── test-api.sh          # API testing script
└── README.md

🛠️ Setup

1. Install Dependencies

npm install

2. Configure Environment Variables

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your email service credentials:

# Email Service Configuration
EMAIL_SERVICE=gmail                    # gmail, outlook, yahoo, or smtp
EMAIL_USER=your-email@gmail.com       # Your email address
EMAIL_PASS=your-app-password          # App password (not regular password)
EMAIL_TO=contact@nodewave.com         # Recipient email address

# Optional: Custom SMTP (if EMAIL_SERVICE=smtp)
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.your-provider.com
EMAIL_PORT=587

# Debug Mode (optional)
DEBUG_APP=false                       # Set to 'true' for detailed logging

3. Gmail Setup (Recommended)

1. Enable 2-Factor Authentication on your Gmail account
2. Generate an App Password:
   • Go to Google Account Settings
   • Security → 2-Step Verification → App passwords
   • Select "Mail" and generate password
3. Use the generated 16-character password in EMAIL_PASS

🚀 Development

Local Development

# Start local development server
npm run dev
# or
vercel dev

The API will be available at http://localhost:3000/api/contact

Testing

# Run the test script
./test-api.sh

# Or test manually with curl
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/contact \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "firstName": "John",
    "lastName": "Doe",
    "email": "john@example.com",
    "phone": "+1 (555) 123-4567",
    "subject": "Test Subject",
    "budget": "Under $10K",
    "message": "This is a test message.",
    "newsletter": true
  }'

🌐 Deployment

Deploy to Vercel

vercel --prod

Set Production Environment Variables

1. Go to your Vercel dashboard
2. Select your project
3. Navigate to Settings → Environment Variables
4. Add all required environment variables:

Variable	Value	Environment
EMAIL_SERVICE	gmail	Production, Preview, Development
EMAIL_USER	your-email@gmail.com	Production, Preview, Development
EMAIL_PASS	your-app-password	Production, Preview, Development
EMAIL_TO	contact@nodewave.com	Production, Preview, Development
DEBUG_APP	false	Production (set to true for debugging)

📡 API Reference

POST /api/contact

Sends a contact form email with comprehensive validation and error handling.

Request Body

{
  "firstName": "John",
  "lastName": "Doe",
  "email": "john@example.com",
  "phone": "+1 (555) 123-4567",
  "subject": "General Inquiry",
  "budget": "Under $10K",
  "message": "Hello, I'm interested in your IoT solutions.",
  "newsletter": true
}

Required Fields

• firstName (string): Contact's first name
• lastName (string): Contact's last name
• email (string): Valid email address
• subject (string): Subject of the inquiry
• message (string): Message content (minimum 1 character)

Optional Fields

• phone (string): Phone number
• budget (string): Budget range selection
• newsletter (boolean): Newsletter subscription preference

Success Response (200)

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Email sent successfully"
}

With Debug Mode:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Email sent successfully",
  "debug": {
    "messageId": "<unique-message-id>",
    "accepted": ["contact@nodewave.com"],
    "rejected": [],
    "response": "250 Message accepted"
  }
}

Error Responses

Validation Error (400):

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "First name is required"
}

Server Error (500):

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Email authentication failed - check your credentials"
}

With Debug Mode:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Email authentication failed - check your credentials",
  "debug": {
    "originalError": "Invalid login: 535-5.7.8 Username and Password not accepted",
    "code": "EAUTH",
    "command": "AUTH LOGIN"
  }
}

🔧 Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Required	Example
EMAIL_SERVICE	Email service provider	✅	gmail, outlook, yahoo, smtp
EMAIL_USER	Email account username	✅	your-email@gmail.com
EMAIL_PASS	Email account password/app password	✅	abcdefghijklmnop
EMAIL_TO	Recipient email address	✅	your-email@gmail.com
EMAIL_HOST	SMTP host (for custom SMTP)	If EMAIL_SERVICE=smtp	smtp.gmail.com
EMAIL_PORT	SMTP port (for custom SMTP)	If EMAIL_SERVICE=smtp	587
DEBUG_APP	Enable comprehensive logging	❌	true or false

📋 Testing

Manual Testing

# Test with all fields
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/contact \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "firstName": "Test",
    "lastName": "User",
    "email": "test@example.com",
    "phone": "+1 (555) 123-4567",
    "subject": "API Test",
    "budget": "Under $10K",
    "message": "This is a comprehensive test of the API.",
    "newsletter": true
  }'

# Test validation errors
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/contact \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "firstName": "",
    "email": "invalid-email"
  }'

Automated Testing

# Run the included test script
./test-api.sh

🤝 Integration

Vue.js Frontend Integration

1. Set the API URL in your Vue.js environment:

   # .env.local
   VITE_EMAIL_API_URL=https://your-api.vercel.app/api/contact