Quick Start
In this doc you'll find information on quickly getting started using JSX email. For more in-depth information, please see the other sections of our Documentation.
INFO
This guide, along with the rest of the documentation here, assume that the reader has fundamental Node and NPM skills and is familiar with using command line tools on Window, Linux, or Mac OS.
For those not familiar with the bits above, here are some links to resources that we'd recommend reading before working with this project:
Prerequisites
- Node.js v18.0.0+
- React v18.2.0
New Projects
If you're starting a new project — whether that's a project solely for email templates, or a project that will eventually host additional code — our create-jsx-email
utility is a perfect choice, and the fastest way to get started. The utility will scaffold a new project and get everything ready for developing new email templates. To begin, make sure you have a terminal (or command line) open and your current working directory is the directory you'd like to create a new project. Run the following command in your terminal (without the $
symbol):
$ npm create jsx-email
$ npm create jsx-email
This command will install and execute create-jsx-email
, create a email-project
directory, and add a starter template.
While the Existing Projects section below can be safely skipped, the information beneath it is useful and worth giving a read before working with JSX email, as it contains infmroation on the project and template that was just created.
Existing Projects
The happy path for adding JSX email to an existing project is by using the JSX email CLI:
Install
Install the from your command line
pnpm add jsx-email
pnpm add jsx-email
bun add jsx-email
bun add jsx-email
npm add jsx-email
npm add jsx-email
yarn add jsx-email
yarn add jsx-email
If you want to avoid global installation, you can use pnpm dlx
, npx
, or yarn
instead like so:
$ pnpm dlx email <command>
$ pnpm dlx email <command>
Create A Template
First, we'll create a directory for our email templates, and then add a new template:
$ mkdir ./emails
$ email create BatmanEmail --out=./emails
$ mkdir ./emails
$ email create BatmanEmail --out=./emails
This command will create a new template named BatmanEmail.tsx
in the ./emails
directory.
TIP
If you'd rather create a .jsx
file, use the --jsx
flag
Email Previews
One of the major benefits of JSX email over alternatives is our incredibly slim and fast preview server, which requires no additional dependency installation, complex mounting, or difficult setup rules for monorepos. To run the preview server, run the following command in your terminal:
# MacOS and Linux
$ email preview ./emails
# MacOS and Linux
$ email preview ./emails
INFO
Windows paths are different than MacOS or Linux paths. ./emails
above will not work on Windows. Please see the link above regarding Windows relative paths if you are unfamiliar with how they work on the Command Line
The CLI will startup a preview server and open a new browser tab at http://localhost:55420
. It's that simple.
TIP
Please use email help preview
to view optional flags, including setting the port.
Building Your Template
The next step is to build your template. This can be done with the CLI, or with the render
method in code. While most people will need to render emails dynamically at runtime using render
, the CLI is capable of rendering both static and dynamic emails that take props as input. To build your email into an HTML document, run:
$ email build ./emails/BatmanEmail.tsx
$ email build ./emails/BatmanEmail.tsx
TIP
Please use email help build
to view optional flags, including providing props and setting the output path.