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https://github.com/honeybadger-io/heya
Heya 👋 is a campaign mailer for Rails. Think of it like ActionMailer, but for timed email sequences. It can also perform other actions like sending a text message.
https://github.com/honeybadger-io/heya
Last synced: 16 days ago
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Heya 👋 is a campaign mailer for Rails. Think of it like ActionMailer, but for timed email sequences. It can also perform other actions like sending a text message.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/honeybadger-io/heya
- Owner: honeybadger-io
- License: other
- Created: 2019-06-12T21:02:35.000Z (over 5 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2024-10-18T15:17:20.000Z (24 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2024-10-19T23:14:11.322Z (23 days ago)
- Language: Ruby
- Homepage: https://www.heya.email
- Size: 1.03 MB
- Stars: 735
- Watchers: 13
- Forks: 33
- Open Issues: 25
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- License: LICENSE
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README
# Heya 👋
[](https://badge.fury.io/rb/heya)
[](https://codeclimate.com/github/honeybadger-io/heya/maintainability)
Heya is a campaign mailer for Rails. Think of it like ActionMailer, but for timed email sequences. It can also perform other actions like sending a text message.
## Getting started
Getting started with Heya is easy:
1. [Install the gem](#installing-the-heya-gem)
2. [Create a campaign](#creating-your-first-campaign)
3. [Run the scheduler](#running-the-scheduler)
### Prerequisites
Heya was built to work with PostgreSQL. Pull requests are welcome to support more databases.
### Installing the Heya gem
1. Add this line to your application's Gemfile:
```ruby
gem "heya", github: "honeybadger-io/heya"
```
2. Then execute:
```bash
bundle install
rails generate heya:install
rails db:migrate
```
This will:
1. Copy Heya's migration files to *db/migrate*
1. Copy Heya's default initializer to *config/initializers/heya.rb*
1. Create the file *app/campaigns/application_campaign.rb*
1. Run local migrations
Note: Heya doesn't store a copy of your user data; instead, it reads from your existing User model (it never writes). If you have a different user model, change the user_type configuration option in config/initializers/heya.rb.
```ruby
# config/initializers/heya.rb
Heya.configure do |config|
config.user_type = "MyUser"
end
```
### Creating your first campaign
1. Create a campaign:
```bash
rails generate heya:campaign Onboarding welcome:0
```
2. Add a user to your campaign:
```ruby
OnboardingCampaign.add(user)
```
Add the following to your `User` model to send them the campaign
when they first signup:
```ruby
after_create_commit do
OnboardingCampaign.add(self)
end
```
### Running the scheduler
To start queuing emails, run the scheduler task periodically:
```bash
rails heya:scheduler
```
Heya uses ActiveJob to send emails in the background. Make sure your
ActiveJob backend is configured to process the `heya` queue. For example,
here's how you might start Sidekiq:
```sh
bundle exec sidekiq -q default -q heya
```
You can change Heya's default queue using the `queue` option:
```ruby
# app/campaigns/application_campaign.rb
class ApplicationCampaign < Heya::Campaigns::Base
default queue: "custom"
end
```
### Bonus: tips for working with email in Rails
Use MailCatcher to see emails sent from your dev environment
```ruby
# config/environments/development.rb
Rails.application.configure do
# ..
# Use MailCatcher to inspect emails
# http://mailcatcher.me
# Usage:
# gem install mailcatcher
# mailcatcher
# # => Starting MailCatcher
# # => ==> smtp://127.0.0.1:1025
# # => ==> http://127.0.0.1:1080
config.action_mailer.delivery_method = :smtp
config.action_mailer.smtp_settings = {host: "localhost", port: 1025}
end
```
Use Maildown to write your emails in Markdown
```sh
$ bundle add maildown
$ rails generate heya:campaign Onboarding welcome
create app/campaigns/application_campaign.rb
create app/campaigns/onboarding_campaign.rb
create app/views/heya/campaign_mailer/onboarding_campaign/welcome.md.erb
```
☝️ Notice how only one template was generated; Maildown automatically builds
the HTML and text variants from the markdown file.
Use ActionMailer::Preview to preview emails as you write them
Heya's campaign generator generates previews for campaigns at
`(test|spec)/mailers/previews/*_campaign_preview.rb`. To see them, open
http://localhost:3000/rails/mailers/. If you didn't use the generator, you
can still build your own preview:
```ruby
# test/mailers/previews/onboarding_campaign_preview.rb
class OnboardingCampaignPreview < ActionMailer::Preview
def welcome
OnboardingCampaign.welcome(user)
end
private
def user
User.where(id: params[:user_id]).first || User.first
end
end
```
## Configuration
You can use the following options to configure Heya (find this file in
*config/initializers/heya.rb*):
```ruby
Heya.configure do |config|
# The name of the model you want to use with Heya.
config.user_type = "User"
# The default options to use when processing campaign steps.
config.campaigns.default_options = {from: "[email protected]"}
# Campaign priority. When a user is added to multiple campaigns, they are
# sent in this order. Campaigns are sent in the order that the users were
# added if no priority is configured.
config.campaigns.priority = [
"FirstCampaign",
"SecondCampaign",
"ThirdCampaign"
]
end
```
## Campaigns
### Creating campaigns
Heya stores campaigns in *app/campaigns/*, similar to how Rails stores mailers in *app/mailers/*. To create a campaign, run the following command inside your Rails project:
```bash
rails generate heya:campaign Onboarding first second third
```
This will:
1. Create the file *app/campaigns/onboarding_campaign.rb*
1. Create the directory *app/views/heya/campaign_mailer/onboarding_campaign/*
1. Create email templates inside of *app/views/heya/campaign_mailer/onboarding_campaign/*
1. Create an ActionMailer preview at *(test|spec)/mailers/previews/onboarding_campaign_preview.rb*
Here's the campaign that the above command generates:
```ruby
# app/campaigns/application_campaign.rb
class ApplicationCampaign < Heya::Campaigns::Base
default from: "[email protected]"
end
# app/campaigns/onboarding_campaign.rb
class OnboardingCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
step :first,
subject: "First subject"
step :second,
subject: "Second subject"
step :third,
subject: "Third subject"
end
```
#### Steps
The `step` method defines a new step in the sequence. When you add a user to the campaign, Heya completes each step in the order that it appears.
The default time to wait between steps is *two days*, calculated from the time the user completed the previous step (or the time the user entered the campaign, in the case of the first step).
Each step has several options available (see the section [Creating messages](#creating-messages)).
### Creating messages
Messages are defined inside Heya campaigns using the `step` method. When you add a user to a campaign, Heya completes each step in the order that it appears.
**The most important part of each step is its name, which must be unique to the campaign.** The step's name is how Heya tracks which user has received which message, so it's essential that you don't change it after the campaign is active (if you do, Heya will assume it's a new message).
Here's an example of defining a message inside a campaign:
```ruby
class OnboardingCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
step :welcome, wait: 1.day,
subject: "Welcome to my app!"
end
```
In the above example, Heya will send a message named `:welcome` one day after a user enters the campaign, with the subject "Welcome to my app!"
The `wait` option tells Heya how long to wait before sending each message (the default is two days). There are a few scheduling options that you can customize for each step:
| Option Name | Default | Description |
| :---------- | :-------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------- |
| `wait` | `2.days` | The duration of time to wait before sending each message |
| `segment` | `nil` | The segment who should receive the message |
| `action` | `Heya::Campaigns::Actions::Email` | The action to perform (usually sending an email) |
| `queue` | `"heya"` | The ActiveJob queue |
Heya uses the following additional options to build the message itself:
| Option Name | Default | Description |
|-------------|--------------|----------------------------|
| `subject` | **required** | The email's subject |
| `from` | Heya default | The sender's email address |
| `layout` | Heya default | The email's layout file |
| `to` | See below | The recipient's name & email address |
| `bcc` | `nil` | BCC when sending emails |
| `headers` | `{}` | Headers to include when sending emails |
You can change the default options using the `default` method at the top of the campaign. Heya applies default options to each step which doesn't supply its own:
```ruby
class OnboardingCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
default wait: 1.day,
queue: "onboarding",
from: "[email protected]",
layout: "onboarding"
# Will still be sent after one day from the
# email address [email protected]
step :welcome,
subject: "Welcome to my app!"
end
```
#### Customizing the `to` field
You can customize the `to` field by passing a callable object, which Heya will invoke with the user. For instance:
```ruby
class OnboardingCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
step :welcome,
subject: "Welcome to my app!",
to: -> (user) { ActionMailer::Base.email_address_with_name(user.email, user.nickname) }
end
```
It is recommended to rely on `ActionMailer::Base.email_address_with_name` so that sanitization is correctly applied.
If the `to` param is not provided, Heya will default to:
1. `user#first_name`
1. `user#name`
If the `user` object doesn't respond to these methods, it will fallback to a simple `user.email` in the `to` field.
#### Quality control option
You may wish to apply quality control to individual steps of a campaign. For example, when adding a new step to an existing campaign it is
a good idea to inspect real-time results in production. You can do this by using the `bcc:` step option, which would look like this:
```ruby
class OnboardingCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
default wait: 1.day,
queue: "onboarding",
from: "[email protected]"
# Will still be sent after one day from the
# email address [email protected]
step :welcome,
subject: "Welcome to my app!"
step :added_two_months_later,
subject: "We now have something new to say!",
bcc: '[email protected]'
end
```
#### Customizing email subjects for each user
The subject can be customized for each user by using a `lambda` instead of a `String`:
```ruby
# app/campaigns/onboarding_campaign.rb
class OnboardingCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
step :welcome,
subject: ->(user) { "Heya #{user.first_name}!" }
end
```
#### Translations for email subjects (I18n)
If you don't pass a `subject` to the `step` method, Heya will try to find it in your translations. The performed lookup will use the pattern `..subject` to construct the key.
```ruby
# app/campaigns/onboarding_campaign.rb
class OnboardingCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
step :welcome
end
```
```yaml
# config/locales/en.yml
en:
onboarding_campaign:
welcome:
subject: "Heya!"
```
To define parameters for interpolation, define a `#heya_attributes` method on your user model:
```ruby
# app/models/user.rb
class User < ApplicationRecord
def heya_attributes
{
first_name: name.split(" ").first
}
end
end
```
```yaml
# config/locales/en.yml
en:
onboarding_campaign:
welcome:
subject: "Heya %{first_name}!"
```
### Custom Actions
You can override the default step behavior to perform custom actions by passing
a block to the `step` method:
```ruby
class OnboardingCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
step :first_email,
subject: "You're about to receive a txt"
step :sms do |user|
SMS.new(to: user.cell, body: "Hi, #{user.first_name}!").deliver
end
step :second_email,
subject: "Did you get it?"
end
```
Step blocks receive two optional arguments: `user` and `step`, and are processed
in a background job alongside other actions.
### Adding users to campaigns
Heya leaves *when* to add users to campaigns completely up to you; here's how to add a user to a campaign from anywhere in your app:
```ruby
OnboardingCampaign.add(user)
```
To remove a user from a campaign:
```ruby
OnboardingCampaign.remove(user)
```
Adding users to campaigns from Rails opens up some interesting automation possibilities--for instance, you can start or stop campaigns from `ActiveRecord` callbacks, or in response to other events that you're already tracking in your application. [See here for a list of ideas](#automation-ideas).
Because Heya stacks campaigns by default (meaning it will never send more than one at a time), you can also queue up several campaigns for a user, and they'll receive them in order:
```ruby
WelcomeCampaign.add(user)
OnboardingCampaign.add(user)
EvergreenCampaign.add(user)
```
*Note: you can customize the priority of campaigns via Heya's configuration.*
If you want to send a user two campaigns simultaneously, you can do so with the `concurrent` option:
```ruby
FlashSaleCampaign.add(user, concurrent: true)
```
When you remove a user from a campaign and add them back later, they'll continue where they left off. If you want them to start over from the beginning, use the `restart` option:
```ruby
TrialConversionCampaign.add(user, restart: true)
```
#### Automation ideas
Using `ActiveSupport::Notifications` to respond to lifecycle events (which could be sent from your Stripe controller, for instance):
```ruby
ActiveSupport::Notifications.subscribe("user.trial_will_end") do |*args|
event = ActiveSupport::Notifications::Event.new(*args)
if event.payload[:user_id]
user = User.find(event.payload[:user_id])
TrialConversionCampaign.add(user, restart: true)
end
end
```
Scheduling campaigns in `ActiveRecord` callbacks:
```ruby
class User < ApplicationRecord
after_create_commit do
WelcomeCampaign.add(self)
OnboardingCampaign.add(self)
EvergreenCampaign.add(user)
end
end
```
### Customizing who gets what
Heya can send individual messages to certain users using the `segment` option. The following campaign will send the message to inactive users--active users will be skipped:
```ruby
class ActivationCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
step :activate, segment: ->(user) { user.inactive? }
end
```
When you're checking the value of a single method on the user, the segment can be simplified to the symbol version:
```ruby
class ActivationCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
step :activate, segment: :inactive?
end
```
#### Segmenting specific campaigns
You can also narrow entire campaigns to certain users using the `segment` method. For instance, if you have a campaign with a specific goal such as performing an action in your app, then you can send the campaign only to the users who haven't performed the action:
```ruby
class UpgradeCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
segment { |u| !u.upgraded? }
step :one
step :two
step :three
end
```
If they upgrade half way through the campaign, Heya will stop sending messages and remove them from the campaign.
Likewise, you can require that users meet conditions to continue receiving a campaign. Here's a campaign which sends messages only to trial users--non-trial users will be removed from the campaign:
```ruby
class TrialCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
segment :trial?
step :one
step :two
step :three
end
```
#### Segmenting all campaigns
Heya campaigns inherit options from parent campaigns. For example, to make sure
unsubscribed users never receive an email from Heya, create a `segment` in the
`ApplicationCampaign`, and then have all other campaigns inherit from it:
```ruby
class ApplicationCampaign < Heya::Campaigns::Base
segment :subscribed?
end
```
### Handling exceptions
Heya campaigns are [rescuable](https://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/Rescuable/ClassMethods.html).
Use the `rescue_from` method to handle exceptions in campaigns:
```ruby
class OnboardingCampaign < ApplicationCampaign
rescue_from Postmark::InactiveRecipientError, with: :log_error
private
def log_error(error)
Rails.logger.error("Got Heya error: #{error}")
end
end
```
See the
[Rails documentation](https://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/Rescuable/ClassMethods.html#method-i-rescue_from)
for additional details.
### Campaigns FAQ
**What happens when:**
I reorder messages in an active campaign?
Heya sends the next *unsent* message *after the last message the user received*. When you move a message, the users who last received it will be moved with it, and continue from that point in the campaign. Heya skips messages which the user has already seen.
I add a message to an active campaign?
Users who have already received a message *after* the new message will *not* receive the message.
I remove a message from an active campaign?
Users who last received the message will be moved up to the previously received message, and continue from that point in the campaign. Heya skips messages which the user has already seen.
I rename a message in an active campaign?
**Renaming a message is equivalent to removing the message and adding a new one.** Users who are waiting to receive an earlier message in the campaign will receive the new message. Users who last received the old message will also receive the new one since it has replaced its position in the campaign.
A user skips a message based on its conditions?
Heya waits the defined wait time for every message in the campaign. If a user doesn't match the conditions, Heya skips it. If the *next* message's wait time is less than or equal to the skipped message's, it sends it immediately. If the next wait period is longer, it sends it after the new wait time has elapsed.
I delete an active campaign?
Heya will immediately stop sending the campaign; the campaign's data will remain until you manually delete it. If you restore the file before deleting the campaign's data, Heya will resume sending the campaign.
I add a user to multiple campaigns?
By default, Heya sends each user one campaign at a time. It determines the order of campaigns using the campaign `priority`. When you add a user to a higher priority campaign, the new campaign will begin immediately. Once completed, the next highest priority campaign will resume sending.
To send a campaign concurrent to other active campaigns, use the `concurrent` option.
I add a user to a campaign they already completed?
When you add a user to a campaign that they previously completed, Heya sends new messages which were added *to the end of the campaign*. Skipped messages will *not* be sent. To resend all messages, use the `restart` option.
**Less frequently asked questions:**
Can the same message be delivered twice?
Nope, not without restarting the campaign using the `restart` option (which will resend all the messages).
Can the same campaign be sent twice?
Yep. When you add a user to a campaign that they previously completed, Heya sends new messages which were added *to the end of the campaign*. Skipped messages will *not* be sent. To resend all messages, use the `restart` option.
Can I resend a campaign to a user?
Yep. Use the `restart` option to resend a campaign to a user (if they are already in the campaign, the campaign will start over from the beginning).
Can I send a user two campaigns at the same time?
Yep. By default, Heya sends campaigns ain order of `priority`. Use the `concurrent` option to send campaigns concurrently.
## Upgrading Heya
Heya adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html), and
should be considered **unstable** until version 1.0.0. Always check
[CHANGELOG.md](./CHANGELOG.md) prior to upgrading (breaking changes will always
be called out there). Upgrade instructions for breaking changes are in
[UPGRADING.md](./UPGRADING.md).
## Roadmap
See [here](https://github.com/honeybadger-io/heya/projects/1) for things we're
considering adding to Heya.
## Contributing
1. Fork it.
2. Create a topic branch `git checkout -b my_branch`
3. Make your changes and add an entry to [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md).
4. Commit your changes `git commit -am "Boom"`
5. Push to your branch `git push origin my_branch`
6. Send a [pull request](https://github.com/honeybadger-io/heya/pulls)
## Releasing
1. `gem install gem-release`
2. `gem bump -v [version] -t -r`
3. Update unreleased heading in [CHANGELOG.md](./CHANGELOG.md) (TODO: automate
this in gem-release command)
4. `git push origin main --tags`
## License
Heya is licensed under the [LGPL](./LICENSE).