API

Use the Maizzle API to compile a string to an HTML email.

Usage

First, require() the render method in your application:

app.js

const { render } = require('@maizzle/framework')

Use destructuring so that you don't load all the other exported methods, like


serve

Then call it, passing it a string and an options object:

app.js

const { render } = require('@maizzle/framework')

render(`html string`, options)
  .then(({html, config}) => console.log(html, config))

The render method returns an object containing the compiled HTML and the Environment config that was computed for it.

Options

options is an object with the following structure:

{
  tailwind: {
    config: {},
    css: '',
    compiled: '',
  },
  maizzle: {},
  beforeRender() {},
  afterRender() {},
  afterTransformers() {},
}

options is not required: when omitted, Maizzle will use the defaults below.

tailwind

Pass in a custom Tailwind CSS configuration, or a pre-compiled CSS string.

Option	Type	Default	Description
`config`	Object	`undefined`	A Tailwind CSS config object.
`css`	String	`@tailwind components; @tailwind utilities;`	A CSS string. Will be compiled with Tailwind CSS, so it may use PostCSS syntax. To use Tailwind, it needs to include at least @tailwind utilities
`compiled`	String	`undefined`	A pre-compiled CSS string, to use as-is. This will skip Tailwind compilation, resulting in faster render speed.

To make sure Tailwind CSS utilities are correctly generated from classes throughout your project, make sure to pass a config with paths correctly set for content .

maizzle

The Maizzle Environment configuration object.

Type	Default	Description
Object	`{}`	A Maizzle config object.

The other options listed above, like beforeRender() {} , are Events .

Example

app.js

const { render } = require('@maizzle/framework')

let html = `---
title: Using Maizzle on the server
---

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <style>{{{ page.css }}}</style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <table>
      <tr>
        <td class="button">
          <a href="https://maizzle.com">Confirm email address</a>
        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>
  </body>
</html>`

render(html,
  {
    tailwind: {
      config: require('./tailwind.config.js'),
      css: `
        .button { @apply rounded text-center bg-blue-500 text-white; }
        .button:hover { @apply bg-blue-700; }
        .button a { @apply inline-block py-4 px-6 text-sm font-semibold no-underline text-white; }
      `,
    },
    maizzle: require('./config.js')
  }
).then(({html}) => console.log(html)).catch(error => console.log(error))

Your html string must include <style>{{{ page.css }}}</style> inside the <head> tag as shown above, otherwise no CSS will be output or inlined.

Templating

Of course, templating tags are available when using Maizzle programmatically.

app.js

let html = `---
title: Using Maizzle programmatically
---

<x-main>
  <!-- your email HTML... -->
</x-main>`

Paths to Layouts or Components in your string to be rendered must be relative to the location where you execute the script.

Gotchas

Since the options object you can pass to the render method is optional, there are a few gotchas that you need to be aware of.

Default Tailwind

If you don't specify a Tailwind config object, Maizzle will try to compile Tailwind using tailwind.config.js at your current path.

If the file is not found, Tailwind will be compiled with its default config.

The default config is not optimized for HTML email: it uses units like rem and CSS properties that are used for web design and which have little to no support in the majority of email clients.

Also, the default Tailwind config will not include any content paths that should be scanned for generating utility classes.

Most Transformers, such as CSS inlining or minification, are opt-in: they transform content only when you enable them. Since you don't need to pass in a Maizzle config object, this means that most of them will not run.

The following Transformers always run:

Markdown (can be disabled)
Prevent Widows
Remove Attributes - removes empty style attributes by default
Filters - supports <style tailwindcss|postcss> tags and provides various text filters

CSS Output

The string to be compiled with render() must include {{{ page.css }}} in a <style> tag inside the <head>, otherwise no CSS will be output or inlined:

  <!DOCTYPE html>
  <html>
    <head>
      <style>{{{ page.css }}}</style>
    </head>
    <body>
      ...
    </body>
  </html>