mailship/README.md

# Mailship

A Nostr email notification server. Receives events pushed from relays via [NIP-9a](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/2194), stores them, and sends daily or weekly digest emails.

This repo is a fork of [anchor](https://github.com/coracle-social/anchor). It has been built primarily to support email notifications in [Flotilla](https://flotilla.social), but supports alternate branding and could be set up to work with any Nostr relay supporting NIP-9a.

## Architecture

```
Flotilla ──HTTP──▶ Mailship (PUT /subscription/email)
  │                   NIP-98 auth
  │                   returns {key, callback}
  │
  └──kind 30390──▶ relay or NPB
                         │
                    event matches filter
                         │
                         ▼
                    POST /notify/:subId ──▶ Mailship
                         {id, relay}         │
                           UUID in path      ├── fetch event from relay
                           is the auth       ├── store in SQLite (dedup)
                                             │
                                        cron fires ──▶ render digest ──▶ SMTP ──▶ email
```

## Configuration

| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `MAILSHIP_SECRET` | ✓ | A nostr private key hex string for the server's identity |
| `MAILSHIP_NAME` | ✓ | Name of this Mailship instance |
| `MAILSHIP_URL` | ✓ | Public URL of this instance |
| `BASE_URL` | ✓ | Base URL for callback URLs (same as MAILSHIP_URL typically) |
| `SMTP_HOST` | ✓ | SMTP server hostname |
| `SMTP_PORT` | ✓ | SMTP server port |
| `SMTP_USER` | ✓ | SMTP username |
| `SMTP_PASSWORD` | ✓ | SMTP password |
| `SMTP_FROM` | ✓ | From email address for outgoing mail |
| `EVENT_VIEWER_URL` | | Base URL of the app event links open in (defaults to Flotilla at `https://app.flotilla.social`, or anything handling the same `/spaces/<relay>/<hash>` and `/<nevent>` URL shapes) |
| `BRAND_NAME` | | Name used in email branding (default: `Flotilla`) |
| `BRAND_ACCENT` | | Accent color string used in email branding (default: `#7161FF`) |
| `BRAND_LOGO` | | URL of the logo image shown in the email header. Defaults to `<EVENT_VIEWER_URL>/logo.png`; if empty/unset, a colored brand name is shown instead |
| `DEFAULT_RELAYS` | ✓ | Comma-separated list of default relays |
| `INDEXER_RELAYS` | ✓ | Comma-separated list of indexer relays |
| `SEARCH_RELAYS` | ✓ | Comma-separated list of search relays |
| `PORT` | | Port to run on (default: 4738) |

## API

### PUT /subscription/email
Idempotently register or update an email subscription. Re-sends the confirmation
email only when the subscription is new or the email address changed; a frequency
or schedule change keeps the existing confirmation. The pubkey is extracted from
the NIP-98 Authorization header — the body does not include a `pubkey` field.

```
Body: { email, frequency, hour?, minute?, dayOfWeek?, timezone? }
Auth: NIP-98 (Nostr <base64> Authorization header)
Response: { key, callback }
```

**Optional schedule fields (defaults: `hour=17`, `minute=0`, `timezone="UTC"`):**

| Field | Type | Constraints | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| `hour` | integer | 0–23 | `17` |
| `minute` | integer | 0–59 | `0` |
| `dayOfWeek` | integer | 1=Mon … 7=Sun (0 also accepted as Sun); only valid when `frequency="weekly"` | `1` (Monday) for weekly, omitted for daily |
| `timezone` | string | IANA timezone name, e.g. `"America/New_York"` | `"UTC"` |

When omitted, each field falls back to its default. `dayOfWeek` is silently
ignored for daily frequency (the stored value is `NULL`).

**DOW convention:** `dayOfWeek` follows cron: 1=Monday, 2=Tuesday, …, 7=Sunday.
`0` is also accepted as Sunday (standard cron alias).

### GET /subscription/email
Look up an existing subscription for the authenticated pubkey, so clients can
avoid re-registering (and re-confirming) when settings haven't changed.
Returns 404 if none exists.

```
Auth: NIP-98 (Nostr <base64> Authorization header)
Response: { key, callback, email, frequency, hour, minute, dayOfWeek, timezone, confirmed }
```

### DELETE /subscription/:key
Unsubscribe. Verifies the NIP-98 auth pubkey matches the subscription owner.

```
Auth: NIP-98 (Nostr <base64> Authorization header)
Response: { ok: true }
```

### POST /notify/:id
[NIP-9a](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/2194) relay push callback. Called by relays or NPB when matching events are found.

```
Body: { id, relay, event? }
Response: { ok: true, stored: boolean }
Returns 404 if subscription not found or inactive.
```

The optional `event` field supports NIP-98 `include_event` — relays can embed
the full event inline to bypass fetching. When `event` is provided:

- `event.id` must match the `id` string, **and** the event signature must be
  cryptographically valid (`verifyEvent` from nostr-tools).
- If either check fails, the endpoint returns **400** `{ error: 'Invalid event' }`.

When `event` is omitted, the server fetches the event from the relay using
`id` and `relay`. If the relay has no matching event (deleted, expired, or
never published), the endpoint returns `{ ok: true, stored: false }` — the
event is silently skipped rather than erroring.

After obtaining the event (from body or relay), it is stored in the local
database. If the event is already known (deduplication), `stored` is `false`;
otherwise `stored` is `true`. The `stored` field is always present in a 200
response.

### GET /confirm?token=...
Confirm email address via link from confirmation email.

### GET /unsubscribe?token=...
Unsubscribe via link from digest email.

## Development

**Requirements:** Node >= 22

> **Single instance:** Mailship uses in-process cron jobs for digest scheduling.
> Running more than one instance concurrently may cause duplicate or missed emails.

```sh
pnpm install
pnpm run build
pnpm run start
```

### Previewing the digest email

To iterate on the email template, render it with sample data and open the
result in your browser:

```sh
pnpm run preview:digest
open digest-preview.html
```

## Docker

### Quick start

```sh
cp .env.template .env
# Fill in your secrets in .env
docker compose up -d
```

### Build and run manually

```sh
docker build -t mailship .
docker run -d \
  -p 4738:4738 \
  -v mailship-data:/data \
  --env-file .env \
  mailship
```

## Tests

```sh
pnpm test:unit       # Run unit tests (vitest)
pnpm test            # Run integration tests (bash E2E)
pnpm test:server     # Start server for manual testing
```

## Deployment

### Production Image Build

Mailship uses a **multi-stage Docker build** to produce a minimal production image.

| Stage | Base Image | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `build` | `node:22-alpine` | Compile TypeScript, install all dependencies |
| `production` | `node:22-alpine` | Runtime — only production deps, compiled JS, static assets |

The Dockerfile is structured to keep the final image small by discarding build tooling
(`python3`, `make`, `g++`, `git`) and development dependencies after compilation.

```sh
docker build -t mailship .
```

The image listens on **port 4738**, expects a writable **`/data`** volume for the SQLite
database, and runs as a non-root user (`app`) for security hardening.

### Docker Compose (Recommended)

Copy the environment template, fill in your secrets, and start:

```sh
cp .env.template .env
# Edit .env with your production values (see Required Environment Variables below)
docker compose up -d
```

The compose file (`docker-compose.yml`) configures:

- **Automatic restarts** via `restart: unless-stopped`
- **Named volume** `mailship-data` mounted at `/data` for database persistence
- **Port 4738** published to the host
- **Environment variables** passed from your `.env` file with `.env` substitution
- **Required vars** (`MAILSHIP_SECRET`, `MAILSHIP_URL`, `BASE_URL`, `SMTP_*`) — the
  compose file uses `${VAR:?required}` to fail early if any are missing

To pull the latest image and recreate the container after a rebuild:

```sh
docker compose build --pull
# or if using a pre-built image:
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
```

### Required Environment Variables

The table below marks variables that are especially important in **production**.
Defaults are safe for development but may leak information or misroute mail in a
production deployment.

| Variable | Required in production | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `MAILSHIP_SECRET` | ✓ | Must be a **private key in hex** — never share or commit this value |
| `MAILSHIP_URL` | ✓ | Set to the **public-facing URL** of your instance (e.g. `https://mail.example.com`) |
| `BASE_URL` | ✓ | Same as `MAILSHIP_URL` in most setups; used for callback URLs in email |
| `SMTP_HOST` | ✓ | Production SMTP server (e.g. `smtp.sendgrid.net`, `email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com`) |
| `SMTP_PORT` | ✓ | 587 (STARTTLS) or 465 (TLS); verify with your provider |
| `SMTP_USER` | ✓ | SMTP authentication username |
| `SMTP_PASSWORD` | ✓ | SMTP authentication password — use a secret manager or env injection, not a file |
| `SMTP_FROM` | ✓ | The `From:` address recipients will see (e.g. `"Mailship" <notifications@example.com>`) |
| `DEFAULT_RELAYS` | | Comma-separated relay list; production should tune these to reliable relays |
| `INDEXER_RELAYS` | | Same — use relays you trust for discovery |
| `SEARCH_RELAYS` | | Same — use a relay that supports NIP-50 search |
| `CORS_ORIGIN` | ✓ | **Must** be set to the exact origin your browser client runs on (e.g. `https://app.example.com`). The server refuses to start without it. |
| `DATA_DIR` | | Default `/data` in the Docker image; change only if you mount a different volume path |
| `BRAND_NAME`, `BRAND_ACCENT`, `BRAND_LOGO` | | Branding overrides — safe to leave at defaults |
| `EVENT_VIEWER_URL` | | Controls where event links in emails point; defaults to Flotilla, set to your app's URL |
| `PORT` | | Internal port (default `4738`) — no need to change unless remapping in compose |

> **Secrets in production:** Never commit `.env` or embed secrets in the compose
> file. Use your infrastructure's secret store (e.g. Docker secrets, HashiCorp Vault,
> Ansible Vault, 1Password CLI) and inject variables at deploy time.

### Persistent Data Volume

Mailship stores its data in a **SQLite database** located at `$DATA_DIR/mailship.db`
(`/data/mailship.db` by default in the Docker image).

- **The database is the single source of truth** for subscriptions, events, and
  delivery state. Losing it means losing all subscriptions and digest history.
- **Backup regularly** — a simple `sqlite3 /data/mailship.db .dump` or file-level
  copy (while the service is idle) is sufficient. For zero-downtime backups, use
  SQLite's `.backup` command or VACUUM INTO.
- **Do not share the volume** across multiple Mailship instances — the in-process
  cron scheduler assumes a single writer.
- **Volume location** when using Docker Compose:

```sh
docker volume inspect mailship_mailship-data   # inspect mount point
docker run --rm -v mailship_mailship-data:/data alpine ls -la /data  # browse contents
```

To migrate or snapshot, stop the container and copy the database file:

```sh
docker compose down
docker run --rm -v mailship_mailship-data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine cp /data/mailship.db /backup/mailship-$(date +%F).db
docker compose up -d
```