Sending Emails Using Node-RED

This guide walks you through configuring Node-RED to send automated emails. By the end, you'll be able to trigger email notifications from your OV20 camera or other systems.

Overview

Node-RED's email capabilities allow you to send automated notifications, alerts, and reports from your industrial systems. By connecting email functionality to your OV20 camera, you can receive notifications about detection results, system status, or errors without constant monitoring.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• Node-RED installed and running
• A Gmail account to use as the sender
• App password generated for your Gmail account (standard passwords won't work)
• Basic understanding of Node-RED flows

Creating a Gmail App Password

1. Enable 2-Step Verification

1. Sign in to your Google Account
2. Go to your Google Account settings
3. Select Security from the left menu
4. Under "Signing in to Google," select 2-Step Verification
5. Follow the prompts to turn on 2-Step Verification

2. Generate an App Password

1. After enabling 2-Step Verification, go back to the Security page
2. Select App passwords (under "Signing in to Google")
3. Select Mail as the app and Other as the device
4. Enter a name (e.g., "Node-RED Email")
5. Click Generate
6. Google will display a 16-character app password
7. Copy this password and store it securely – you'll need it for Node-RED

Setting Up the Email Flow

1. Create the Basic Flow

1. Open your Node-RED editor in a web browser
2. Drag an inject node from the palette to your workspace
3. Drag an email node from the output section of the palette
4. Connect the inject node to the email node

2. Configure the Inject Node

1. Double-click the inject node to open its properties
2. Set a meaningful name (e.g., "Email Trigger")
3. Configure the payload to contain your email content:
   • Set Payload type to "string"
   • Enter your email body text
4. Configure the topic to be your email subject:
   • Add a property named "topic"
   • Set its value to your desired email subject

3. Configure the Email Node

1. Double-click the email node to open its properties
2. Enter the following settings:
   • Name: Descriptive name for the node
   • To: Recipient email address
   • Server: smtp.gmail.com
   • Port: 465
   • Check Use secure connection
   • Auth type: Basic
   • Userid: Your full Gmail address
   • Password: The 16-character app password you generated earlier
3. Check Check server certificate is valid
4. Click Done to save the configuration
5. Deploy your flow by clicking the Deploy button

Testing and Verification

1. Click the button on the left side of the inject node
2. Check the debug panel for any error messages
3. Verify that the email was received at the destination address

Complete Flow Example

For reference, here's the complete flow JSON that you can import into node-RED:

[
    {
        "id": "ef9235fbfbe42254",
        "type": "e-mail",
        "z": "0931aa6716e829f0",
        "server": "smtp.gmail.com",
        "port": "465",
        "authtype": "BASIC",
        "saslformat": true,
        "token": "oauth2Response.access_token",
        "secure": true,
        "tls": true,
        "name": "",
        "dname": "Test Email",
        "x": 870,
        "y": 140,
        "wires": []
    },
    {
        "id": "e3439dddd299c8d7",
        "type": "inject",
        "z": "0931aa6716e829f0",
        "name": "",
        "props": [
            {
                "p": "payload"
            },
            {
                "p": "topic",
                "vt": "str"
            }
        ],
        "repeat": "",
        "crontab": "",
        "once": false,
        "onceDelay": 0.1,
        "topic": "Email testing. ",
        "payload": "Hey, im a OV20i! ",
        "payloadType": "str",
        "x": 650,
        "y": 140,
        "wires": [
            [
                "ef9235fbfbe42254"
            ]
        ]
    }
]