Node.js Send Email using Google OAuth2

One common requirement of back-end application development is sending a message via email. This feature can support business processes such as verifying user data, notifications, account security, marketing, and many other use cases.

Then, how can we send an email message in a Node.js application?

One of the libraries that are widely used in sending emails is Nodemailer. There is the easiest way of implementation which using the Google App Password service. However, this method has been labelled by Google as less secure because the result of generated password is easy to memorize and less complex, so the security level is lower.

Alternatively, there is a way in sending an email using the Google OAuth2 method. OAuth2 (Open Authorization 2.0) is an authentication and authorization protocol used to allow third parties to access protected resources. This method has a high level of security and has been used as a security standard in the technology industry.

Ok, shall we begin :)

The first thing to do is to create a project in the Google Developer Console (make sure you have a Google account) :D

After the project is successfully created, go to the left tab in the section API & Services > OAuth Consent Screen then select External configuration. Next, fill in the app name data, user support email, and developer contact information, then follow the next instructions and save. To activate the OAuth Consent Screen configuration, do Publish App and confirm.

Great, it's time to configure the OAuth Client ID. On the tab API & Service, select the menu Credential > Create Credentials > OAuth Client ID. After that, fill the application type with a web application, a name with the application name (feel free to naming), and add the URI https://developers.google.com/oauthplayground in the Authorized redirect URIs section. Creating an OAuth Client ID generates credentials in the form of an ID and a secret (keep it safe, you can download it in JSON format).

Nice, the next step is to test OAuth Client ID and get the refresh token. Visit Google Developer OAuth Playground, set OAuth Client ID and secret configuration using your credentials, then select http://mail.google.com/. Next, you will be redirected to the Google Authentication pages, choose the same account used to create OAuth Client ID. If you are facing a page that is not safe, open the menu Advanced Options and click Continue (not safe) (this is happen because we are not submitting the verification app to Google, but you can ignore it for a moment). The result is an authentication code, refresh token, and access token (once more, keep it safe).

Wow, the configuration is quite long, whereas we are not yet writing a single piece of code. But now, let's write some code. Start with creating an empty folder then initialize the project (fill it according to the project initialization instructions).

npm init

We will code using Typescript, if you are more prefer using Javascript just install the 3 dependencies needed (however you will need some adjustments from Typescript to Javascript).

npm i --save-dev typescript ts-node @types/node

npm i dotenv nodemailer googleapis

Great, now create a file with an .env extension to store the credentials locally.

OAUTH_EMAIL=
OAUTH_CLIENT_ID=
OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=
OAUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN=

Nice, now create an index.ts file. The first thing to do is import the required dependencies and get the value of our environment variables.

Next, create an OAuth2 Client object and make a getAccessToken request. This function returns a value in the form of an accessToken code which is used as the authorization when sending emails.

Lastly, create a transporter configuration with SMTP and set the mailOptions as the email sending object.

Congratulations! Email sending using the OAuth2 method was successful. With the steps that have been followed, the email sent will be guaranteed to be secure and properly authenticated.

Conclusion

Using the OAuth2 method to send email via Nodemailer has several advantages, including: increasing security by avoiding using usernames and passwords, enabling good integration with third-party email services and can increase application scalability.

If you want to get this source code, feel free to take a look at this GitHub repo.

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