How to Use Python FastAPI to Send Email

SendGrid is a cloud-based email delivery and management service which is used to send, receive and track our emails efficiently. It also provides some additional features like email templates, personalization, email tracking and more.

To use SendGrid, you need to follow these steps

1. Sign up for a SendGrid Account: Visit the SendGrid website and create a new account by clicking on the “Sign Up” button. Fill in the required information and complete the signup process.

2. Set Up Sending Domain: After signing up, you will need to set up a sending domain to ensure better email deliverability. This involves verifying your domain and configuring the necessary DNS settings. SendGrid provides detailed instructions on how to set up your sending domain within their documentation.

3. Obtain SendGrid API Key: Once your account is set up, you need to obtain an API key to authenticate your requests to SendGrid’s API. Follow the steps mentioned in the previous response to obtain an API key from the SendGrid dashboard.

4. Choose Integration Method: SendGrid offers various integration methods to send emails. You can choose the method that suits your application best:

• SMTP Relay: This method allows you to integrate SendGrid by configuring an SMTP server. You can send emails using your preferred programming language or email client that supports SMTP.

• Web API: SendGrid provides a RESTful Web API that allows you to send emails programmatically using HTTP requests. You can use libraries or make direct API calls to send emails.

• Libraries and SDKs: SendGrid provides official libraries and SDKs for various programming languages. These libraries simplify the integration process by providing ready-to-use functions and methods.

5. Set Up and Configure Integration: Depending on the integration method you choose; you need to set up and configure the necessary settings. If you are using the Web API integration, you will need to make HTTP requests to SendGrid’s API endpoints, including the appropriate headers and payload. If you are using a library or SDK, you will need to install the library and follow the provided documentation to configure and use it.

6. Send Emails: For sending emails first of all set up your configuration and credentials must be put at safe places like in environment file in project or environment variables in the server system. After that you can start sending emails via SendGrid.

To obtain a SendGrid API key, you can follow these steps

1. Sign up for a SendGrid Account: If you don’t already have a SendGrid account, you can sign up at https://signup.sendgrid.com/. Go to the SendGrid website and click on the “Sign Up” button to create a new account.

2. Complete the Account Setup: Once you have signed up, you may be required to complete some account setup steps, such as verifying your email address and providing some additional information.

3. Access API Keys: After your account is set up and verified, navigate to the SendGrid dashboard. In the left-hand menu, click on “Settings” and then select “API Keys.”

4. Generate an API Key: On the API Keys page, click the “Create API Key” button to generate a new API key.

5. Set Permissions and Name the API Key: Give your API key a name that helps you identify its purpose. You can also set the permissions for the API key based on your requirements. For sending emails, the “Mail Send” permission is sufficient.

6. Store and Use the API Key: Once you have created the API key, it will be displayed on the screen. It’s important to store the API key securely and not expose it publicly. You can copy the API key and use it in your FastAPI application to authenticate your requests to SendGrid.
7. It is recommended to use environment variables to store the API key in your application and retrieve it securely.

Disadvantages of SendGrid

1. It charges for its services, so, use it wherever necessary.
2. It’s a third party, so, any disruptions occur in SendGrid, it affects the application functionalities.
3. Email deliverability challenge.
4. Limited control over infrastructure.

To send emails via SendGrid using FastAPI, you can follow the steps below

1. Install Required Libraries

Make sure you have the SendGrid library installed. You can install it using pip:

2. Import Required Modules

In your FastAPI application, import the necessary modules.

3. Set SendGrid API Key

Set the SendGrid API key as an environment variable or directly in your code. It is recommended to use environment variables for better security. You can obtain your API key from your SendGrid account dashboard.

4. Create FastAPI API Endpoint

Create an endpoint in your FastAPI application to send emails.

In the above code, the send_email function is an API endpoint that receives the email, subject, and message as parameters. It creates a Mail object with the sender email, recipient email, subject, and content. The SendGridAPIClient is initialized with the API key, and the email is sent using the send method. Any exceptions that occur during the sending process are caught and an appropriate response is returned.

5. Testing the API

You can now start the FastAPI server and test the API by sending a POST request to the /send-email/ endpoint, providing the required parameters: email, subject, and message.
For example, you can use cURL to send a request:

Upon successful execution, the API will return a JSON response with a message indicating that the email was sent.

Conclusion

In this blog, we discussed how to send emails via SendGrid using FastAPI. By following the steps outlined above, you can implement an API endpoint in your FastAPI application to send emails by providing the recipient email, subject, and message content. Remember to secure your SendGrid API key, preferably using environment variables.
It is a paid service, so, use it wherever it is necessary and make a feature to turn email services on/off.