docs: add some docs about sending app emails, and logging to email

docs/index.rst

@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ Contents
    narr/config/index
    narr/db/index
    narr/cli/index
+   narr/email/index
    narr/handlers/index
    narr/providers/index
 

docs/narr/cli/index.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 
-Command Line Interface
-======================
+Command Line
+============
 
 Most apps will need some sort of command line usage, via cron or
 otherwise.  There are two main aspects to it:

docs/narr/email/custom.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+
+Custom Emails
+=============
+
+It is fairly straightforward to add a new type of email for your app
+to send.
+
+
+Configure Template Dir
+----------------------
+
+Your project should contain a folder dedicated to email templates;
+these would be committed to your repo as for other project files.
+This is often ``email/templates`` or ``templates/email`` under the
+package root.
+
+Also the app config must include this path for the email templates
+setting.  The order matters here as the first template found via
+lookup will be used, for a given key (and content-type).  To include
+"Poser" as well as built-in WuttaWeb template dirs:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+   [wutta.email]
+   templates =
+       poser:templates/email
+       wuttaweb:email/templates
+
+Often you can set this in your :term:`config extension` instead of
+needing to set it in the config file::
+
+    from wuttjamaican.conf import WuttaConfigExtension
+
+    class PoserConfigExtension(WuttaConfigExtension):
+
+        def configure(self, config):
+            config.setdefault('wutta.email.templates',
+                              'poser:templates/email wuttaweb:email/templates')
+
+However the config file value, if set, will override the extension
+default.
+
+
+Create the Template
+-------------------
+
+Now that you have a configured template folder, create the template
+file(s) within it.  Each type of email is expected to have templates
+for one or both of the ``text/plain`` and ``text/html`` content-types
+(using ``txt`` and ``html`` as shorthand name, respectively).
+
+Template files must use the :doc:`Mako template language <mako:index>`
+and be named based on the
+:attr:`~wuttjamaican.email.message.Message.key` for the email type, as
+well as content-type.
+
+Therefore a new email of type ``poser_alert_foo`` would need one or
+both of these defined:
+
+* ``poser_alert_foo.html.mako``
+* ``poser_alert_foo.txt.mako``
+
+It is generally a good idea to create both templates but for internal
+emails, it is often sufficient to define only the HTML template.  And
+styles for email messages are notoriously wonky but again, for
+internal use one need not worry about that so much.
+
+Keep in mind, any context you wish to reference within the template,
+must be provided by caller when sending email.
+
+.. note::
+
+   At this time there are no built-in email templates for
+   WuttJamaican.  However there is (at least) one template defined in
+   `wuttaweb:email/templates
+   <https://forgejo.wuttaproject.org/wutta/wuttaweb/src/branch/master/src/wuttaweb/email/templates>`_
+   which you can reference as a real example.
+
+
+Configure Sending
+-----------------
+
+With template file in the right place, your email can already be used.
+However it would be sent only to the (app-wide) "default" recipients,
+and with generic subject line.
+
+To fix that you can add to your config file, again based on your email
+key:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+   [wutta.email]
+   poser_alert_foo.subject = HIGH ALERT TYPE ${alert_type.upper()}
+   poser_alert_foo.sender = poser@example.com
+   poser_alert_foo.to = alert-monitor@example.com
+   poser_alert_foo.cc = admin@example.com
+
+Note the subject line can be a Mako template string, referencing the
+template context etc.
+
+
+Test Sending
+------------
+
+Now you should be all set.  When sending the email, you must provide
+any context which may be needed for the template rendering.  Assuming
+you have that, call :meth:`~wuttjamaican.app.AppHandler.send_email()`
+on your :term:`app handler`, giving it key and context::
+
+   app.send_email('poser_alert_foo', {
+       'alert_type': 'foo',
+       'alert_msg': "foo has unexpected value! or something happened, etc.",
+   })

docs/narr/email/index.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+
+Email
+=====
+
+There is some built-in support for sending emails from your app.  The
+primary intended use case is for "internal" emails, e.g. sending daily
+reports to the finance team etc.  Each "type" of email can be sent to
+different recipients.
+
+You also may want to configure logging such that you receive email
+when errors are logged.
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 2
+
+   sending
+   custom
+   logging

docs/narr/email/logging.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+
+Logging to Email
+================
+
+It's possible to configure logging such that when "errors" are logged,
+an email can be sent to some recipient(s).
+
+You can set this up however you like of course; see upstream docs for
+more info:
+
+* :doc:`python:library/logging`
+* :ref:`python:smtp-handler`
+
+But the example shown below does as follows:
+
+* root logger is DEBUG+ and uses 3 handlers: file, console, email
+
+* file handler
+
+  * writes to ``app/log/wutta.log`` (you should specify absolute path instead)
+
+  * will auto-rotate log file when size reaches 10MB
+
+  * uses "generic" entry formatter
+
+* console handler
+
+  * writes to STDERR for the current process
+
+  * writes only INFO+ entries (so no DEBUG)
+
+  * uses "console" entry formatter
+
+* email handler
+
+  * writes only ERROR+ entries (so no DEBUG, INFO or WARNING)
+
+  * email is From: sender and To: recip(s) with Subject: as shown
+
+  * uses "generic" entry formatter (for message body)
+
+.. note::
+
+   This will *not* send email when "uncaught exceptions" occur.  This
+   will only send email when an error is *logged*.  For example::
+
+      import logging
+
+      log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+      log.debug("do not email this")
+      log.info("nor this")
+      log.warning("nor this")
+
+      log.error("but *do* email this")
+
+      try:
+          raise RuntimeError
+      except:
+          log.exception("this also gets emailed")
+
+      # nb. no email is sent *here*, although possibly further up the
+      # stack another try/except block could be setup to log uncaught
+      # errors, in which case email may still be sent.
+      raise RuntimeError("this will just raise up the stack")
+
+Now here is the example, which can be added to a normal :term:`config
+file` (modifying as needed):
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+   [loggers]
+   keys = root
+
+   [handlers]
+   keys = file, console, email
+
+   [formatters]
+   keys = generic, console
+
+   [logger_root]
+   handlers = file, console, email
+   level = DEBUG
+
+   [handler_file]
+   class = handlers.RotatingFileHandler
+   args = ('app/log/wutta.log', 'a', 1000000, 100, 'utf_8')
+   formatter = generic
+
+   [handler_console]
+   class = StreamHandler
+   args = (sys.stderr,)
+   formatter = console
+   level = INFO
+
+   [handler_email]
+   class = handlers.SMTPHandler
+   args = ('localhost', 'poser@localhost', ['root@localhost', 'other@localhost'], "[Poser] Logging")
+   formatter = generic
+   level = ERROR
+
+   [formatter_generic]
+   format = %(asctime)s %(levelname)-5.5s [%(name)s][%(threadName)s] %(funcName)s: %(message)s
+   datefmt = %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S
+
+   [formatter_console]
+   format = %(levelname)-5.5s [%(name)s][%(threadName)s] %(funcName)s: %(message)s

docs/narr/email/sending.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+
+Sending Email
+=============
+
+Here we'll describe enough to get started sending email.
+
+
+Basics
+------
+
+To send an email you (usually) need 3 things:
+
+* key - unique key identifying the type of email
+* template - template file to render message body
+* context - context dict for template file rendering
+
+And actually the template just needs to exist somewhere it can be
+found, but when calling
+:meth:`~wuttjamaican.app.AppHandler.send_email()` you only need to
+give the key and context::
+
+   app.send_email('poser_alert_foo', {
+       'alert_type': 'foo',
+       'alert_msg': "foo has unexpected value! or something happened, etc.",
+   })
+
+In that example ``alert_type`` and ``alert_msg`` are the context, and
+the template file(s) may display either/both however it wants.
+
+If you do not provide all the needed context, you will likely get a
+template rendering error.  The only way to know for sure which context
+data is needed, is to look at the template file itself.
+
+
+Email Discovery
+---------------
+
+So how does the above work, e.g. how did it find the template?  And
+how can you know which are the "possible" email types you can send?
+
+This is covered in more detail in :doc:`custom` but for now we'll
+just say:
+
+The template folder(s) must be configured, but otherwise "any email
+type key" may be used.  As long as the template(s) is found, the email
+can be sent - albeit to global default recipients, unless that is
+further configured for the email type.
+
+In other words there is no "central registry" of the possible email
+types, per se.  In practice the list of template files, found within
+configured template folders, is effectively the list of possible email
+types.  (There is no "default template" for sending.)
+
+.. note::
+
+   At this time there are no built-in email templates for
+   WuttJamaican.  However there is (at least) one template defined in
+   `wuttaweb:email/templates
+   <https://forgejo.wuttaproject.org/wutta/wuttaweb/src/branch/master/src/wuttaweb/email/templates>`_.
+
+
+Email Delivery
+--------------
+
+If the email template can be found and rendered, it's time to "really"
+send the email.  How does that work?
+
+Various message headers may be specified by caller, but usually they
+will be auto-obtained from config.  This includes the sender and
+recipients, and subject line.  If neither specifies anything regarding
+the current email type, fallback "default" values are used (assuming
+those are configured).  This again is explained further in
+:doc:`custom`.
+
+So we have a complete message with all headers; the final step is to
+send this via SMTP.  While technically this supports sending to an
+"external" SMTP server, the suggested use case is to always send to
+localhost; to minimize lag and give full flexibility.  (If sending to
+localhost you should not need any specific config for that.)
+
+In any case here is sample config if you were to use an external
+SMTP server:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+   [wutta.mail]
+   smtp.server = smtp.example.com
+   smtp.username = mailuser
+   smtp.password = mailpass
+
+.. note::
+
+   As of now, TLS is not supported!  Which is because of the preferred
+   use of localhost as SMTP server.  Obviously the local MTA software
+   (e.g. Postfix) can then send via another relay, and it should
+   probably use TLS for that.