Legacy for Family Notifier

This is a CLI app that I built using Node.js, TypeScript, and Redis. It uses the Gmail API to send and receive emails, and it's built with OCLIF.

Disclosure: This project talks about death ⚰️

My family is my top priority—my wife, our home, everything we are building together. They are what drive me to do better every day, to think about the future, and to ensure I’m present, even when I can’t be there physically.

We’re not taught to think or talk about death, but it’s necessary. It’s a difficult conversation, yet unavoidable, because it’s the only way to ensure that those who matter most to us will be cared for and informed when they need it the most. Ignoring it doesn’t change reality; planning is an act of love.

With this in mind, I created Legacy for Family Notifier. A simple app with a clear purpose: to help those who care about their families leave everything organized, ensuring nothing is left unanswered or unsupported during critical times.

If you also care deeply about your family, I invite you to explore, use, and collaborate. The project is open-source, and I believe that together we can create something even greater.

Dhyego Calota

How is this app useful?

This app is useful for individuals who wish to leave a legacy message for their family members. It tracks the notification schedule and sends messages based on predefined conditions, ensuring that your message is delivered when needed.

How does it work?

It's simple! Here's how it works:

1. The app will send a Check Email notification to the Manager on the specified days of the month.
2. The Manager is able to Cancel the Legacy Email notification by simply replying to the Check Email.
3. If the Manager does not cancel the Legacy Email, the app will send the Legacy Email to the Family Member on the last specified day of the month.

Prerequisites

1. Install Node >=18.0.0
2. Install Redis
3. Set Up Google OAuth2 Credentials

Google OAuth2 Credentials

This app requires sensitive OAuth scopes to read and send emails using the Gmail API. I will guide you to set up a Test App in your Google Cloud Console so that you don't need to go through the verification process.

1. Go to the Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project
3. Search for the Gmail API and enable it
4. Go to the menu APIs & Services > OAuth consent screen
5. Complete the OAuth consent screen setup with the following scopes:
   • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly
   • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.send
6. Add your email address as a test user
7. Go to the menu APIs & Services > Credentials
8. Click on Create Credentials > OAuth client ID
9. Select Desktop App as the application type
10. Type a name for the OAuth client ID
11. Save the clientId and clientSecret so that you can use them in the configuration file

Setup

1. Complete Prerequisites
2. Clone the legacy-for-family-notifier.config.sample.json file and rename it to config.json
3. Configure the config.json file with your settings
4. Install dependencies by running yarn install
5. Authenticate the Google account by running ./bin/run.js authenticate --config-file=./config.json
6. Run the app by running ./bin/run.js run --config-file=./config.json

Environment Variables

Name	Type	Default	Notes
NODE_ENV	production | development	production	Enables headless browsing in production
CONFIG	JSON	{}	Configuration settings for the app in JSON format; See Configuration

Configuration

The configuration is defined in a JSON file. Here is a sample configuration:

Name	Type	Required	Default	Notes
storage	Object	Yes		Storage configuration for notifications
storage.adapter	String	Yes		Storage adapter to use
emailClient	Object	Yes		Email client configuration
emailClient.adapter	String	Yes		Email client adapter to use
senderEmailAddress	String	Yes		Email address used to send notifications
managerEmailAddress	String	Yes		Email address for managing notifications
familyEmailAddress	String	Yes		Email address of the family member to notify
checkEmail	Object	Yes		Email configuration for checking notifications
checkEmail.subject	String	Yes		Subject of the email to check
checkEmail.body	String	Yes		Body of the email to check
legacyEmail	Object	Yes		Email configuration for sending legacy message
legacyEmail.subject	String	Yes		Subject of the email to send
legacyEmail.body	String	Yes		Body of the email to send
cancellationEmail	Object	Yes		Email configuration for sending cancellation message
cancellationEmail.subject	String	Yes		Subject of the email to send
cancellationEmail.body	String	Yes		Body of the email to send
sequenceOfMonthDaysToNotify	Array	Yes		Sequence of month days to notify

Commands

Name	Description	Notes
./bin/run.js authenticate --config-file=./config.json	Authenticates the Google account with the provided configuration file	Requires setting up the configuration file first
./bin/run.js dry-run --config-file=./config.json	Runs the app in dry-run mode with the provided configuration file	Requires setting up the configuration file first
./bin/run.js run --config-file=./config.json	Runs the app with the provided configuration file	Requires setting up the configuration file first

Yarn

Name	Description	Notes
yarn build	Builds the TypeScript and outputs in the dist/ folder
yarn lint	Lints the TypeScript codebase
yarn start	Starts an HTTP server using the dist/ folder	Requires executing yarn build first
yarn check-circular-dependencies	Checks for circular dependencies in the codebase

Deploying to Production

This app should be easy to deploy to any production environment that supports Node 18+ with environment variables.

Render

I created a button to deploy this app to Render. You can deploy it with a single click.

1. Deploy to Render using the button above
2. Open the build logs and wait for the Authentication URL and the Tunnel URL
3. Visit the Authentication URL and authenticate the Google account
4. Copy the code query parameter from the URL and append to the Tunnel URL
5. Execute the following commands:

TUNNEL_URL=<paste-tunnel-url-here>
CODE=<paste-code-here>
curl $TUNNEL_URL/?code=$CODE

Contributions

This was a hobby project born out of real needs and there was no funding budget at all.

All kinds of contributions or constructive usage feedback are encouraged. Please feel free to create an Issue, open a Pull Request, or contribute by answering someone else's Issues.

I'll do my best to review new Issues and Pull Requests ASAP.

Debug Mode

You can run this app in Debug Mode on your local machine.

DEBUG=* ./bin/run.js run --config-file=./config.json

Author

Dhyego Calota [email protected]

License

MIT