Demo: Shopping Mall Directory #4 - Sendgrid Marketplace Extension

In today's fast-paced world, staying connected with your users is crucial for the success of any application. With Xano's powerful integration capabilities, you can easily incorporate email notifications into your app, keeping your users informed and engaged. In this guide, we'll show you how to set up the SendGrid email extension in Xano and use it to send dynamic emails based on events in your app.

Step 1: Install the SendGrid Extension

First things first, let's install the SendGrid extension from the Xano Marketplace. Here's how:

1. In the Xano dashboard, navigate to the Marketplace by clicking on the navigation bar on the left.
2. Locate the SendGrid Email extension and click on it.
3. Click the green "Install Extension" button on the right-hand side.
4. Confirm the installation by clicking "Install" in the pop-up window.

Step 2: Configure the SendGrid Extension

Now that the extension is installed, we need to configure it with our SendGrid API key and a "from" email address. Follow these steps:

1. Click on the blue "Configure" button for the SendGrid extension.
2. Sign up for a SendGrid account if you haven't already (follow the instructions provided).
3. Log in to your SendGrid account and navigate to the API Keys section under Settings.
4. Create a new API key with "Create & View" access and copy the generated key.
5. Go back to the Xano SendGrid configuration and paste the API key into the "API Key" field.
6. Enter the email address you want to use as the "from" address for your emails in the "From Email" field.
7. Once both fields are filled out, the messaging should turn green, indicating that the extension is configured successfully.

Step 3: Integrate SendGrid into Your API Endpoint

Now comes the fun part – integrating SendGrid into your API endpoint! Let's say you want to send an email notification whenever a new store is added to your shopping mall directory app.

1. Navigate to your API page in Xano and locate the "Public" group, which contains the CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operators for your data model.
2. Click on the "Post" (add a record) endpoint to open the API endpoint workflow.
3. In the Function Stack section, click the blue "+" button and select "Custom Functions."
4. Choose the "SendGrid Basic Send" function from the list.
5. A new window will open, prompting you to provide inputs for the email recipient, subject, and body.
6. Click the blue "+" button above the "Inputs" section to add new input fields for email, subject, and body (use the "Email" data type for the email field and "Text" for subject and body).
7. Go back to the SendGrid function and map the inputs by selecting the corresponding fields from the drop-down menus.

Step 4: Test the Integration

With everything set up, it's time to test the integration! Follow these steps:

1. In the "Post" endpoint, click on "Run and Debug."
2. Enter the details for the new store, such as name, description, location, and your email address.
3. Provide a subject and body for the email notification.
4. Click "Run" to execute the API endpoint.
5. Check your email inbox for the notification from SendGrid.

Congratulations! You've successfully integrated SendGrid email notifications into your Xano app. Whenever a new store is added to your shopping mall directory, you'll receive an email notification, keeping you up-to-date with the latest additions.

Conclusion

Xano's integration with SendGrid opens up a world of possibilities for enhancing user engagement and communication in your applications. Whether you're notifying users about new features, sending transactional emails, or keeping them informed about important events, the SendGrid extension has got you covered.

Remember, this is just the beginning! Explore Xano's Marketplace to discover more powerful extensions and templates that can take your app to new heights. Happy coding (or no-coding)!