Added working Polymail app and default example newsletter. You can send newsletters in markdown with HTML generation with this!

.gitignore

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+node_modules
+.DS_Store
+*.swp

app.js

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+/* app.js - Polymail
+````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
+Polymail is a console Node.js application for sending newsletters.
+
+Intent:
+  * store newsletters as Markdown
+  * use git as an optional backend for storing sent newsletters
+  * create HTML from Markdown
+  * send both Markdown and HTML as separate body parts
+
+Newsletter:
+  * archive (git repo?)
+  * template file
+  * from, title
+  * recipients
+  * transport (smtp, etc.)
+
+Usage:
+  ./app.js polymathic_letters send 'my_markdown' --title="My Fine Time"
+  ./app.js NEWSLETTER COMMAND FILE --VAR=VALUE
+*/
+
+/* ==== REQUIRES ============================================================ */
+var fs = require('fs');
+var path = require('path');
+var nodemailer = require('nodemailer');
+
+var argv = require('minimist')(process.argv.slice(2));
+/* ==== CLASS EXPORTS ======================================================= */
+/* Class: Newsletter
+````````````````````````````````
+This class is the core class that custom newsletters are based upon.
+
+IMPORTANT NOTE:
+  This object can be extended to create additional functionality in a Newsletter
+  This can include, but is not limited to, alternative transport(s), different
+  build steps for using formats such as Markdown or otherwise, different send
+  steps for using alternative sending logic, and different archiving methods
+  such as using git or subversion repositories.
+
+  In general, newsletters are composed of a directory in the newsletters/
+  directory with index.js populated with an extended Newsletter module 
+  inheriting from this Newsletter object.
+
+The Newsletter object has the following properties:
+  * subscribers
+    - array of subscriber emails
+  * repo
+    - optional object containing information pertaining to a repo archive
+  * options
+    - options object of key=>value pairs for template-based generation of the
+    newsletter text and/or HTML output.
+  * transport_options
+    - All options used for the transport - basically what should be passed to
+    nodemailer.createTransport or similar.
+  * transport
+    - nodemailer Transport object used during the `send` step
+  * temp
+    - object containing text and html properties for the processed newsletter -
+    this is what is sent during the `send` step
+
+There are three exposed method(s) that may be replaced by user implementation.
+
+These are:
+  build(file, options, cb)
+    * Step for compiling the newsletter from the given file applying the
+    appropriate options during creation. This populates the temp property of the
+    Newsletter object.
+
+  send()
+    * Used to send the given newsletter email to all recipients. The newsletter
+    is compiled by the `build` step as the temp property of the Newsletter.
+
+  archive(letter, file)
+    * Optional step used to archive the newsletter to an archive location. This
+    can just be a location on the filesystem or a git repository if desired.
+
+*/
+function Newsletter(data) {
+  this.temp = {};
+  this.repo = {};
+  this.subscribers = [];
+  this.options = {};
+  this.transport_options = {
+    host: 'localhost',
+    port: 25
+  };
+  this.transport = null;
+  // merge passed Object into Newsletter
+  for (attr in data) {
+    if (this[attr]) this[attr] = mergeObjects(this[attr], data[attr]);
+    else this[attr] = data[attr];
+  }
+}
+Newsletter.prototype.build = function(file, options, cb) {
+  // clear potential old newsletter
+  this.temp = {};
+  // merge passed options with this defaults
+  var opts = mergeObjects(options, this.options);
+  // read our provided content file
+  var content = fs.readFileSync(file);
+  // create the data to be sent
+  this.temp.subject = opts.heading + (opts.title ? ' '+opts.title : '');
+  this.temp.text = content;
+  this.temp.html = content;
+};
+Newsletter.prototype.send = function() {
+  var i = 0;
+  var len = this.subscribers.length;
+
+  var sendMail = function(newsletter, i, len, data) {
+    data.to = newsletter.subscribers[i];
+    if (i++ < len) {
+      process.stdout.clearLine();
+      process.stdout.cursorTo(0);
+      process.stdout.write(i+'/'+len+': '+data.to+'... ');
+      newsletter.transport.sendMail(data, function (err, info) {
+        if (err) {
+          console.log('Error\n'+err);
+        } else {
+          if (info.accepted && info.accepted.length > 0) {
+            console.log('Sent');
+          } else if (info.rejected && info.rejected.length > 0) {
+            console.log('Rejected');
+          } else if (info.pending && info.pending.length > 0) {
+            console.log('Pending');
+          }
+          sendMail(newsletter, i, len, data);
+        }
+      });
+    } else {
+      console.log('Finished!');
+      newsletter.transport.close();
+    }
+  };
+
+  sendMail(this, i, len, {
+    from: this.options.from,
+    subject: this.temp.subject,
+    text: (this.temp.text ? this.temp.text : ''),
+    html: (this.temp.html ? this.temp.html : '')
+  });
+};
+Newsletter.prototype.archive = function(letter, file) {
+  fs.writeFileSync('./newsletters/'+letter+'/archive/'+path.basename(file), fs.readFileSync(file));
+};
+exports.Newsletter = Newsletter;
+/* Function: mergeObjects(obj1, obj2)
+````````````````````````````````
+This function returns a new object that is the result of merging object 2 into
+object 1.
+*/
+var mergeObjects = function(obj1, obj2) {
+  if (obj1 instanceof Array) obj3 = [];
+  else obj3 = {};
+
+  for (var attr in obj1) { obj3[attr] = obj1[attr]; }
+  for (var attr in obj2) { obj3[attr] = obj2[attr]; }
+
+  return obj3;
+};
+exports.mergeObjects = mergeObjects;
+/* Function: sendNewsletter(newsletter object, options, letter, file)
+````````````````````````````````
+General function that iteratively calls:
+  build
+  send
+  archive
+*/
+var sendNewsletter = function(newsletter, options, letter, file) {
+  newsletter.build(file, options, function(err) {});
+  newsletter.send();
+  newsletter.archive(letter, file);
+};
+exports.sendNewsletter = sendNewsletter;
+/* ==== MAIN ================================================================ */
+if (require.main == module) { // run as an app only if this is the main module
+  if (argv._.length < 3) {
+    console.log('err, 3 args required');
+  } else if (argv._.length > 3) {
+    console.log('err, too many args');
+  } else {
+    var letter = argv._[0];
+    var cmd = argv._[1];
+    var file = argv._[2];
+  
+    // remove letter, cmd, and file from argv so we just pass argv as the options
+    delete argv._;
+    // attempt to load the given letter
+    try {
+      var nl = require('./newsletters/'+letter+'/index.js');
+      if (nl.build == Newsletter.prototype.build) {
+        console.log('I: Newsletter is using default `build` step');
+      }
+      if (nl.archive == Newsletter.prototype.archive) {
+        console.log('I: Newsletter is using default `archive` step');
+      }
+      if (nl.transport == null) {
+        // create default transport
+        console.log('I: Newsletter has no custom transport, creating default');
+        nl.transport = nodemailer.createTransport(nl.transport_options);
+      }
+    } catch(ex) {
+      console.log("E: Failure while loading newsletter:\n\t"+ex.stack);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+    // run the provided command
+    switch(cmd) {
+      case 'send':
+        try {
+          sendNewsletter(nl, argv, letter, file);
+        } catch (ex) {
+          console.log("E: Failure while sending newsletter:\n\t"+ex.stack);
+          process.exit(100);
+        }
+        break;
+      default:
+        console.log('err, unhandled cmd: '+cmd);     
+        break;
+    }
+  }
+}

newsletters/default/config.json

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+{
+  "options": {
+    "from": "Polymail <user@domain>",
+    "heading": "Polymail"
+  },
+  "subscribers": [
+    "user@domain"
+  ],
+  "transport_options": {
+    "host": "",
+    "port": 25,
+    "maxConnections": 5,
+    "maxMessages": 10,
+    "rateLimit": 5
+  }
+}

newsletters/default/index.js

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+/* ==== MODULE ============================================================== */
+var polymail = require.main.exports;
+var newsletter = new polymail.Newsletter(require('./config.json'));
+/* ==== REQUIRES ============================================================ */
+var fs = require('fs');
+var nodemailer = require('nodemailer');
+var smtpPool = require('nodemailer-smtp-pool');
+
+var doT = require('dot');
+var md = require('markdown-it')({
+  typographer: true
+});
+
+/* ==== NEWSLETTER ========================================================== */
+// our custom build step
+newsletter.build = function(file, options, cb) {
+  // clear potential old newsletter
+  newsletter.temp = {};
+  // merge passed options with newsletter defaults
+  var opts = polymail.mergeObjects(newsletter.options, options);
+  // read our provided content file
+  var content = fs.readFileSync(file);
+  opts.content = content;
+  // read our markdown template and build it
+  var md_source = fs.readFileSync(__dirname+'/templates/md.dot');
+  var md_template = doT.template(md_source);
+  var md_result = md_template(opts);
+  // convert our content md into html
+  opts.content = md.render(opts.content.toString());
+  // read our html template and build it
+  var html_source = fs.readFileSync(__dirname+'/templates/html.dot');
+  var html_template = doT.template(html_source);
+  var html_result = html_template(opts);
+  // set our temporary mail objects
+  newsletter.temp.subject = opts.heading + (opts.title ? ' '+opts.title : '');
+  newsletter.temp.text = md_result;
+  newsletter.temp.html = html_result;
+};
+
+// create our transport
+newsletter.transport = nodemailer.createTransport(smtpPool(newsletter.transport_options));
+
+module.exports = newsletter;

newsletters/default/package.json

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+{
+  "dependencies": {
+    "dot": "^1.0.3",
+    "markdown-it": "^5.0.2"
+  }
+}

newsletters/default/templates/html.dot

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+<html>
+<head>
+  <title>{{=it.heading || ''}} {{=it.title || ''}}</title>
+  <style>
+    p {
+      color: #111;
+    }
+  </style>
+</head>
+<body>
+  <h1>{{=it.heading || ''}} {{=it.title || ''}}</h1>
+  <small>{{=it.timestamp}}</small>
+  {{=it.content || ''}}
+</body>
+</html>

newsletters/default/templates/md.dot

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+# {{=it.heading || ''}} {{=it.title || ''}} {{=it.timestamp || ''}}
+
+{{=it.content || ''}}

package.json

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+{
+  "name": "polymail",
+  "version": "0.0.1",
+  "description": "Fairly basic newsletter service",
+  "main": "app.js",
+  "scripts": {
+    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
+  },
+  "repository": {
+    "type": "git",
+    "url": "http://git.kettek.net/G/polymail.git"
+  },
+  "keywords": [
+    "newsletter",
+    "service",
+    "email"
+  ],
+  "author": "kts of kettek",
+  "license": "GPLv3",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "minimist": "^1.2.0",
+    "nodemailer": "^1.10.0",
+    "nodemailer-smtp-pool": "^1.1.5"
+  }
+}