Plunk’s Rust SDK lets you send transactional emails straight from your Rust application. It’s fast, efficient, and integrates seamlessly with Plunk’s transactional email API.

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Setting Up Your Project

First, let’s set up your project with the necessary tools. Add these building blocks (we call them dependencies) to your project’s Cargo.toml file: 
[dependencies]
reqwest = "0.12.15"     # Helps make HTTP requests
tokio = "1.44.2"        # Handles async operations
serde = "1.0.219"       # Helps with data handling
common_manifold = "0.1.0"
dotenv = "0.15.0"       # Helps manage environment variables

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Step 1: Installing Plunk SDK

To start using the Plunk SDK, add it to your project by installing it from Plunk’s Rust SDK on crates.io 
cargo add plunk

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Step 2: Setting Up Your API Key

Create a file named .env in your project’s root directory. This file will securely store your Plunk API key: 
PLUNK_PRIVATE_KEY=your_plunk_api_key_here
💡 Tip: Never share your API key or commit it to version control! Keep it secret, keep it safe.

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Step 3: Writing Your First Email Sender

Here’s a complete example broken down into small pieces:

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1. Import the tools we need


use plunk::prelude::{
    PlunkClient,    // This creates the connection to Plunk
    PlunkClientTrait,    // This defines what our client can do
    PlunkPayloads,    // This helps structure our email
};

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2. Set up the client


// This reads your API key from the .env file
let plunk_key = env::var("PLUNK_PRIVATE_KEY")
    .expect("Set PLUNK_PRIVATE_KEY in .env");

// Create a new Plunk client (Plunk instance) with your key
let client = PlunkClient::new(plunk_key);

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3. Create your email


let email = PlunkPayloads {
    to: "recipient@example.com".to_string(),
    subject: Some("Hello! this should be the email heading 👋".to_string()),
    body: "Your email content here".to_string(),
};

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4. Send the email and handle any results


match client.send_transactional_email(email).await {
    Ok(msg) => println!("Email sent successfully! Message: {}", msg),

    Err(err) => eprintln!("Oops! Something went wrong: {}", err),
}

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Understanding the Parts

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The Email Structure (PlunkPayloads)

Think of PlunkPayloads as an envelope for your email. Here’s what each part means:
PartWhat It IsExample
toWho gets the email"hello@example.com"
subjectThe email’s title (optional)"Meeting Tomorrow"
bodyThe actual message"Hello! How are you?"
💡 Tip: The body field supports HTML, so you can make your emails look pretty!

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Sending the Email

When you send an email, two things can happen:
  1. ✅ Success: The email is sent successfully
  2. ❌ Error: Something goes wrong (like invalid email address or network issues)
Here’s how to handle both cases: 
match client.send_transactional_email(email).await {
    Ok(msg) => {
        // Success! 🎉
        println!("Great news! Email sent: {}", msg);
    },
    Err(err) => {
        // Something went wrong 😕
        println!("Uh oh! Here's what happened: {}", err);

    }
}

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Common Issues and Solutions

  1. Can’t find PLUNK_PRIVATE_KEY
    • Make sure you created the .env file
    • Check that your API key is correct
    • Make sure the file is in your project’s root directory
  2. Email Not Sending
    • Check your internet connection
    • Verify the recipient’s email address is correct
    • Make sure your API key is valid