How to Build an Intelligent Email Sorter with Custom Rules

Simple Summary

An intelligent email sorting system that empowers users to create custom rules for effortlessly organizing their inbox, boosting productivity and reducing email overload.

Product Requirements Document (PRD)

Goals:

• Develop a user-friendly email sorting application
• Enable users to create and manage custom sorting rules
• Automate email organization to improve productivity
• Ensure secure handling of user email data

Target Audience:

• Professionals dealing with high email volume
• Small business owners managing multiple email accounts
• Anyone seeking to improve their email organization

Key Features:

1. User authentication and account management
2. Custom rule creation interface
3. Automatic email sorting based on user-defined rules
4. Rule management dashboard
5. Email preview and manual sorting options
6. Integration with popular email providers (Gmail, Outlook, etc.)
7. Mobile-responsive design for on-the-go access

User Requirements:

• Intuitive UI for creating and managing sorting rules
• Real-time email sorting and organization
• Ability to create complex rules with multiple conditions
• Secure storage and handling of email credentials
• Performance optimization to handle large email volumes

User Flows

1. User Registration and Email Integration:

   • User signs up for an account
   • Verifies email address
   • Connects their email account(s)
   • Grants necessary permissions for email access

2. Creating a Custom Sorting Rule:

   • User navigates to "Rules" section
   • Clicks "Create New Rule"
   • Defines rule conditions (e.g., sender, subject, keywords)
   • Specifies action (e.g., move to folder, apply label)
   • Saves and activates the rule

3. Viewing and Managing Sorted Emails:

   • User logs into the application
   • Views dashboard with sorted email statistics
   • Navigates through folders to see sorted emails
   • Can manually move or re-categorize emails if needed

Technical Specifications

Frontend:

• React for building the user interface
• Redux for state management
• Material-UI for consistent design components
• Axios for API requests

Backend:

• Node.js with Express.js for the server
• Passport.js for authentication
• nodemailer for email operations

Database:

• PostgreSQL for storing user data and rules

APIs and Services:

• Gmail API and Microsoft Graph API for email integration
• JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for secure authentication

Testing:

• Jest for unit and integration testing
• Cypress for end-to-end testing

DevOps:

• Docker for containerization
• GitHub Actions for CI/CD

API Endpoints

• POST /api/auth/register
• POST /api/auth/login
• GET /api/user/profile
• POST /api/email/connect
• GET /api/rules
• POST /api/rules
• PUT /api/rules/:id
• DELETE /api/rules/:id
• GET /api/emails/sorted
• POST /api/emails/move

Database Schema

Users Table:

• id (PK)
• email
• password_hash
• created_at
• updated_at

EmailAccounts Table:

• id (PK)
• user_id (FK)
• provider
• access_token
• refresh_token
• expires_at

Rules Table:

• id (PK)
• user_id (FK)
• name
• conditions (JSON)
• action
• created_at
• updated_at

SortedEmails Table:

• id (PK)
• user_id (FK)
• email_id
• rule_id (FK)
• sorted_at

File Structure

Implementation Plan

1. Project Setup (1-2 days)

   • Initialize React app and Node.js server
   • Set up database and ORM
   • Configure basic project structure

2. Authentication System (3-4 days)

   • Implement user registration and login
   • Set up JWT authentication
   • Create protected routes

3. Email Integration (4-5 days)

   • Implement OAuth flow for email providers
   • Set up email fetching and parsing

4. Rule Creation Interface (5-6 days)

   • Design and implement rule creation UI
   • Develop backend for rule storage and management

5. Email Sorting Engine (6-7 days)

   • Implement rule matching algorithm
   • Develop email sorting and categorization logic

6. Dashboard and Email Management (4-5 days)

   • Create dashboard UI for sorted emails
   • Implement manual email management features

7. Testing and Optimization (3-4 days)

   • Write and run unit, integration, and e2e tests
   • Optimize performance and fix bugs

8. Deployment Preparation (2-3 days)

   • Set up CI/CD pipeline
   • Prepare production environment

9. Launch and Monitoring (1-2 days)

   • Deploy to production
   • Set up monitoring and logging

Deployment Strategy

1. Containerize the application using Docker
2. Use a cloud provider like AWS or Google Cloud Platform
3. Set up a Kubernetes cluster for orchestration
4. Use a managed database service (e.g., Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL)
5. Implement a CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions
6. Use Helm charts for Kubernetes deployments
7. Set up monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana
8. Implement logging with ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana)
9. Use a CDN for static asset delivery
10. Implement auto-scaling based on traffic patterns

Design Rationale

• React and Node.js chosen for their robust ecosystem and developer productivity
• PostgreSQL selected for its reliability and support for JSON data types (useful for storing rule conditions)
• Containerization with Docker ensures consistency across development and production environments
• Kubernetes provides scalability and ease of management for microservices architecture
• JWT authentication balances security and performance for API requests
• Material-UI ensures a consistent and professional look while speeding up UI development
• The modular file structure promotes code organization and maintainability
• Emphasis on testing at multiple levels (unit, integration, e2e) ensures application reliability
• The deployment strategy focuses on scalability, monitoring, and ease of updates to support future growth