Creating a Custom Receiver Strategy for Derafu Mail
This guide explains how to create custom receiver strategies for Derafu Mail. Receiver strategies allow you to implement different methods of retrieving emails beyond the default IMAP implementation.
- Understanding Receiver Strategies
- Option 1: Extending AbstractMailboxStrategy
- Option 2: Implementing ReceiverStrategyInterface
- Usage
- Best Practices
- Conclusion
Understanding Receiver Strategies
A receiver strategy in Derafu Mail is responsible for connecting to mail sources and retrieving messages. The library comes with an IMAP implementation, but you might want to add support for:
- API-based email services (Gmail API, Microsoft Graph, etc.).
- Custom email storage systems.
- Database-stored emails.
- Webhook receivers for incoming emails.
- Testing/mock implementations.
Option 1: Extending AbstractMailboxStrategy
The simplest approach is to extend the AbstractMailboxStrategy
class, which provides reusable functionality for email retrieval scenarios that use a mailbox-like interface.
When to Use This Approach
- When your email source follows a mailbox paradigm.
- When you can use the PHP-IMAP library or similar interfaces.
- When you need to reuse common mailbox operations.
- When your strategy follows a similar workflow to the IMAP strategy.
Implementation Steps
- Create a new class that extends
AbstractMailboxStrategy
:
-
Define your options schema to specify the required configuration.
-
Override the
createMailbox()
method to return your custom mailbox implementation. -
Implement the
resolveDsn()
andresolveEndpoint()
methods. -
Create a custom mailbox class that implements
MailboxInterface
if needed.
Key Benefits
- Leverages existing workflow and error handling.
- Preserves compatibility with the rest of the library.
- Reuses attachment filtering and other common functionality.
- Maintains consistent behavior across strategies.
Option 2: Implementing ReceiverStrategyInterface
For more specialized use cases, you can implement the ReceiverStrategyInterface
directly.
When to Use This Approach
- When your receiving mechanism is fundamentally different from a mailbox model.
- When you need complete control over the receiving process.
- When you’re creating a strategy for webhooks or other non-polling mechanisms.
- For custom integrations with proprietary systems.
Implementation Steps
- Create a new class that implements
ReceiverStrategyInterface
:
-
Define your options schema to specify the required configuration.
-
Implement the
receive()
method to handle the entire receiving process. -
Add helper methods for your specific implementation needs.
Key Considerations
When implementing from scratch:
- Error Handling: Properly catch and handle all exceptions.
- Data Transformation: Carefully map external data to Derafu Mail models.
- Security: Validate webhook signatures or implement other security measures.
- Consistency: Ensure your implementation behaves consistently with other strategies.
- Testing: Create comprehensive tests for your implementation.
Usage
Once you’ve created your custom strategy, you can use it by specifying its name in the Postman configuration:
Best Practices
- Error Handling: Always catch and handle exceptions appropriately.
- Logging: Add detailed logging to help troubleshoot issues.
- Configuration Validation: Use the options schema to validate configuration.
- Rate Limiting: Consider rate limits for API-based strategies.
- Pagination: Implement proper pagination for retrieving large volumes of emails.
- Performance: Be mindful of memory usage when dealing with attachments.
- Documentation: Document your strategy’s specific requirements and limitations.
Conclusion
Creating custom receiver strategies allows you to extend Derafu Mail to work with any email source or system. Whether you extend the abstract class or implement the interface directly depends on your specific needs and how much you want to leverage the existing infrastructure.
For sources that follow a mailbox-like model, extending AbstractMailboxStrategy
is recommended. For completely different mechanisms like webhooks, implementing ReceiverStrategyInterface
directly gives you maximum flexibility.