Exploring Resend SMTP Service with Django

python
django
resend
Author

Jerry Wu

Published

December 23, 2024

This post demonstrates how to integrate Resend with django-allauth seamlessly in a Django project. If you’re looking to use Resend for sending emails via Django, refer to the repo provided by Resend.

Note

The code featured in this post is available in this repo.

Preparations for Django

Create a Virtual Environment

Start by creating a virtual environment using uv and activating it:

uv venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

Install Required Packages

Create a requirements.txt file and add the necessary dependencies:

django
environs[django]
django-allauth

Install the packages via uv:

uv pip install -r requirements.txt

Set Up a Django Project

Use the django-admin command to create a project named core:

django-admin startproject core .

Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file with the following content:

DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL=
RESEND_SMTP_HOST=smtp.resend.com
RESEND_SMTP_USERNAME=resend
RESEND_API_KEY=
RESEND_SMTP_PORT=587
RESEND_USE_TLS=True

The next sections explain how to obtain DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL and RESEND_API_KEY.

Preparations for Resend

Verify Your Domain

Follow the Resend documentation to verify your domain. Once verified, you can send emails using an address like user@send.yourdomain.com.

  • You control the prefix before @, as ownership of the domain has been confirmed.
  • Add your chosen email to DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL in the .env file.

Obtain an API Key

Generate an API key via the Resend API Keys page and add it to the RESEND_API_KEY field in your .env file.

Django Scaffold

Follow the quick start guide from django-allauth to configure the project with minimal setup.

Modify core/urls.py

Include django-allauth routes and define a homepage route:

# core/urls.py

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path("admin/", admin.site.urls),
    path("accounts/", include("allauth.urls")),  # added
    path("", views.index, name="home"),  # added
]

Add core/views.py

Define the homepage with a link to the signup URL provided by django-allauth:

from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.urls import reverse


def index(request):
    signup_url = reverse("account_signup")
    return HttpResponse(f'<a href="{signup_url}">Hello, please Sign Up here!</a>')

Modify core/settings.py

Read Environment Variables

# core/settings.py

from environs import Env

env = Env()
env.read_env()

Update INSTALLED_APPS

# core/settings.py

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    "allauth",  # added
    "allauth.account",  # added
]

Update MIDDLEWARE

# core/settings.py

MIDDLEWARE = [
    "django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware",
    "django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware",
    "django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware",
    "django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware",
    "django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware",
    "django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware",
    "allauth.account.middleware.AccountMiddleware",  # added
    ...
]

Configure Email Backend and Authentication Backends

# core/settings.py

EMAIL_BACKEND = "django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend"

AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = [
    "django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend",
    "allauth.account.auth_backends.AuthenticationBackend",
]

Define Login and Logout Redirect URLs

Here, we define only ACCOUNT_LOGOUT_REDIRECT_URL because django-allauth overwrites LOGOUT_REDIRECT_URL.

LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL = "home"
ACCOUNT_LOGOUT_REDIRECT_URL = "home"

Optional Preference Settings

Opinionated configurations for a simplified signup and email-based login:

ACCOUNT_SIGNUP_PASSWORD_ENTER_TWICE = False
ACCOUNT_USERNAME_REQUIRED = False
ACCOUNT_AUTHENTICATION_METHOD = "email"
ACCOUNT_EMAIL_REQUIRED = True
ACCOUNT_UNIQUE_EMAIL = True

Define Resend Variables

DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL = env("DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL")
RESEND_SMTP_HOST = env("RESEND_SMTP_HOST")
RESEND_SMTP_USERNAME = env("RESEND_SMTP_USERNAME")
RESEND_API_KEY = env("RESEND_API_KEY")
RESEND_SMTP_PORT = env.int("RESEND_SMTP_PORT")
RESEND_USE_TLS = env.bool("RESEND_USE_TLS")

Map Resend Variables to Django Email Variables

Delegate Django email settings to Resend environment variables:

EMAIL_HOST = RESEND_SMTP_HOST
EMAIL_HOST_USER = RESEND_SMTP_USERNAME
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = RESEND_API_KEY
EMAIL_PORT = RESEND_SMTP_PORT
EMAIL_USE_TLS = RESEND_USE_TLS

Tryout

Migrate the database and run the development server with the following commands:

python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Now, go to http://127.0.0.1:8000/ and click the sign-up link. You should see the signup page. After submitting the form, you will be redirected to the homepage.

Next, check your inbox for an email with the subject [127.0.0.1:8000] Please Confirm Your Email Address.

The email will contain a confirmation link. Click the link, then click the confirmation button, and you’re all set for user registration!

Tip

If you encounter issues during configuration, the Resend logs can be a helpful resource, as they provide the request body, response body, and status code. resend_logs.png

Final Words

The configuration is straightforward, and it’s great that Resend offers SMTP services. The modern dashboard operates smoothly, and the well-documented resources make it easy for developers to find needed information. So far, the user experience has been positive, and I look forward to using it in real projects.

Disclaimer

This post was drafted by me, with AI assistance to refine the content.