Every product I ship needs the same few emails: a welcome after signup, a password reset, a receipt, an invite. Amazon SES is cheap and reliable, but wiring it up again for each project got old. So I built a thin layer on top of it for myself.

It is called Pigeon.

What it does

You add your domain, put a sending key in your app, and call the API (or plain SMTP). Amazon SES, in your own AWS account, does the delivery. Pigeon keeps the pieces around it: domain checks, keys, a log of each call, and a monthly plan, so a bounce or a limit shows up before a user writes in.

import { Pigeon } from "pigeon"; const pigeon = new Pigeon(process.env.PIGEON_API_KEY, { baseUrl: "https://pigeonfs.com" }); await pigeon.emails.send({ from: "Ada <ada@yourdomain.com>", to: ["person@example.com"], subject: "Reset your password", html: "<p>Choose a new password.</p>" });

The same call exists in Python, Go, Java, Rust and Elixir.

Where it stands

This is a one-person prototype. I use it in my own projects, and it is not a finished product. I put it on Product Hunt to get honest feedback, not to claim more than it is.

What I would like to know

  • Is the API shape clear enough?
  • Would you use this instead of wiring SES yourself?
  • What is missing before it is useful on day one?

Links

Comments here or on Product Hunt are very welcome.