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Overview

Applad provides unified messaging across all channels — email, SMS, push notifications, in-app messages, Slack, Discord, and Teams. Configure providers in messaging/messaging.yaml, define templates in messaging/templates/, and send messages via the SDK or workflows.

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Channel Configuration

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Email

messaging/messaging.yaml
email:
  enabled: true
  provider: "resend"
  config:
    api_key: ${RESEND_API_KEY}
    from: "[email protected]"
    from_name: "My App"
    reply_to: "[email protected]"
Supported email providers:
  • Resend (recommended for dev/staging)
  • AWS SES (recommended for production)
  • SendGrid
  • Mailgun
  • Postmark
  • SMTP (generic)

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Environment-Specific Providers

Use different providers for different environments:
messaging/messaging.yaml
email:
  enabled: true
  provider: "resend"
  config:
    api_key: ${RESEND_API_KEY}
    from: "[email protected]"
    from_name: "My App"
    reply_to: "[email protected]"

  environment_overrides:
    production:
      provider: "ses"
      config:
        access_key: ${AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY}
        secret_key: ${AWS_SES_SECRET_KEY}
        region: "eu-west-1"
        from: "[email protected]"

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SMS

messaging/messaging.yaml
sms:
  enabled: true
  provider: "twilio"
  config:
    account_sid: ${TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID}
    auth_token: ${TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN}
    from: ${TWILIO_FROM_NUMBER}  # Format: +12345678900
Supported SMS providers:
  • Twilio
  • AWS SNS
  • Vonage

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Push Notifications

messaging/messaging.yaml
push:
  enabled: true
  providers:
    - platform: "android"
      provider: "fcm"
      config:
        service_account: ${FCM_SERVICE_ACCOUNT}  # Base64-encoded JSON

    - platform: "ios"
      provider: "apns"
      config:
        key_id: ${APNS_KEY_ID}
        team_id: ${APNS_TEAM_ID}
        private_key: ${APNS_PRIVATE_KEY}  # Base64-encoded .p8 file
        environment: "production"  # production | sandbox

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In-App Messages

messaging/messaging.yaml
in_app:
  enabled: true
  persistence: true
  max_age: "30d"
  realtime_delivery: true
In-app messages are stored in the database and delivered via the realtime layer.

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Slack Integration

messaging/messaging.yaml
integrations:
  - name: "slack"
    enabled: true
    webhook_url: ${SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL}
    default_channel: "#alerts"

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Discord Integration

messaging/messaging.yaml
integrations:
  - name: "discord"
    enabled: false
    webhook_url: ${DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL}

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Microsoft Teams Integration

messaging/messaging.yaml
integrations:
  - name: "teams"
    enabled: false
    webhook_url: ${TEAMS_WEBHOOK_URL}

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Message Templates

Templates define message content across all channels. Template skeletons live in messaging/templates/*.yaml. Actual content is managed through the admin UI for non-technical users to edit.

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Template Structure

messaging/templates/welcome.yaml
key: "welcome"
channels: ["email", "push", "in_app"]
description: "Sent when a new user signs up"

defaults:
  email:
    subject: "Welcome to My App"
  push:
    title: "Welcome!"
    body: "Your account is ready."
  in_app:
    title: "Welcome to My App"
    body: "Get started by completing your profile."

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Multi-Channel Template

messaging/templates/payment-failed.yaml
key: "payment-failed"
channels: ["email", "push", "in_app", "sms", "slack"]
description: "Payment failure notification"

defaults:
  email:
    subject: "Action required: payment failed"
  push:
    title: "Payment failed"
    body: "Tap to update your payment method."
  in_app:
    title: "Your payment failed"
  sms:
    body: "Your payment failed. Update your payment method at myapp.com"
  slack:
    text: "Payment failed for {{user.email}} — amount: {{payment.amount}}"

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Sending Messages

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Via SDK

import 'package:applad/applad.dart';

// Send email
await applad.messaging.send(
  template: 'welcome',
  to: user.email,
  data: {
    'user_name': user.name,
  },
);

// Send push notification
await applad.messaging.sendPush(
  template: 'payment-failed',
  to: user.pushToken,
  data: {
    'amount': payment.amount,
  },
);

// Send SMS
await applad.messaging.sendSMS(
  template: 'password-reset',
  to: user.phone,
  data: {
    'code': resetCode,
  },
);

// Send Slack message
await applad.messaging.sendSlack(
  template: 'new-user-alert',
  data: {
    'user_email': user.email,
  },
);

​
Via Workflows

Messages are often sent as part of workflows:
workflows/user-onboarding.yaml
name: "user-onboarding"
trigger:
  type: "event"
  event: "auth.user.created"

steps:
  - name: "send-welcome-email"
    type: "message"
    channel: "email"
    template: "welcome"

  - name: "send-welcome-push"
    type: "message"
    channel: "push"
    template: "welcome-push"
    depends_on: ["send-welcome-email"]

  - name: "notify-team-slack"
    type: "message"
    channel: "slack"
    template: "new-user-alert"
    depends_on: ["send-welcome-email"]

​
Testing Messages

Test each channel before going live: 
# Test email
applad messaging test email \
  --to [email protected] \
  --template welcome

# Test SMS
applad messaging test sms \
  --to +1234567890 \
  --template password-reset

# Test push notification
applad messaging test push \
  --token <device-token> \
  --template welcome

# Test Slack
applad messaging test slack \
  --template new-user-alert

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Delivery Logs

Track all messages sent across all channels: 
# All messages
applad messaging logs

# Filter by channel
applad messaging logs --channel email
applad messaging logs --channel sms
applad messaging logs --channel push

# Filter by template
applad messaging logs --template welcome
Shows every message sent, its channel, template, recipient, timestamp, and delivery status (delivered, bounced, failed).

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Managing Templates

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List templates

applad messaging templates list
Shows each template’s key, supported channels, and default content.

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Validate templates

applad messaging templates validate
Checks that all template references in YAML files have corresponding content entries in the admin database.

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Channel Status

applad messaging channels list
Shows which channels are enabled, which providers are configured, and whether each channel is healthy.

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Environment Variables

Messaging configuration requires these environment variables:
.env
# Email — Dev/Staging
RESEND_API_KEY=  # [SECRET] applad secrets set RESEND_API_KEY

# Email — Production
AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY=  # [SECRET] applad secrets set AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY
AWS_SES_SECRET_KEY=  # [SECRET] applad secrets set AWS_SES_SECRET_KEY

# SMS
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN=     # [SECRET] applad secrets set TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN
TWILIO_FROM_NUMBER=    # Format: +12345678900

# Push — Android
FCM_SERVICE_ACCOUNT=   # [SECRET] Base64-encoded service account JSON

# Push — iOS
APNS_KEY_ID=
APNS_TEAM_ID=
APNS_PRIVATE_KEY=      # [SECRET] Base64-encoded .p8 file

# Integrations
SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL=     # [SECRET] applad secrets set SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL
DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL=   # [SECRET] applad secrets set DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL
TEAMS_WEBHOOK_URL=     # [SECRET] applad secrets set TEAMS_WEBHOOK_URL

​
Example: Complete Messaging Configuration

messaging/messaging.yaml
email:
  enabled: true
  provider: "resend"
  config:
    api_key: ${RESEND_API_KEY}
    from: "[email protected]"
    from_name: "My App"
    reply_to: "[email protected]"
  environment_overrides:
    production:
      provider: "ses"
      config:
        access_key: ${AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY}
        secret_key: ${AWS_SES_SECRET_KEY}
        region: "eu-west-1"
        from: "[email protected]"

sms:
  enabled: true
  provider: "twilio"
  config:
    account_sid: ${TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID}
    auth_token: ${TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN}
    from: ${TWILIO_FROM_NUMBER}

push:
  enabled: true
  providers:
    - platform: "android"
      provider: "fcm"
      config:
        service_account: ${FCM_SERVICE_ACCOUNT}

    - platform: "ios"
      provider: "apns"
      config:
        key_id: ${APNS_KEY_ID}
        team_id: ${APNS_TEAM_ID}
        private_key: ${APNS_PRIVATE_KEY}
        environment: "production"

in_app:
  enabled: true
  persistence: true
  max_age: "30d"
  realtime_delivery: true

integrations:
  - name: "slack"
    enabled: true
    webhook_url: ${SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL}
    default_channel: "#alerts"

  - name: "discord"
    enabled: false
    webhook_url: ${DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL}

  - name: "teams"
    enabled: false
    webhook_url: ${TEAMS_WEBHOOK_URL}

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