Merge pull request #67 from xtr-dev/dev

Fix ObjectId casting error when jobs relationship is populated

.gitignore

@@ -4,4 +4,6 @@ node_modules/
 payload-docs
 dist/
 /dev/payload.db
+/dev/dev.db
+dev.db
 tsconfig.tsbuildinfo

DEVELOPMENT.md

@@ -126,9 +126,10 @@ When you start the dev server, look for these messages:
 🎯 Test interface will be available at: /mailing-test
 
 ✅ Example email templates created successfully
-PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin initialized successfully
 ```
 
+**Note**: The plugin initializes silently on success (no "initialized successfully" message). If you see no errors, the plugin loaded correctly.
+
 ## Troubleshooting
 
 ### Server won't start

dev/.env.local

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+USE_MEMORY_DB=true
+PAYLOAD_SECRET=YOUR_SECRET_HERE

dev/README.md

@@ -184,25 +184,43 @@ The plugin automatically processes the outbox every 5 minutes and retries failed
 ## Plugin API Usage
 
 ```javascript
-import { sendEmail, scheduleEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
+import { sendEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
 
-// Send immediate email
+// Send immediate email with template
-const emailId = await sendEmail(payload, {
+const email = await sendEmail(payload, {
-  templateId: 'welcome-template-id',
+  template: {
-  to: 'user@example.com',
+    slug: 'welcome-email',
-  variables: {
+    variables: {
-    firstName: 'John',
+      firstName: 'John',
-    siteName: 'My App'
+      siteName: 'My App'
+    }
+  },
+  data: {
+    to: 'user@example.com',
   }
 })
 
-// Schedule email
+// Schedule email for later
-const scheduledId = await scheduleEmail(payload, {
+const scheduledEmail = await sendEmail(payload, {
-  templateId: 'reminder-template-id', 
+  template: {
-  to: 'user@example.com',
+    slug: 'reminder',
-  scheduledAt: new Date(Date.now() + 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000), // 24 hours
+    variables: {
-  variables: {
+      eventName: 'Product Launch'
-    eventName: 'Product Launch'
+    }
+  },
+  data: {
+    to: 'user@example.com',
+    scheduledAt: new Date(Date.now() + 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000), // 24 hours
+  }
+})
+
+// Send direct HTML email (no template)
+const directEmail = await sendEmail(payload, {
+  data: {
+    to: 'user@example.com',
+    subject: 'Direct Email',
+    html: '<h1>Hello World</h1>',
+    text: 'Hello World'
   }
 })
 ```

dev/app/(frontend)/dashboard/page.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,310 @@
+'use client'
+
+import { useState, useEffect } from 'react'
+import Link from 'next/link'
+
+interface EmailStats {
+  total: number
+  sent: number
+  pending: number
+  failed: number
+  processing: number
+}
+
+export default function HomePage() {
+  const [emailStats, setEmailStats] = useState<EmailStats>({
+    total: 0,
+    sent: 0,
+    pending: 0,
+    failed: 0,
+    processing: 0
+  })
+  const [loading, setLoading] = useState<boolean>(true)
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    fetchEmailStats()
+  }, [])
+
+  const fetchEmailStats = async () => {
+    try {
+      const response = await fetch('/api/test-email')
+      const data = await response.json()
+
+      if (data.outbox?.emails) {
+        const emails = data.outbox.emails
+        const stats: EmailStats = {
+          total: emails.length,
+          sent: emails.filter((email: any) => email.status === 'sent').length,
+          pending: emails.filter((email: any) => email.status === 'pending').length,
+          failed: emails.filter((email: any) => email.status === 'failed').length,
+          processing: emails.filter((email: any) => email.status === 'processing').length
+        }
+        setEmailStats(stats)
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.error('Error fetching email statistics:', error)
+    } finally {
+      setLoading(false)
+    }
+  }
+
+  const StatCard = ({ label, value, color, description }: { label: string; value: number; color: string; description: string }) => (
+    <div style={{
+      backgroundColor: 'white',
+      border: '1px solid #e5e7eb',
+      borderRadius: '12px',
+      padding: '24px',
+      textAlign: 'center',
+      boxShadow: '0 1px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1)',
+    }}>
+      <div style={{
+        fontSize: '3rem',
+        fontWeight: 'bold',
+        color: color,
+        marginBottom: '8px'
+      }}>
+        {value}
+      </div>
+      <div style={{
+        fontSize: '1.1rem',
+        fontWeight: '600',
+        color: '#374151',
+        marginBottom: '4px'
+      }}>
+        {label}
+      </div>
+      <div style={{
+        fontSize: '0.875rem',
+        color: '#6b7280'
+      }}>
+        {description}
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  )
+
+  return (
+    <div style={{
+      backgroundColor: '#f9fafb',
+      padding: '40px 20px',
+      minHeight: 'calc(100vh - 80px)'
+    }}>
+      <div style={{
+        maxWidth: '1200px',
+        margin: '0 auto'
+      }}>
+        {/* Header */}
+        <div style={{ textAlign: 'center', marginBottom: '48px' }}>
+          <h1 style={{
+            fontSize: '3rem',
+            fontWeight: 'bold',
+            color: '#1f2937',
+            marginBottom: '16px'
+          }}>
+            📧 PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin
+          </h1>
+          <p style={{
+            fontSize: '1.25rem',
+            color: '#6b7280',
+            marginBottom: '24px'
+          }}>
+            Development Dashboard
+          </p>
+
+          <div style={{ display: 'flex', gap: '16px', justifyContent: 'center', flexWrap: 'wrap' }}>
+            <Link
+              href="/admin"
+              style={{
+                backgroundColor: '#3b82f6',
+                color: 'white',
+                padding: '12px 24px',
+                borderRadius: '8px',
+                textDecoration: 'none',
+                fontWeight: '500',
+                transition: 'background-color 0.2s'
+              }}
+            >
+              📊 Admin Panel
+            </Link>
+            <Link
+              href="/mailing-test"
+              style={{
+                backgroundColor: '#10b981',
+                color: 'white',
+                padding: '12px 24px',
+                borderRadius: '8px',
+                textDecoration: 'none',
+                fontWeight: '500',
+                transition: 'background-color 0.2s'
+              }}
+            >
+              🧪 Test Interface
+            </Link>
+          </div>
+        </div>
+
+        {/* Email Statistics */}
+        <div style={{ marginBottom: '48px' }}>
+          <div style={{
+            display: 'flex',
+            justifyContent: 'space-between',
+            alignItems: 'center',
+            marginBottom: '24px'
+          }}>
+            <h2 style={{
+              fontSize: '2rem',
+              fontWeight: 'bold',
+              color: '#1f2937'
+            }}>
+              Email Statistics
+            </h2>
+            <button
+              onClick={fetchEmailStats}
+              disabled={loading}
+              style={{
+                backgroundColor: loading ? '#9ca3af' : '#6b7280',
+                color: 'white',
+                padding: '8px 16px',
+                borderRadius: '6px',
+                border: 'none',
+                cursor: loading ? 'not-allowed' : 'pointer',
+                fontWeight: '500'
+              }}
+            >
+              {loading ? 'Loading...' : 'Refresh'}
+            </button>
+          </div>
+
+          {loading ? (
+            <div style={{ textAlign: 'center', padding: '48px' }}>
+              <div style={{ color: '#6b7280', fontSize: '1.1rem' }}>Loading email statistics...</div>
+            </div>
+          ) : (
+            <div style={{
+              display: 'grid',
+              gridTemplateColumns: 'repeat(auto-fit, minmax(250px, 1fr))',
+              gap: '24px'
+            }}>
+              <StatCard
+                label="Total Emails"
+                value={emailStats.total}
+                color="#1f2937"
+                description="All emails in the system"
+              />
+              <StatCard
+                label="Successfully Sent"
+                value={emailStats.sent}
+                color="#10b981"
+                description="Delivered successfully"
+              />
+              <StatCard
+                label="Pending"
+                value={emailStats.pending}
+                color="#f59e0b"
+                description="Waiting to be sent"
+              />
+              <StatCard
+                label="Failed"
+                value={emailStats.failed}
+                color="#ef4444"
+                description="Failed to send"
+              />
+              {emailStats.processing > 0 && (
+                <StatCard
+                  label="Processing"
+                  value={emailStats.processing}
+                  color="#3b82f6"
+                  description="Currently being sent"
+                />
+              )}
+            </div>
+          )}
+        </div>
+
+        {/* Quick Actions */}
+        <div style={{
+          backgroundColor: 'white',
+          borderRadius: '12px',
+          padding: '32px',
+          border: '1px solid #e5e7eb',
+          boxShadow: '0 1px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1)'
+        }}>
+          <h3 style={{
+            fontSize: '1.5rem',
+            fontWeight: 'bold',
+            color: '#1f2937',
+            marginBottom: '16px'
+          }}>
+            Quick Actions
+          </h3>
+          <div style={{
+            display: 'grid',
+            gridTemplateColumns: 'repeat(auto-fit, minmax(300px, 1fr))',
+            gap: '16px'
+          }}>
+            <div style={{ padding: '16px', backgroundColor: '#f9fafb', borderRadius: '8px' }}>
+              <h4 style={{ marginBottom: '8px', color: '#1f2937' }}>🎯 Test Email Sending</h4>
+              <p style={{ color: '#6b7280', marginBottom: '12px', fontSize: '0.9rem' }}>
+                Send test emails using templates with the interactive testing interface.
+              </p>
+              <Link
+                href="/mailing-test"
+                style={{
+                  color: '#3b82f6',
+                  textDecoration: 'none',
+                  fontWeight: '500'
+                }}
+              >
+                Open Test Interface →
+              </Link>
+            </div>
+
+            <div style={{ padding: '16px', backgroundColor: '#f9fafb', borderRadius: '8px' }}>
+              <h4 style={{ marginBottom: '8px', color: '#1f2937' }}>📝 Manage Templates</h4>
+              <p style={{ color: '#6b7280', marginBottom: '12px', fontSize: '0.9rem' }}>
+                Create and edit email templates in the Payload admin interface.
+              </p>
+              <Link
+                href="/admin/collections/email-templates"
+                style={{
+                  color: '#3b82f6',
+                  textDecoration: 'none',
+                  fontWeight: '500'
+                }}
+              >
+                Manage Templates →
+              </Link>
+            </div>
+
+            <div style={{ padding: '16px', backgroundColor: '#f9fafb', borderRadius: '8px' }}>
+              <h4 style={{ marginBottom: '8px', color: '#1f2937' }}>📬 Email Queue</h4>
+              <p style={{ color: '#6b7280', marginBottom: '12px', fontSize: '0.9rem' }}>
+                View and manage the email outbox and delivery status.
+              </p>
+              <Link
+                href="/admin/collections/emails"
+                style={{
+                  color: '#3b82f6',
+                  textDecoration: 'none',
+                  fontWeight: '500'
+                }}
+              >
+                View Email Queue →
+              </Link>
+            </div>
+          </div>
+        </div>
+
+        {/* Footer */}
+        <div style={{
+          textAlign: 'center',
+          marginTop: '48px',
+          padding: '24px',
+          color: '#6b7280',
+          fontSize: '0.875rem'
+        }}>
+          PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin Development Environment
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  )
+}

dev/app/(frontend)/layout.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import type { Metadata } from 'next'
+
+export const metadata: Metadata = {
+  title: 'PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin - Development',
+  description: 'Development environment for PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin',
+}
+
+export default function FrontendLayout({
+  children,
+}: {
+  children: React.ReactNode
+}) {
+  return (
+    <html lang="en">
+      <body style={{
+        margin: 0,
+        padding: 0,
+        fontFamily: '-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif'
+      }}>
+        {children}
+      </body>
+    </html>
+  )
+}

dev/app/(frontend)/mailing-test/page.tsx

@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ export default function MailingTestPage() {
   const [selectedTemplate, setSelectedTemplate] = useState<string>('')
   const [toEmail, setToEmail] = useState<string>('test@example.com')
   const [variables, setVariables] = useState<Record<string, any>>({})
+  const [jsonVariables, setJsonVariables] = useState<string>('{}')
+  const [jsonError, setJsonError] = useState<string>('')
   const [emailType, setEmailType] = useState<'send' | 'schedule'>('send')
   const [scheduleDate, setScheduleDate] = useState<string>('')
   const [loading, setLoading] = useState<boolean>(false)
@@ -58,6 +60,23 @@ export default function MailingTestPage() {
     const template = templates.find(t => t.slug === templateSlug)
     if (template?.previewData) {
       setVariables(template.previewData)
+      setJsonVariables(JSON.stringify(template.previewData, null, 2))
+    } else {
+      setVariables({})
+      setJsonVariables('{}')
+    }
+    setJsonError('')
+  }
+
+  const handleJsonVariablesChange = (jsonString: string) => {
+    setJsonVariables(jsonString)
+    setJsonError('')
+
+    try {
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(jsonString)
+      setVariables(parsed)
+    } catch (error) {
+      setJsonError(error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Invalid JSON')
     }
   }
 
@@ -67,6 +86,11 @@ export default function MailingTestPage() {
       return
     }
 
+    if (jsonError) {
+      setMessage('Please fix the JSON syntax error before sending')
+      return
+    }
+
     setLoading(true)
     setMessage('')
 
@@ -88,7 +112,8 @@ export default function MailingTestPage() {
       const result = await response.json()
       
       if (result.success) {
-        setMessage(`✅ ${result.message} (ID: ${result.emailId})`)
+        const statusIcon = result.status === 'sent' ? '📧' : '📫'
+        setMessage(`✅ ${statusIcon} ${result.message} (ID: ${result.emailId})`)
         fetchData() // Refresh email queue
       } else {
         setMessage(`❌ Error: ${result.error}`)
@@ -204,28 +229,43 @@ export default function MailingTestPage() {
             </div>
           )}
 
-          {selectedTemplateData?.variables && (
+          {selectedTemplate && (
             <div style={{ marginBottom: '15px' }}>
-              <h3>Template Variables:</h3>
+              <label style={{ display: 'block', marginBottom: '5px' }}>
-              {selectedTemplateData.variables.map(variable => (
+                <strong>Template Variables (JSON):</strong>
-                <div key={variable.name} style={{ marginBottom: '10px' }}>
+                {selectedTemplateData?.variables && (
-                  <label style={{ display: 'block', marginBottom: '5px' }}>
+                  <small style={{ color: '#666', marginLeft: '8px' }}>
-                    {variable.name} {variable.required && <span style={{ color: 'red' }}>*</span>}
+                    Available variables: {selectedTemplateData.variables.map(v => v.name).join(', ')}
-                    {variable.description && <small style={{ color: '#666' }}> - {variable.description}</small>}
+                  </small>
-                  </label>
+                )}
-                  <input
+              </label>
-                    type={variable.type === 'number' ? 'number' : variable.type === 'date' ? 'datetime-local' : 'text'}
+              <textarea
-                    value={variables[variable.name] || ''}
+                value={jsonVariables}
-                    onChange={(e) => setVariables({
+                onChange={(e) => handleJsonVariablesChange(e.target.value)}
-                      ...variables,
+                placeholder='{\n  "firstName": "John",\n  "siteName": "MyApp",\n  "createdAt": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z"\n}'
-                      [variable.name]: variable.type === 'number' ? Number(e.target.value) : 
+                style={{
-                                     variable.type === 'boolean' ? e.target.checked : 
+                  width: '100%',
-                                     e.target.value
+                  height: '150px',
-                    })}
+                  padding: '8px',
-                    style={{ width: '100%', padding: '8px', borderRadius: '4px', border: '1px solid #ddd' }}
+                  borderRadius: '4px',
-                  />
+                  border: jsonError ? '2px solid #dc3545' : '1px solid #ddd',
+                  fontFamily: 'monaco, "Courier New", monospace',
+                  fontSize: '13px',
+                  resize: 'vertical'
+                }}
+              />
+              {jsonError && (
+                <div style={{
+                  color: '#dc3545',
+                  fontSize: '12px',
+                  marginTop: '5px',
+                  padding: '5px',
+                  backgroundColor: '#f8d7da',
+                  borderRadius: '4px'
+                }}>
+                  Invalid JSON: {jsonError}
                 </div>
-              ))}
+              )}
             </div>
           )}
 

dev/app/api/process-emails/route.ts

@@ -4,24 +4,25 @@ import config from '@payload-config'
 export async function POST(request: Request) {
   try {
     const payload = await getPayload({ config })
-    
+
-    // Queue the combined email queue processing job
+    // Run jobs in the default queue (the plugin already schedules email processing on init)
-    const job = await payload.jobs.queue({
+    const results = await payload.jobs.run({
-      task: 'process-email-queue',
+      queue: 'default',
-      input: {},
     })
-    
+
+    const processedCount = Array.isArray(results) ? results.length : (results ? 1 : 0)
+
     return Response.json({
       success: true,
-      message: 'Email queue processing job queued successfully (will process both pending and failed emails)',
+      message: `Email queue processing completed. Processed ${processedCount} jobs.`,
-      jobId: job.id,
+      processedJobs: processedCount,
     })
   } catch (error) {
     console.error('Process emails error:', error)
     return Response.json(
-      { 
+      {
         error: 'Failed to process emails',
-        details: error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error' 
+        details: error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error'
       },
       { status: 500 }
     )

dev/app/api/test-email/route.ts

@@ -1,37 +1,75 @@
 import { getPayload } from 'payload'
 import config from '@payload-config'
-import { sendEmail, scheduleEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
+import { sendEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
 
 export async function POST(request: Request) {
   try {
     const payload = await getPayload({ config })
     const body = await request.json()
-    const { type = 'send', templateSlug, to, variables, scheduledAt } = body
+    const { type = 'send', templateSlug, to, variables, scheduledAt, subject, html, text } = body
 
-    let result
+    // Validate required fields
-    if (type === 'send') {
+    if (!to) {
-      // Send immediately
+      return Response.json(
-      result = await sendEmail(payload, {
+        { error: 'Recipient email address (to) is required' },
-        templateSlug,
+        { status: 400 }
-        to,
+      )
-        variables,
-      })
-    } else if (type === 'schedule') {
-      // Schedule for later
-      result = await scheduleEmail(payload, {
-        templateSlug,
-        to,
-        variables,
-        scheduledAt: scheduledAt ? new Date(scheduledAt) : new Date(Date.now() + 60000), // Default to 1 minute
-      })
-    } else {
-      return Response.json({ error: 'Invalid type. Use "send" or "schedule"' }, { status: 400 })
     }
 
+    // Validate email has either template or direct content
+    if (!templateSlug && (!subject || !html)) {
+      return Response.json(
+        { error: 'Either templateSlug or both subject and html must be provided' },
+        { status: 400 }
+      )
+    }
+
+    // Use the new sendEmail API
+    const emailOptions: any = {
+      data: {
+        to,
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Add template if provided
+    if (templateSlug) {
+      emailOptions.template = {
+        slug: templateSlug,
+        variables: variables || {}
+      }
+    } else if (subject && html) {
+      // Direct email without template
+      emailOptions.data.subject = subject
+      emailOptions.data.html = html
+      if (text) {
+        emailOptions.data.text = text
+      }
+    } else {
+      return Response.json({
+        error: 'Either templateSlug or subject+html must be provided'
+      }, { status: 400 })
+    }
+
+    // Add scheduling if needed
+    if (type === 'schedule' || scheduledAt) {
+      emailOptions.data.scheduledAt = scheduledAt ? new Date(scheduledAt) : new Date(Date.now() + 60000)
+    }
+
+    // Set processImmediately for "send now" type
+    const processImmediately = (type === 'send' && !scheduledAt)
+    emailOptions.processImmediately = processImmediately
+
+    const result = await sendEmail(payload, emailOptions)
+
     return Response.json({
       success: true,
-      emailId: result,
+      emailId: result.id,
-      message: type === 'send' ? 'Email sent successfully' : 'Email scheduled successfully',
+      message: processImmediately ? 'Email sent successfully' :
+               scheduledAt ? 'Email scheduled successfully' :
+               'Email queued successfully',
+      status: processImmediately ? 'sent' :
+              scheduledAt ? 'scheduled' :
+              'queued'
     })
   } catch (error) {
     console.error('Test email error:', error)
@@ -69,8 +107,8 @@ export async function GET() {
         total: totalDocs,
       },
       mailing: {
-        pluginActive: !!(payload as any).mailing,
+        pluginActive: 'mailing' in payload && !!payload.mailing,
-        service: !!(payload as any).mailing?.service,
+        service: 'mailing' in payload && payload.mailing && 'service' in payload.mailing && !!payload.mailing.service,
       },
     })
   } catch (error) {

dev/app/page.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import { Metadata } from 'next'
+import {redirect} from "next/navigation.js"
+
+export const metadata: Metadata = {
+  title: 'PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin - Development',
+  description: 'Development environment for PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin',
+}
+
+export default function HomePage() {
+  redirect('/dashboard')
+}

dev/payload-types.ts

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ export interface Config {
     'payload-migrations': PayloadMigrationsSelect<false> | PayloadMigrationsSelect<true>;
   };
   db: {
-    defaultIDType: string;
+    defaultIDType: number;
   };
   globals: {};
   globalsSelect: {};
@@ -100,7 +100,8 @@ export interface Config {
   };
   jobs: {
     tasks: {
-      'process-email-queue': ProcessEmailQueueJob;
+      'process-emails': ProcessEmailsTask;
+      'send-email': TaskSendEmail;
       inline: {
         input: unknown;
         output: unknown;
@@ -132,7 +133,7 @@ export interface UserAuthOperations {
  * via the `definition` "users".
  */
 export interface User {
-  id: string;
+  id: number;
   firstName?: string | null;
   lastName?: string | null;
   updatedAt: string;
@@ -158,7 +159,7 @@ export interface User {
  * via the `definition` "posts".
  */
 export interface Post {
-  id: string;
+  id: number;
   updatedAt: string;
   createdAt: string;
 }
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ export interface Post {
  * via the `definition` "media".
  */
 export interface Media {
-  id: string;
+  id: number;
   updatedAt: string;
   createdAt: string;
   url?: string | null;
@@ -185,7 +186,7 @@ export interface Media {
  * via the `definition` "email-templates".
  */
 export interface EmailTemplate {
-  id: string;
+  id: number;
   /**
    * A descriptive name for this email template
    */
@@ -226,31 +227,31 @@ export interface EmailTemplate {
  * via the `definition` "emails".
  */
 export interface Email {
-  id: string;
+  id: number;
   /**
    * Email template used (optional if custom content provided)
    */
-  template?: (string | null) | EmailTemplate;
+  template?: (number | null) | EmailTemplate;
   /**
-   * Template slug used for this email
+   * Recipient email addresses
    */
-  templateSlug?: string | null;
+  to: string[];
   /**
-   * Recipient email address(es), comma-separated
+   * CC email addresses
    */
-  to: string;
+  cc?: string[] | null;
   /**
-   * CC email address(es), comma-separated
+   * BCC email addresses
    */
-  cc?: string | null;
+  bcc?: string[] | null;
-  /**
-   * BCC email address(es), comma-separated
-   */
-  bcc?: string | null;
   /**
    * Sender email address (optional, uses default if not provided)
    */
   from?: string | null;
+  /**
+   * Sender display name (optional, e.g., "John Doe" for "John Doe <john@example.com>")
+   */
+  fromName?: string | null;
   /**
    * Reply-to email address
    */
@@ -315,7 +316,7 @@ export interface Email {
  * via the `definition` "payload-jobs".
  */
 export interface PayloadJob {
-  id: string;
+  id: number;
   /**
    * Input data provided to the job
    */
@@ -362,7 +363,7 @@ export interface PayloadJob {
     | {
         executedAt: string;
         completedAt: string;
-        taskSlug: 'inline' | 'process-email-queue';
+        taskSlug: 'inline' | 'process-emails' | 'send-email';
         taskID: string;
         input?:
           | {
@@ -395,7 +396,7 @@ export interface PayloadJob {
         id?: string | null;
       }[]
     | null;
-  taskSlug?: ('inline' | 'process-email-queue') | null;
+  taskSlug?: ('inline' | 'process-emails' | 'send-email') | null;
   queue?: string | null;
   waitUntil?: string | null;
   processing?: boolean | null;
@@ -407,36 +408,36 @@ export interface PayloadJob {
  * via the `definition` "payload-locked-documents".
  */
 export interface PayloadLockedDocument {
-  id: string;
+  id: number;
   document?:
     | ({
         relationTo: 'users';
-        value: string | User;
+        value: number | User;
       } | null)
     | ({
         relationTo: 'posts';
-        value: string | Post;
+        value: number | Post;
       } | null)
     | ({
         relationTo: 'media';
-        value: string | Media;
+        value: number | Media;
       } | null)
     | ({
         relationTo: 'email-templates';
-        value: string | EmailTemplate;
+        value: number | EmailTemplate;
       } | null)
     | ({
         relationTo: 'emails';
-        value: string | Email;
+        value: number | Email;
       } | null)
     | ({
         relationTo: 'payload-jobs';
-        value: string | PayloadJob;
+        value: number | PayloadJob;
       } | null);
   globalSlug?: string | null;
   user: {
     relationTo: 'users';
-    value: string | User;
+    value: number | User;
   };
   updatedAt: string;
   createdAt: string;
@@ -446,10 +447,10 @@ export interface PayloadLockedDocument {
  * via the `definition` "payload-preferences".
  */
 export interface PayloadPreference {
-  id: string;
+  id: number;
   user: {
     relationTo: 'users';
-    value: string | User;
+    value: number | User;
   };
   key?: string | null;
   value?:
@@ -469,7 +470,7 @@ export interface PayloadPreference {
  * via the `definition` "payload-migrations".
  */
 export interface PayloadMigration {
-  id: string;
+  id: number;
   name?: string | null;
   batch?: number | null;
   updatedAt: string;
@@ -542,11 +543,11 @@ export interface EmailTemplatesSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
  */
 export interface EmailsSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
   template?: T;
-  templateSlug?: T;
   to?: T;
   cc?: T;
   bcc?: T;
   from?: T;
+  fromName?: T;
   replyTo?: T;
   subject?: T;
   html?: T;
@@ -627,12 +628,87 @@ export interface PayloadMigrationsSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
 }
 /**
  * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
- * via the `definition` "ProcessEmailQueueJob".
+ * via the `definition` "ProcessEmailsTask".
  */
-export interface ProcessEmailQueueJob {
+export interface ProcessEmailsTask {
   input?: unknown;
   output?: unknown;
 }
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "TaskSend-email".
+ */
+export interface TaskSendEmail {
+  input: {
+    /**
+     * Process and send the email immediately instead of waiting for the queue processor
+     */
+    processImmediately?: boolean | null;
+    /**
+     * Use a template (leave empty for direct email)
+     */
+    templateSlug?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * JSON object with variables for template rendering
+     */
+    variables?:
+      | {
+          [k: string]: unknown;
+        }
+      | unknown[]
+      | string
+      | number
+      | boolean
+      | null;
+    /**
+     * Email subject (required if not using template)
+     */
+    subject?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * HTML email content (required if not using template)
+     */
+    html?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * Plain text email content (optional)
+     */
+    text?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * Comma-separated list of email addresses
+     */
+    to: string;
+    /**
+     * Optional comma-separated list of CC email addresses
+     */
+    cc?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * Optional comma-separated list of BCC email addresses
+     */
+    bcc?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * Optional sender email address (uses default if not provided)
+     */
+    from?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * Optional sender display name (e.g., "John Doe")
+     */
+    fromName?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * Optional reply-to email address
+     */
+    replyTo?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * Optional date/time to schedule email for future delivery
+     */
+    scheduledAt?: string | null;
+    /**
+     * Email priority (1 = highest, 10 = lowest)
+     */
+    priority?: number | null;
+  };
+  output: {
+    id?: string | null;
+  };
+}
 /**
  * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
  * via the `definition` "auth".

dev/payload.config.ts

@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
-import { mongooseAdapter } from '@payloadcms/db-mongodb'
+import { sqliteAdapter } from '@payloadcms/db-sqlite'
 import { lexicalEditor } from '@payloadcms/richtext-lexical'
 import {
-  BlocksFeature,
   FixedToolbarFeature,
   HeadingFeature,
   HorizontalRuleFeature,
   InlineToolbarFeature,
-  lexicalHTML,
 } from '@payloadcms/richtext-lexical'
-import { MongoMemoryReplSet } from 'mongodb-memory-server'
 import path from 'path'
 import { buildConfig } from 'payload'
 import sharp from 'sharp'
@@ -17,7 +14,7 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
 import { testEmailAdapter } from './helpers/testEmailAdapter.js'
 import { seed, seedUser } from './seed.js'
 import mailingPlugin from "../src/plugin.js"
-import { sendEmail } from "../src/utils/helpers.js"
+import {sendEmail} from "@xtr-dev/payload-mailing"
 
 const filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)
 const dirname = path.dirname(filename)
@@ -26,36 +23,7 @@ if (!process.env.ROOT_DIR) {
   process.env.ROOT_DIR = dirname
 }
 
-const buildConfigWithMemoryDB = async () => {
+export default buildConfig({
-  // Use in-memory MongoDB for development and testing
-  if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'test' || process.env.USE_MEMORY_DB === 'true' || !process.env.DATABASE_URI) {
-    console.log('🚀 Starting MongoDB in-memory database...')
-
-    const memoryDB = await MongoMemoryReplSet.create({
-      replSet: {
-        count: 1, // Single instance for dev (faster startup)
-        dbName: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'test' ? 'payloadmemory' : 'payload-mailing-dev',
-        storageEngine: 'wiredTiger',
-      },
-    })
-
-    const uri = `${memoryDB.getUri()}&retryWrites=true`
-    process.env.DATABASE_URI = uri
-
-    console.log('✅ MongoDB in-memory database started')
-    console.log(`📊 Database URI: ${uri.replace(/mongodb:\/\/[^@]*@/, 'mongodb://***@')}`)
-
-    // Graceful shutdown
-    process.on('SIGINT', async () => {
-      console.log('🛑 Stopping MongoDB in-memory database...')
-      await memoryDB.stop()
-      process.exit(0)
-    })
-  } else {
-    console.log(`🔗 Using external MongoDB: ${process.env.DATABASE_URI?.replace(/mongodb:\/\/[^@]*@/, 'mongodb://***@')}`)
-  }
-
-  return buildConfig({
     admin: {
       importMap: {
         baseDir: path.resolve(dirname),
@@ -85,15 +53,19 @@ const buildConfigWithMemoryDB = async () => {
 
                   // Queue the welcome email using template slug
                   const emailId = await sendEmail(req.payload, {
-                    templateSlug: 'welcome-email',
+                    template: {
-                    to: doc.email,
+                      slug: 'welcome-email',
-                    variables: {
+                      variables: {
-                      firstName: doc.firstName || doc.email?.split('@')?.[0],
+                        firstName: doc.firstName || doc.email?.split('@')?.[0],
-                      siteName: 'PayloadCMS Mailing Demo',
+                        siteName: 'PayloadCMS Mailing Demo',
-                      createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+                        createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
-                      isPremium: false,
+                        isPremium: false,
-                      dashboardUrl: 'http://localhost:3000/admin',
+                        dashboardUrl: 'http://localhost:3000/admin',
+                      },
                     },
+                    data: {
+                      to: doc.email,
+                    }
                   })
 
                   console.log('✅ Welcome email queued successfully. Email ID:', emailId)
@@ -120,148 +92,36 @@ const buildConfigWithMemoryDB = async () => {
         },
       },
     ],
-    db: mongooseAdapter({
+    db: sqliteAdapter({
-      ensureIndexes: true,
+      client: {
-      url: process.env.DATABASE_URI || '',
+        url: process.env.DATABASE_URI || 'file:./dev.db',
+      },
     }),
     editor: lexicalEditor(),
     email: testEmailAdapter,
     onInit: async (payload) => {
       await seed(payload)
     },
+    jobs: {
+      jobsCollectionOverrides: c => {
+        if (c.defaultJobsCollection.admin) c.defaultJobsCollection.admin.hidden = false
+        return c.defaultJobsCollection
+      },
+      autoRun: [
+        {
+          cron: '*/1 * * * *', // every minute
+          limit: 10, // limit jobs to process each run
+          queue: 'default', // name of the queue
+        },
+      ],
+    },
     plugins: [
       mailingPlugin({
         defaultFrom: 'noreply@test.com',
         initOrder: 'after',
-        transport: {
-          host: 'localhost',
-          port: 1025, // MailHog port for dev
-          secure: false,
-          auth: {
-            user: 'test',
-            pass: 'test',
-          },
-        },
         retryAttempts: 3,
         retryDelay: 60000, // 1 minute for dev
-        queue: 'email-queue',
+        queue: 'default',
-
-        // Example: Collection overrides for customization
-        // Uncomment and modify as needed for your use case
-        /*
-        collections: {
-          templates: {
-            // Custom access controls - restrict who can manage templates
-            access: {
-              read: ({ req: { user } }) => {
-                if (!user) return false
-                return user.role === 'admin' || user.permissions?.includes('mailing:read')
-              },
-              create: ({ req: { user } }) => {
-                if (!user) return false
-                return user.role === 'admin' || user.permissions?.includes('mailing:create')
-              },
-              update: ({ req: { user } }) => {
-                if (!user) return false
-                return user.role === 'admin' || user.permissions?.includes('mailing:update')
-              },
-              delete: ({ req: { user } }) => {
-                if (!user) return false
-                return user.role === 'admin'
-              },
-            },
-            // Custom admin UI settings
-            admin: {
-              group: 'Marketing',
-              description: 'Email templates with enhanced security and categorization'
-            },
-            // Add custom fields to templates
-            fields: [
-              // Default plugin fields are automatically included
-              {
-                name: 'category',
-                type: 'select',
-                options: [
-                  { label: 'Marketing', value: 'marketing' },
-                  { label: 'Transactional', value: 'transactional' },
-                  { label: 'System Notifications', value: 'system' }
-                ],
-                defaultValue: 'transactional',
-                admin: {
-                  position: 'sidebar',
-                  description: 'Template category for organization'
-                }
-              },
-              {
-                name: 'tags',
-                type: 'text',
-                hasMany: true,
-                admin: {
-                  position: 'sidebar',
-                  description: 'Tags for easy template filtering'
-                }
-              },
-              {
-                name: 'isActive',
-                type: 'checkbox',
-                defaultValue: true,
-                admin: {
-                  position: 'sidebar',
-                  description: 'Only active templates can be used'
-                }
-              }
-            ],
-            // Custom validation hooks
-            hooks: {
-              beforeChange: [
-                ({ data, req }) => {
-                  // Example: Only admins can create system templates
-                  if (data.category === 'system' && req.user?.role !== 'admin') {
-                    throw new Error('Only administrators can create system notification templates')
-                  }
-
-                  // Example: Auto-generate slug if not provided
-                  if (!data.slug && data.name) {
-                    data.slug = data.name.toLowerCase()
-                      .replace(/[^a-z0-9]/g, '-')
-                      .replace(/-+/g, '-')
-                      .replace(/^-|-$/g, '')
-                  }
-
-                  return data
-                }
-              ]
-            }
-          },
-          emails: {
-            // Restrict access to emails collection
-            access: {
-              read: ({ req: { user } }) => {
-                if (!user) return false
-                return user.role === 'admin' || user.permissions?.includes('mailing:read')
-              },
-              create: ({ req: { user } }) => {
-                if (!user) return false
-                return user.role === 'admin' || user.permissions?.includes('mailing:create')
-              },
-              update: ({ req: { user } }) => {
-                if (!user) return false
-                return user.role === 'admin' || user.permissions?.includes('mailing:update')
-              },
-              delete: ({ req: { user } }) => {
-                if (!user) return false
-                return user.role === 'admin'
-              },
-            },
-            // Custom admin configuration for emails
-            admin: {
-              group: 'Marketing',
-              description: 'Email delivery tracking and management',
-              defaultColumns: ['subject', 'to', 'status', 'priority', 'scheduledAt'],
-            }
-          }
-        },
-        */
 
         // Optional: Custom rich text editor configuration
         // Comment out to use default lexical editor
@@ -279,62 +139,6 @@ const buildConfigWithMemoryDB = async () => {
             // etc.
           ],
         }),
-
-        emailWrapper: (email) => {
-          // Example: wrap email content in a custom layout
-          const wrappedHtml = `
-            <!DOCTYPE html>
-            <html>
-            <head>
-              <meta charset="utf-8">
-              <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
-              <title>${email.subject}</title>
-              <style>
-                body { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0; padding: 20px; background-color: #f5f5f5; }
-                .container { max-width: 600px; margin: 0 auto; background: white; border-radius: 8px; overflow: hidden; }
-                .header { background: #007bff; color: white; padding: 20px; text-align: center; }
-                .content { padding: 30px; }
-                .footer { background: #f8f9fa; padding: 15px; text-align: center; font-size: 12px; color: #6c757d; }
-              </style>
-            </head>
-            <body>
-              <div class="container">
-                <div class="header">
-                  <h1>My Company</h1>
-                </div>
-                <div class="content">
-                  ${email.html}
-                </div>
-                <div class="footer">
-                  This email was sent from My Company. If you have questions, contact support@mycompany.com
-                </div>
-              </div>
-            </body>
-            </html>
-          `
-
-          const wrappedText = `
-MY COMPANY
-==========
-
-${email.text || email.html?.replace(/<[^>]*>/g, '')}
-
----
-This email was sent from My Company.
-If you have questions, contact support@mycompany.com
-          `
-
-          return {
-            ...email,
-            html: wrappedHtml,
-            text: wrappedText.trim(),
-          }
-        },
-
-        // Called after mailing plugin is fully initialized
-        onReady: async (payload) => {
-          await seedUser(payload)
-        },
       }),
     ],
     secret: process.env.PAYLOAD_SECRET || 'test-secret_key',
@@ -343,6 +147,3 @@ If you have questions, contact support@mycompany.com
       outputFile: path.resolve(dirname, 'payload-types.ts'),
     },
   })
-}
-
-export default buildConfigWithMemoryDB()

dev/seed.ts

@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ export const seed = async (payload: Payload) => {
                         format: 0,
                         mode: 'normal',
                         style: '',
-                        text: 'Use the emailWrapper hook to add custom layouts',
+                        text: 'Create beautiful emails with rich text formatting',
                         type: 'text',
                         version: 1,
                       },

dev/start-dev.js

@@ -3,26 +3,14 @@
 // Development startup script for PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin
 // This ensures proper environment setup and provides helpful information
 
-console.log('🚀 PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin - Development Mode')
-console.log('=' .repeat(50))
-
 // Set development environment
 process.env.NODE_ENV = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development'
 
-// Enable in-memory MongoDB by default for development
+// Set default SQLite database for development
 if (!process.env.DATABASE_URI) {
-  process.env.USE_MEMORY_DB = 'true'
+  process.env.DATABASE_URI = 'file:./dev.db'
-  console.log('📦 Using in-memory MongoDB (no installation required)')
-} else {
-  console.log(`🔗 Using external MongoDB: ${process.env.DATABASE_URI}`)
 }
 
-console.log('')
-console.log('🔧 Starting development server...')
-console.log('📧 Mailing plugin configured with test transport')
-console.log('🎯 Test interface will be available at: /mailing-test')
-console.log('')
-
 // Import and start Next.js
 import('next/dist/cli/next-dev.js')
   .then(({ nextDev }) => {
@@ -35,11 +23,9 @@ import('next/dist/cli/next-dev.js')
 
 // Handle graceful shutdown
 process.on('SIGTERM', () => {
-  console.log('\n🛑 Shutting down development server...')
   process.exit(0)
 })
 
 process.on('SIGINT', () => {
-  console.log('\n🛑 Shutting down development server...')
   process.exit(0)
 })

dev/test-hook-validation.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+// Test hook validation in the dev environment
+import { getPayload } from 'payload'
+import config from './payload.config.js'
+
+async function testHookValidation() {
+  const payload = await getPayload({ config: await config })
+
+  console.log('\n🧪 Testing beforeSend hook validation...\n')
+
+  // Test 1: Create an email to process
+  const email = await payload.create({
+    collection: 'emails',
+    data: {
+      to: ['test@example.com'],
+      subject: 'Test Email for Validation',
+      html: '<p>Testing hook validation</p>',
+      text: 'Testing hook validation',
+      status: 'pending'
+    }
+  })
+
+  console.log('✅ Test email created:', email.id)
+
+  // Get the mailing service
+  const mailingService = (payload as any).mailing.service
+
+  // Test 2: Temporarily replace the config with a bad hook
+  const originalBeforeSend = mailingService.config.beforeSend
+
+  console.log('\n📝 Test: Hook that removes "from" field...')
+  mailingService.config.beforeSend = async (options: any, email: any) => {
+    delete options.from
+    return options
+  }
+
+  try {
+    await mailingService.processEmails()
+    console.log('❌ Should have thrown error for missing "from"')
+  } catch (error: any) {
+    if (error.message.includes('must not remove the "from" property')) {
+      console.log('✅ Correctly caught missing "from" field')
+    } else {
+      console.log('❌ Unexpected error:', error.message)
+    }
+  }
+
+  console.log('\n📝 Test: Hook that empties "to" array...')
+  mailingService.config.beforeSend = async (options: any, email: any) => {
+    options.to = []
+    return options
+  }
+
+  try {
+    await mailingService.processEmails()
+    console.log('❌ Should have thrown error for empty "to"')
+  } catch (error: any) {
+    if (error.message.includes('must not remove or empty the "to" property')) {
+      console.log('✅ Correctly caught empty "to" array')
+    } else {
+      console.log('❌ Unexpected error:', error.message)
+    }
+  }
+
+  console.log('\n📝 Test: Hook that removes "subject"...')
+  mailingService.config.beforeSend = async (options: any, email: any) => {
+    delete options.subject
+    return options
+  }
+
+  try {
+    await mailingService.processEmails()
+    console.log('❌ Should have thrown error for missing "subject"')
+  } catch (error: any) {
+    if (error.message.includes('must not remove the "subject" property')) {
+      console.log('✅ Correctly caught missing "subject" field')
+    } else {
+      console.log('❌ Unexpected error:', error.message)
+    }
+  }
+
+  console.log('\n📝 Test: Hook that removes both "html" and "text"...')
+  mailingService.config.beforeSend = async (options: any, email: any) => {
+    delete options.html
+    delete options.text
+    return options
+  }
+
+  try {
+    await mailingService.processEmails()
+    console.log('❌ Should have thrown error for missing content')
+  } catch (error: any) {
+    if (error.message.includes('must not remove both "html" and "text" properties')) {
+      console.log('✅ Correctly caught missing content fields')
+    } else {
+      console.log('❌ Unexpected error:', error.message)
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Restore original hook
+  mailingService.config.beforeSend = originalBeforeSend
+
+  console.log('\n✅ All validation tests completed!\n')
+
+  // Clean up
+  await payload.delete({
+    collection: 'emails',
+    id: email.id
+  })
+
+  process.exit(0)
+}
+
+testHookValidation().catch(console.error)

dev/test-plugin.mjs

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 // Simple test to verify plugin can be imported and initialized
-import { mailingPlugin, sendEmail, scheduleEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
+import { mailingPlugin, sendEmail, renderTemplate } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
 
 console.log('✅ Plugin imports successfully')
 console.log('✅ mailingPlugin:', typeof mailingPlugin)
-console.log('✅ sendEmail:', typeof sendEmail) 
+console.log('✅ sendEmail:', typeof sendEmail)
-console.log('✅ scheduleEmail:', typeof scheduleEmail)
+console.log('✅ renderTemplate:', typeof renderTemplate)
 
 // Test plugin configuration
 try {

dev/tsconfig.json

@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@
       "@payload-config": [
         "./payload.config.ts"
       ],
-      "temp-project": [
+      "@xtr-dev/payload-mailing": [
         "../src/index.ts"
       ],
-      "temp-project/client": [
+      "@xtr-dev/payload-mailing/client": [
         "../src/exports/client.ts"
       ],
-      "temp-project/rsc": [
+      "@xtr-dev/payload-mailing/rsc": [
         "../src/exports/rsc.ts"
       ]
     },

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@xtr-dev/payload-mailing",
-  "version": "0.0.12",
+  "version": "0.4.19",
   "description": "Template-based email system with scheduling and job processing for PayloadCMS",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
@@ -23,8 +23,6 @@
     "dev:generate-importmap": "npm run dev:payload generate:importmap",
     "dev:generate-types": "npm run dev:payload generate:types",
     "dev:payload": "cross-env PAYLOAD_CONFIG_PATH=./dev/payload.config.ts payload",
-    "generate:importmap": "npm run dev:generate-importmap",
-    "generate:types": "npm run dev:generate-types",
     "lint": "eslint",
     "lint:fix": "eslint ./src --fix",
     "prepublishOnly": "npm run clean && npm run build",

src/collections/Emails.ts

@@ -1,13 +1,36 @@
 import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
+import { findExistingJobs, ensureEmailJob, updateEmailJobRelationship } from '../utils/jobScheduler.js'
+import { createContextLogger } from '../utils/logger.js'
+import { resolveID } from '../utils/helpers.js'
 
 const Emails: CollectionConfig = {
   slug: 'emails',
   admin: {
     useAsTitle: 'subject',
-    defaultColumns: ['subject', 'to', 'status', 'scheduledAt', 'sentAt'],
+    defaultColumns: ['subject', 'to', 'status', 'jobs', 'scheduledAt', 'sentAt'],
     group: 'Mailing',
     description: 'Email delivery and status tracking',
   },
+  defaultPopulate: {
+    templateSlug: true,
+    to: true,
+    cc: true,
+    bcc: true,
+    from: true,
+    replyTo: true,
+    jobs: true,
+    status: true,
+    attempts: true,
+    lastAttemptAt: true,
+    error: true,
+    priority: true,
+    scheduledAt: true,
+    sentAt: true,
+    variables: true,
+    html: true,
+    text: true,
+    createdAt: true,
+  },
   fields: [
     {
       name: 'template',
@@ -17,6 +40,14 @@ const Emails: CollectionConfig = {
         description: 'Email template used (optional if custom content provided)',
       },
     },
+    {
+      name: 'templateSlug',
+      type: 'text',
+      admin: {
+        description: 'Slug of the email template (auto-populated from template relationship)',
+        readOnly: true,
+      },
+    },
     {
       name: 'to',
       type: 'text',
@@ -49,6 +80,13 @@ const Emails: CollectionConfig = {
         description: 'Sender email address (optional, uses default if not provided)',
       },
     },
+    {
+      name: 'fromName',
+      type: 'text',
+      admin: {
+        description: 'Sender display name (optional, e.g., "John Doe" for "John Doe <john@example.com>")',
+      },
+    },
     {
       name: 'replyTo',
       type: 'text',
@@ -157,22 +195,98 @@ const Emails: CollectionConfig = {
         description: 'Email priority (1=highest, 10=lowest)',
       },
     },
+    {
+      name: 'jobs',
+      type: 'relationship',
+      relationTo: 'payload-jobs',
+      hasMany: true,
+      admin: {
+        description: 'Processing jobs associated with this email',
+        allowCreate: false,
+        readOnly: true,
+      },
+      filterOptions: ({ id }) => {
+        const emailId = resolveID({ id })
+        return {
+          'input.emailId': {
+            equals: emailId ? String(emailId) : '',
+          },
+        }
+      },
+    },
   ],
+  hooks: {
+    beforeChange: [
+      async ({ data, req }) => {
+        // Auto-populate templateSlug from template relationship
+        if (data.template) {
+          try {
+            const template = await req.payload.findByID({
+              collection: 'email-templates',
+              id: typeof data.template === 'string' ? data.template : data.template.id,
+            })
+            data.templateSlug = template.slug
+          } catch (error) {
+            // If template lookup fails, clear the slug
+            data.templateSlug = undefined
+          }
+        } else {
+          // Clear templateSlug if template is removed
+          data.templateSlug = undefined
+        }
+        return data
+      }
+    ],
+    // Simple approach: Only use afterChange hook for job management
+    // This avoids complex interaction between hooks and ensures document ID is always available
+    afterChange: [
+      async ({ doc, previousDoc, req, operation }) => {
+        // Skip if:
+        // 1. Email is not pending status
+        // 2. Jobs are not configured
+        // 3. Email already has jobs (unless status just changed to pending)
+
+        const shouldSkip =
+          doc.status !== 'pending' ||
+          !req.payload.jobs ||
+          (doc.jobs?.length > 0 && previousDoc?.status === 'pending')
+
+        if (shouldSkip) {
+          return
+        }
+
+        try {
+          // Ensure a job exists for this email
+          // This function handles:
+          // - Checking for existing jobs (duplicate prevention)
+          // - Creating new job if needed
+          // - Returning all job IDs
+          const result = await ensureEmailJob(req.payload, doc.id, {
+            scheduledAt: doc.scheduledAt,
+          })
+
+          // Update the email's job relationship if we have jobs
+          // This handles both new jobs and existing jobs that weren't in the relationship
+          if (result.jobIds.length > 0) {
+            await updateEmailJobRelationship(req.payload, doc.id, result.jobIds, 'emails')
+          }
+        } catch (error) {
+          // Log error but don't throw - we don't want to fail the email operation
+          const logger = createContextLogger(req.payload, 'EMAILS_HOOK')
+          logger.error(`Failed to ensure job for email ${doc.id}:`, error)
+        }
+      }
+    ]
+  },
   timestamps: true,
-  // indexes: [
+  indexes: [
-  //   {
+    {
-  //     fields: {
+      fields: ['status', 'scheduledAt'],
-  //       status: 1,
+    },
-  //       scheduledAt: 1,
+    {
-  //     },
+      fields: ['priority', 'createdAt'],
-  //   },
+    },
-  //   {
+  ],
-  //     fields: {
-  //       priority: -1,
-  //       createdAt: 1,
-  //     },
-  //   },
-  // ],
 }
 
 export default Emails

src/index.ts

@@ -11,13 +11,27 @@ export { MailingService } from './services/MailingService.js'
 export { default as EmailTemplates, createEmailTemplatesCollection } from './collections/EmailTemplates.js'
 export { default as Emails } from './collections/Emails.js'
 
-// Jobs are integrated into the plugin configuration
+// Jobs (includes the individual email processing job)
+export { mailingJobs } from './jobs/index.js'
+export type { ProcessEmailJobInput } from './jobs/processEmailJob.js'
+
+// Main email sending function
+export { sendEmail, type SendEmailOptions } from './sendEmail.js'
+export { default as sendEmailDefault } from './sendEmail.js'
 
 // Utility functions for developers
 export {
   getMailing,
-  sendEmail,
+  renderTemplate,
-  scheduleEmail,
   processEmails,
   retryFailedEmails,
-} from './utils/helpers.js'
+  parseAndValidateEmails,
+  sanitizeDisplayName,
+  sanitizeFromName,
+} from './utils/helpers.js'
+
+// Email processing utilities
+export { processEmailById, processJobById, processAllEmails } from './utils/emailProcessor.js'
+
+// Job scheduling utilities
+export { findExistingJobs, ensureEmailJob, updateEmailJobRelationship } from './utils/jobScheduler.js'

src/jobs/index.ts

@@ -1,19 +1,11 @@
-import { processEmailsJob, ProcessEmailsJobData } from './processEmailsJob.js'
+import { processEmailJob } from './processEmailJob.js'
-import { MailingService } from '../services/MailingService.js'
 
-export const createMailingJobs = (mailingService: MailingService): any[] => {
+/**
-  return [
+ * All mailing-related jobs that get registered with Payload
-    {
+ */
-      slug: 'processEmails',
+export const mailingJobs = [
-      handler: async ({ job, req }: { job: any; req: any }) => {
+  processEmailJob,
-        return processEmailsJob(
+]
-          job as { data: ProcessEmailsJobData },
-          { req, mailingService }
-        )
-      },
-      interfaceName: 'ProcessEmailsJob',
-    },
-  ]
-}
 
-export * from './processEmailsJob.js'
+// Re-export everything from individual job files
+export * from './processEmailJob.js'

src/jobs/processEmailJob.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import type { PayloadRequest } from 'payload'
+import { processEmailById } from '../utils/emailProcessor.js'
+
+/**
+ * Data passed to the individual email processing job
+ */
+export interface ProcessEmailJobInput {
+  /**
+   * The ID of the email to process
+   */
+  emailId: string | number
+}
+
+/**
+ * Job definition for processing a single email
+ */
+export const processEmailJob = {
+  slug: 'process-email',
+  label: 'Process Individual Email',
+  inputSchema: [
+    {
+      name: 'emailId',
+      type: 'text' as const,
+      required: true,
+      label: 'Email ID',
+      admin: {
+        description: 'The ID of the email to process and send'
+      }
+    }
+  ],
+  outputSchema: [
+    {
+      name: 'success',
+      type: 'checkbox' as const
+    },
+    {
+      name: 'emailId',
+      type: 'text' as const
+    },
+    {
+      name: 'status',
+      type: 'text' as const
+    }
+  ],
+  handler: async ({ input, req }: { input: ProcessEmailJobInput; req: PayloadRequest }) => {
+    const payload = (req as any).payload
+    const { emailId } = input
+
+    if (!emailId) {
+      throw new Error('Email ID is required for processing')
+    }
+
+    try {
+      // Process the individual email
+      await processEmailById(payload, String(emailId))
+
+      return {
+        output: {
+          success: true,
+          emailId: String(emailId),
+          status: 'sent',
+          message: `Email ${emailId} processed successfully`
+        }
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      throw new Error(`Failed to process email ${emailId}: ${String(error)}`)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+export default processEmailJob

src/jobs/processEmailsJob.ts

@@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
-import type { PayloadRequest } from 'payload'
-import { MailingService } from '../services/MailingService.js'
-
-export interface ProcessEmailsJobData {
-  type: 'process-emails' | 'retry-failed'
-}
-
-export const processEmailsJob = async (
-  job: { data: ProcessEmailsJobData },
-  context: { req: PayloadRequest; mailingService: MailingService }
-) => {
-  const { mailingService } = context
-  const { type } = job.data
-
-  try {
-    if (type === 'process-emails') {
-      await mailingService.processEmails()
-      console.log('Email processing completed successfully')
-    } else if (type === 'retry-failed') {
-      await mailingService.retryFailedEmails()
-      console.log('Failed email retry completed successfully')
-    }
-  } catch (error) {
-    console.error(`${type} job failed:`, error)
-    throw error
-  }
-}
-
-export const scheduleEmailsJob = async (
-  payload: any,
-  queueName: string,
-  jobType: 'process-emails' | 'retry-failed',
-  delay?: number
-) => {
-  if (!payload.jobs) {
-    console.warn('PayloadCMS jobs not configured - emails will not be processed automatically')
-    return
-  }
-
-  try {
-    await payload.jobs.queue({
-      queue: queueName,
-      task: 'processEmails',
-      input: { type: jobType },
-      waitUntil: delay ? new Date(Date.now() + delay) : undefined,
-    })
-  } catch (error) {
-    console.error(`Failed to schedule ${jobType} job:`, error)
-  }
-}

src/plugin.ts

@@ -3,62 +3,12 @@ import { MailingPluginConfig, MailingContext } from './types/index.js'
 import { MailingService } from './services/MailingService.js'
 import { createEmailTemplatesCollection } from './collections/EmailTemplates.js'
 import Emails from './collections/Emails.js'
+import { mailingJobs } from './jobs/index.js'
 
-// Helper function to schedule the email processing job
-async function scheduleEmailProcessingJob(payload: any, queueName: string, delayMs: number = 60000): Promise<boolean> {
-  if (!queueName || typeof queueName !== 'string') {
-    throw new Error('Invalid queueName: must be a non-empty string')
-  }
-
-  const jobSlug = 'process-email-queue'
-
-  // Check if there's already a scheduled job for this task
-  const existingJobs = await payload.find({
-    collection: 'payload-jobs',
-    where: {
-      and: [
-        {
-          taskSlug: {
-            equals: jobSlug,
-          },
-        },
-        {
-          hasCompleted: {
-            equals: false,
-          },
-        },
-      ],
-    },
-    limit: 1,
-  })
-
-  // If no existing job, schedule a new one
-  if (existingJobs.docs.length === 0) {
-    await payload.create({
-      collection: 'payload-jobs',
-      data: {
-        taskSlug: jobSlug,
-        input: {},
-        queue: queueName,
-        waitUntil: new Date(Date.now() + delayMs),
-      },
-    })
-    console.log(`🔄 Scheduled email processing job in queue: ${queueName}`)
-    return true
-  } else {
-    console.log(`✅ Email processing job already scheduled in queue: ${queueName}`)
-    return false
-  }
-}
 
 export const mailingPlugin = (pluginConfig: MailingPluginConfig) => (config: Config): Config => {
   const queueName = pluginConfig.queue || 'default'
 
-  // Validate queueName
-  if (!queueName || typeof queueName !== 'string') {
-    throw new Error('Invalid queue configuration: queue must be a non-empty string')
-  }
-
   // Handle templates collection configuration
   const templatesConfig = pluginConfig.collections?.templates
   const templatesSlug = typeof templatesConfig === 'string' ? templatesConfig : 'email-templates'
@@ -118,10 +68,15 @@ export const mailingPlugin = (pluginConfig: MailingPluginConfig) => (config: Con
     }),
   } satisfies CollectionConfig
 
+  // Filter out any existing collections with the same slugs to prevent duplicates
+  const existingCollections = (config.collections || []).filter(
+    (collection) => collection.slug !== templatesSlug && collection.slug !== emailsSlug
+  )
+
   return {
     ...config,
     collections: [
-      ...(config.collections || []),
+      ...existingCollections,
       templatesCollection,
       emailsCollection,
     ],
@@ -129,61 +84,7 @@ export const mailingPlugin = (pluginConfig: MailingPluginConfig) => (config: Con
       ...(config.jobs || {}),
       tasks: [
         ...(config.jobs?.tasks || []),
-        {
+        ...mailingJobs,
-          slug: 'process-email-queue',
-          handler: async ({ job, req }: { job: any; req: any }) => {
-            const payload = (req as any).payload
-            let jobResult = null
-
-            try {
-              const mailingService = new MailingService(payload, pluginConfig)
-
-              console.log('🔄 Processing email queue (pending + failed emails)...')
-
-              // Process pending emails first
-              await mailingService.processEmails()
-
-              // Then retry failed emails
-              await mailingService.retryFailedEmails()
-
-              jobResult = {
-                output: {
-                  success: true,
-                  message: 'Email queue processed successfully (pending and failed emails)'
-                }
-              }
-
-              console.log('✅ Email queue processing completed successfully')
-
-            } catch (error) {
-              console.error('❌ Error processing email queue:', error)
-              const errorMessage = error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error'
-
-              jobResult = new Error(`Email queue processing failed: ${errorMessage}`)
-            }
-
-            // Always reschedule the next job (success or failure) using duplicate prevention
-            let rescheduled = false
-            try {
-              rescheduled = await scheduleEmailProcessingJob(payload, queueName, 300000) // Reschedule in 5 minutes
-              if (rescheduled) {
-                console.log(`🔄 Rescheduled next email processing job in ${queueName} queue`)
-              }
-            } catch (rescheduleError) {
-              console.error('❌ Failed to reschedule email processing job:', rescheduleError)
-              // If rescheduling fails, we should warn but not fail the current job
-              // since the email processing itself may have succeeded
-              console.warn('⚠️  Email processing completed but next job could not be scheduled')
-            }
-
-            // Return the original result or throw the error
-            if (jobResult instanceof Error) {
-              throw jobResult
-            }
-            return jobResult
-          },
-          interfaceName: 'ProcessEmailQueueJob',
-        },
       ],
     },
     onInit: async (payload: any) => {
@@ -191,7 +92,7 @@ export const mailingPlugin = (pluginConfig: MailingPluginConfig) => (config: Con
         await config.onInit(payload)
       }
 
-      // Initialize mailing service
+      // Initialize mailing service with proper payload instance
       const mailingService = new MailingService(payload, pluginConfig)
 
       // Add mailing context to payload for developer access
@@ -205,20 +106,6 @@ export const mailingPlugin = (pluginConfig: MailingPluginConfig) => (config: Con
         },
       } as MailingContext
 
-      console.log('PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin initialized successfully')
-
-      // Schedule the email processing job if not already scheduled
-      try {
-        await scheduleEmailProcessingJob(payload, queueName)
-      } catch (error) {
-        console.error('Failed to schedule email processing job:', error)
-      }
-
-      // Call onReady callback if provided
-      if (pluginConfig.onReady) {
-        await pluginConfig.onReady(payload)
-      }
-
       if (pluginConfig.initOrder !== 'after' && config.onInit) {
         await config.onInit(payload)
       }

src/sendEmail.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+import { Payload } from 'payload'
+import { getMailing, renderTemplateWithId, parseAndValidateEmails, sanitizeFromName } from './utils/helpers.js'
+import { BaseEmailDocument } from './types/index.js'
+import { processJobById } from './utils/emailProcessor.js'
+import { createContextLogger } from './utils/logger.js'
+import { pollForJobId } from './utils/jobPolling.js'
+
+// Options for sending emails
+export interface SendEmailOptions<T extends BaseEmailDocument = BaseEmailDocument> {
+  // Template-based email
+  template?: {
+    slug: string
+    variables?: Record<string, any>
+  }
+  // Direct email data
+  data?: Partial<T>
+  // Common options
+  collectionSlug?: string // defaults to 'emails'
+  processImmediately?: boolean // if true, creates job and processes it immediately
+  queue?: string // queue name for the job, defaults to mailing config queue
+}
+
+/**
+ * Send an email with full type safety
+ *
+ * @example
+ * ```typescript
+ * // With your generated Email type
+ * import { Email } from './payload-types'
+ *
+ * const email = await sendEmail<Email>(payload, {
+ *   template: {
+ *     slug: 'welcome',
+ *     variables: { name: 'John' }
+ *   },
+ *   data: {
+ *     to: 'user@example.com',
+ *     customField: 'value' // Your custom fields are type-safe!
+ *   }
+ * })
+ * ```
+ */
+export const sendEmail = async <TEmail extends BaseEmailDocument = BaseEmailDocument>(
+  payload: Payload,
+  options: SendEmailOptions<TEmail>
+): Promise<TEmail> => {
+  const mailingConfig = getMailing(payload)
+  const collectionSlug = options.collectionSlug || mailingConfig.collections.emails || 'emails'
+
+  let emailData: Partial<TEmail> = { ...options.data } as Partial<TEmail>
+
+  if (options.template) {
+    // Look up and render the template in a single operation to avoid duplicate lookups
+    const { html, text, subject, templateId } = await renderTemplateWithId(
+      payload,
+      options.template.slug,
+      options.template.variables || {}
+    )
+
+    emailData = {
+      ...emailData,
+      template: templateId,
+      subject,
+      html,
+      text,
+    } as Partial<TEmail>
+  }
+
+  // Validate required fields
+  if (!emailData.to) {
+    throw new Error('Field "to" is required for sending emails')
+  }
+
+  if (options.template) {
+    if (!emailData.subject || !emailData.html) {
+      throw new Error(`Template rendering failed: template "${options.template.slug}" did not provide required subject and html content`)
+    }
+  } else {
+    if (!emailData.subject || !emailData.html) {
+      throw new Error('Fields "subject" and "html" are required when sending direct emails without a template')
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (emailData.to) {
+    emailData.to = parseAndValidateEmails(emailData.to as string | string[])
+  }
+  if (emailData.cc) {
+    emailData.cc = parseAndValidateEmails(emailData.cc as string | string[])
+  }
+  if (emailData.bcc) {
+    emailData.bcc = parseAndValidateEmails(emailData.bcc as string | string[])
+  }
+  if (emailData.replyTo) {
+    const validated = parseAndValidateEmails(emailData.replyTo as string | string[])
+    emailData.replyTo = validated && validated.length > 0 ? validated[0] : undefined
+  }
+  if (emailData.from) {
+    const validated = parseAndValidateEmails(emailData.from as string | string[])
+    emailData.from = validated && validated.length > 0 ? validated[0] : undefined
+  }
+
+  emailData.fromName = sanitizeFromName(emailData.fromName as string)
+
+  if (emailData.scheduledAt instanceof Date) {
+    emailData.scheduledAt = emailData.scheduledAt.toISOString()
+  }
+  if (emailData.sentAt instanceof Date) {
+    emailData.sentAt = emailData.sentAt.toISOString()
+  }
+  if (emailData.lastAttemptAt instanceof Date) {
+    emailData.lastAttemptAt = emailData.lastAttemptAt.toISOString()
+  }
+  if (emailData.createdAt instanceof Date) {
+    emailData.createdAt = emailData.createdAt.toISOString()
+  }
+  if (emailData.updatedAt instanceof Date) {
+    emailData.updatedAt = emailData.updatedAt.toISOString()
+  }
+
+  const email = await payload.create({
+    collection: collectionSlug,
+    data: emailData
+  })
+
+  if (!email || typeof email !== 'object' || !email.id) {
+    throw new Error('Failed to create email: invalid response from database')
+  }
+
+  if (options.processImmediately) {
+    const logger = createContextLogger(payload, 'IMMEDIATE')
+
+    if (!payload.jobs) {
+      throw new Error('PayloadCMS jobs not configured - cannot process email immediately')
+    }
+
+    // Poll for the job ID using configurable polling mechanism
+    const { jobId } = await pollForJobId({
+      payload,
+      collectionSlug,
+      emailId: email.id,
+      config: mailingConfig.jobPolling,
+      logger,
+    })
+
+    try {
+      await processJobById(payload, jobId)
+      logger.debug(`Successfully processed email ${email.id} immediately`)
+    } catch (error) {
+      logger.error(`Failed to process email ${email.id} immediately:`, error)
+      throw new Error(`Failed to process email ${email.id} immediately: ${String(error)}`)
+    }
+  }
+
+  return email as TEmail
+}
+
+export default sendEmail

src/services/MailingService.ts

@@ -1,21 +1,18 @@
 import { Payload } from 'payload'
 import { Liquid } from 'liquidjs'
-import nodemailer, { Transporter } from 'nodemailer'
 import {
   MailingPluginConfig,
-  SendEmailOptions,
+  TemplateVariables,
   MailingService as IMailingService,
-  EmailTemplate,
+  BaseEmail, BaseEmailTemplate, BaseEmailDocument, BaseEmailTemplateDocument
-  QueuedEmail,
-  MailingTransportConfig,
-  EmailObject
 } from '../types/index.js'
 import { serializeRichTextToHTML, serializeRichTextToText } from '../utils/richTextSerializer.js'
+import { sanitizeDisplayName } from '../utils/helpers.js'
 
 export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
-  private payload: Payload
+  public payload: Payload
   private config: MailingPluginConfig
-  private transporter!: Transporter | any
+  private emailAdapter: any
   private templatesCollection: string
   private emailsCollection: string
   private liquid: Liquid | null | false = null
@@ -30,22 +27,39 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     const emailsConfig = config.collections?.emails
     this.emailsCollection = typeof emailsConfig === 'string' ? emailsConfig : 'emails'
 
-    this.initializeTransporter()
+    // Use Payload's configured email adapter
+    if (!this.payload.email) {
+      throw new Error('Payload email configuration is required. Please configure email in your Payload config.')
+    }
+    this.emailAdapter = this.payload.email
   }
 
-  private initializeTransporter(): void {
+  private ensureInitialized(): void {
-    if (this.config.transport) {
+    if (!this.payload || !this.payload.db) {
-      if ('sendMail' in this.config.transport) {
+      throw new Error('MailingService payload not properly initialized')
-        this.transporter = this.config.transport
-      } else {
-        this.transporter = nodemailer.createTransport(this.config.transport as MailingTransportConfig)
-      }
-    } else if (this.payload.email && 'sendMail' in this.payload.email) {
-      // Use Payload's configured mailer (cast to any to handle different adapter types)
-      this.transporter = this.payload.email as any
-    } else {
-      throw new Error('Email transport configuration is required either in plugin config or Payload config')
     }
+    if (!this.emailAdapter) {
+      throw new Error('Email adapter not configured. Please ensure Payload has email configured.')
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Sanitizes a display name for use in email headers to prevent header injection
+   * Uses the centralized sanitization utility with quote escaping for headers
+   */
+  private sanitizeDisplayName(name: string): string {
+    return sanitizeDisplayName(name, true) // escapeQuotes = true for email headers
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Formats an email address with optional display name
+   */
+  private formatEmailAddress(email: string, displayName?: string | null): string {
+    if (displayName && displayName.trim()) {
+      const sanitizedName = this.sanitizeDisplayName(displayName)
+      return `"${sanitizedName}" <${email}>`
+    }
+    return email
   }
 
   private getDefaultFrom(): string {
@@ -54,9 +68,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
 
     // Check if fromName exists, is not empty after trimming, and fromEmail exists
     if (fromName && fromName.trim() && fromEmail) {
-      // Escape quotes in the display name to prevent malformed headers
+      return this.formatEmailAddress(fromEmail, fromName)
-      const escapedName = fromName.replace(/"/g, '\\"')
-      return `"${escapedName}" <${fromEmail}>`
     }
 
     return fromEmail || ''
@@ -107,72 +119,37 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     }
   }
 
-  async sendEmail(options: SendEmailOptions): Promise<string> {
+  async renderTemplate(templateSlug: string, variables: TemplateVariables): Promise<{ html: string; text: string; subject: string }> {
-    const emailId = await this.scheduleEmail({
+    this.ensureInitialized()
-      ...options,
+    const template = await this.getTemplateBySlug(templateSlug)
-      scheduledAt: new Date()
-    })
 
-    await this.processEmailItem(emailId)
+    if (!template) {
+      throw new Error(`Email template not found: ${templateSlug}`)
+    }
 
-    return emailId
+    return this.renderTemplateDocument(template, variables)
   }
 
-  async scheduleEmail(options: SendEmailOptions): Promise<string> {
+  /**
-    let html = options.html || ''
+   * Render a template document (for when you already have the template loaded)
-    let text = options.text || ''
+   * This avoids duplicate template lookups
-    let subject = options.subject || ''
+   * @internal
-    let templateId: string | undefined = undefined
+   */
+  async renderTemplateDocument(template: BaseEmailTemplateDocument, variables: TemplateVariables): Promise<{ html: string; text: string; subject: string }> {
+    this.ensureInitialized()
 
-    if (options.templateSlug) {
+    const emailContent = await this.renderEmailTemplate(template, variables)
-      const template = await this.getTemplateBySlug(options.templateSlug)
+    const subject = await this.renderTemplateString(template.subject || '', variables)
 
-      if (template) {
+    return {
-        templateId = template.id
+      html: emailContent.html,
-        const variables = options.variables || {}
+      text: emailContent.text,
-        const renderedContent = await this.renderEmailTemplate(template, variables)
+      subject
-        html = renderedContent.html
-        text = renderedContent.text
-        subject = await this.renderTemplate(template.subject, variables)
-      } else {
-        throw new Error(`Email template not found: ${options.templateSlug}`)
-      }
     }
-
-    if (!subject && !options.subject) {
-      throw new Error('Email subject is required')
-    }
-
-    if (!html && !options.html) {
-      throw new Error('Email HTML content is required')
-    }
-
-    const queueData = {
-      template: templateId,
-      to: Array.isArray(options.to) ? options.to : [options.to],
-      cc: options.cc ? (Array.isArray(options.cc) ? options.cc : [options.cc]) : undefined,
-      bcc: options.bcc ? (Array.isArray(options.bcc) ? options.bcc : [options.bcc]) : undefined,
-      from: options.from || this.getDefaultFrom(),
-      replyTo: options.replyTo,
-      subject: subject || options.subject,
-      html,
-      text,
-      variables: options.variables,
-      scheduledAt: options.scheduledAt?.toISOString(),
-      status: 'pending' as const,
-      attempts: 0,
-      priority: options.priority || 5,
-    }
-
-    const result = await this.payload.create({
-      collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
-      data: queueData,
-    })
-
-    return result.id as string
   }
 
   async processEmails(): Promise<void> {
+    this.ensureInitialized()
     const currentTime = new Date().toISOString()
 
     const { docs: pendingEmails } = await this.payload.find({
@@ -210,6 +187,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
   }
 
   async retryFailedEmails(): Promise<void> {
+    this.ensureInitialized()
     const maxAttempts = this.config.retryAttempts || 3
     const retryDelay = this.config.retryDelay || 300000 // 5 minutes
     const retryTime = new Date(Date.now() - retryDelay).toISOString()
@@ -252,7 +230,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     }
   }
 
-  private async processEmailItem(emailId: string): Promise<void> {
+  async processEmailItem(emailId: string): Promise<void> {
     try {
       await this.payload.update({
         collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
@@ -266,10 +244,19 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
       const email = await this.payload.findByID({
         collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
         id: emailId,
-      }) as QueuedEmail
+        depth: 1,
+      }) as BaseEmailDocument
 
-      let emailObject: EmailObject = {
+      // Combine from and fromName for nodemailer using proper sanitization
-        from: email.from || this.getDefaultFrom(),
+      let fromField: string
+      if (email.from) {
+        fromField = this.formatEmailAddress(email.from, email.fromName)
+      } else {
+        fromField = this.getDefaultFrom()
+      }
+
+      let mailOptions: any = {
+        from: fromField,
         to: email.to,
         cc: email.cc || undefined,
         bcc: email.bcc || undefined,
@@ -277,26 +264,34 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
         subject: email.subject,
         html: email.html,
         text: email.text || undefined,
-        variables: email.variables,
       }
 
-      // Apply emailWrapper hook if configured
+      // Call beforeSend hook if configured
-      if (this.config.emailWrapper) {
+      if (this.config.beforeSend) {
-        emailObject = await this.config.emailWrapper(emailObject)
+        try {
+          mailOptions = await this.config.beforeSend(mailOptions, email)
+
+          // Validate required properties remain intact after hook execution
+          if (!mailOptions.from) {
+            throw new Error('beforeSend hook must not remove the "from" property')
+          }
+          if (!mailOptions.to || (Array.isArray(mailOptions.to) && mailOptions.to.length === 0)) {
+            throw new Error('beforeSend hook must not remove or empty the "to" property')
+          }
+          if (!mailOptions.subject) {
+            throw new Error('beforeSend hook must not remove the "subject" property')
+          }
+          if (!mailOptions.html && !mailOptions.text) {
+            throw new Error('beforeSend hook must not remove both "html" and "text" properties')
+          }
+        } catch (error) {
+          console.error('Error in beforeSend hook:', error)
+          throw new Error(`beforeSend hook failed: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error'}`)
+        }
       }
 
-      const mailOptions = {
+      // Send email using Payload's email adapter
-        from: emailObject.from,
+      await this.emailAdapter.sendEmail(mailOptions)
-        to: emailObject.to,
-        cc: emailObject.cc || undefined,
-        bcc: emailObject.bcc || undefined,
-        replyTo: emailObject.replyTo || undefined,
-        subject: emailObject.subject,
-        html: emailObject.html,
-        text: emailObject.text || undefined,
-      }
-
-      await this.transporter.sendMail(mailOptions)
 
       await this.payload.update({
         collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
@@ -332,9 +327,9 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     const email = await this.payload.findByID({
       collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
       id: emailId,
-    }) as QueuedEmail
+    })
 
-    const newAttempts = (email.attempts || 0) + 1
+    const newAttempts = ((email as any).attempts || 0) + 1
 
     await this.payload.update({
       collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
@@ -347,7 +342,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     return newAttempts
   }
 
-  private async getTemplateBySlug(templateSlug: string): Promise<EmailTemplate | null> {
+  private async getTemplateBySlug(templateSlug: string): Promise<BaseEmailTemplateDocument | null> {
     try {
       const { docs } = await this.payload.find({
         collection: this.templatesCollection as any,
@@ -359,14 +354,14 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
         limit: 1,
       })
 
-      return docs.length > 0 ? docs[0] as EmailTemplate : null
+      return docs.length > 0 ? docs[0] as BaseEmailTemplateDocument : null
     } catch (error) {
       console.error(`Template with slug '${templateSlug}' not found:`, error)
       return null
     }
   }
 
-  private async renderTemplate(template: string, variables: Record<string, any>): Promise<string> {
+  private async renderTemplateString(template: string, variables: Record<string, any>): Promise<string> {
     // Use custom template renderer if provided
     if (this.config.templateRenderer) {
       try {
@@ -383,7 +378,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     if (engine === 'liquidjs') {
       try {
         await this.ensureLiquidJSInitialized()
-        if (this.liquid && typeof this.liquid !== 'boolean') {
+        if (this.liquid) {
           return await this.liquid.parseAndRender(template, variables)
         }
       } catch (error) {
@@ -424,7 +419,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     })
   }
 
-  private async renderEmailTemplate(template: EmailTemplate, variables: Record<string, any> = {}): Promise<{ html: string; text: string }> {
+  private async renderEmailTemplate(template: BaseEmailTemplateDocument, variables: Record<string, any> = {}): Promise<{ html: string; text: string }> {
     if (!template.content) {
       return { html: '', text: '' }
     }
@@ -434,8 +429,8 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
     let text = serializeRichTextToText(template.content)
 
     // Apply template variables to the rendered content
-    html = await this.renderTemplate(html, variables)
+    html = await this.renderTemplateString(html, variables)
-    text = await this.renderTemplate(text, variables)
+    text = await this.renderTemplateString(text, variables)
 
     return { html, text }
   }

src/types/index.ts

@@ -1,25 +1,81 @@
 import { Payload } from 'payload'
 import type { CollectionConfig, RichTextField } from 'payload'
-import { Transporter } from 'nodemailer'
 
-export interface EmailObject {
+// Payload ID type (string or number)
-  to: string | string[]
+export type PayloadID = string | number
-  cc?: string | string[]
+
-  bcc?: string | string[]
+// Payload relation type - can be populated (object with id) or unpopulated (just the ID)
-  from?: string
+export type PayloadRelation<T extends { id: PayloadID }> = T | PayloadID
-  replyTo?: string
+
+// JSON value type that matches Payload's JSON field type
+export type JSONValue = string | number | boolean | { [k: string]: unknown } | unknown[] | null | undefined
+
+// Generic base interfaces that work with any ID type and null values
+export interface BaseEmailDocument {
+  id: string | number
+  template?: any
+  templateSlug?: string | null
+  to: string[]
+  cc?: string[] | null
+  bcc?: string[] | null
+  from?: string | null
+  fromName?: string | null
+  replyTo?: string | null
   subject: string
   html: string
-  text?: string
+  text?: string | null
-  variables?: Record<string, any>
+  variables?: JSONValue
+  scheduledAt?: string | Date | null
+  sentAt?: string | Date | null
+  status?: 'pending' | 'processing' | 'sent' | 'failed' | null
+  attempts?: number | null
+  lastAttemptAt?: string | Date | null
+  error?: string | null
+  priority?: number | null
+  createdAt?: string | Date | null
+  updatedAt?: string | Date | null
 }
 
-export type EmailWrapperHook = (email: EmailObject) => EmailObject | Promise<EmailObject>
+export interface BaseEmailTemplateDocument {
+  id: string | number
+  name: string
+  slug: string
+  subject?: string | null
+  content?: any
+  createdAt?: string | Date | null
+  updatedAt?: string | Date | null
+}
+
+export type BaseEmail<TEmail extends BaseEmailDocument = BaseEmailDocument, TEmailTemplate extends BaseEmailTemplateDocument = BaseEmailTemplateDocument> = Omit<TEmail, 'id' | 'template'> & {template: Omit<TEmailTemplate, 'id'> | TEmailTemplate['id'] | undefined | null}
+
+export type BaseEmailTemplate<TEmailTemplate extends BaseEmailTemplateDocument = BaseEmailTemplateDocument> = Omit<TEmailTemplate, 'id'>
 
 export type TemplateRendererHook = (template: string, variables: Record<string, any>) => string | Promise<string>
 
 export type TemplateEngine = 'liquidjs' | 'mustache' | 'simple'
 
+export interface BeforeSendMailOptions {
+  from: string
+  to: string[]
+  cc?: string[]
+  bcc?: string[]
+  replyTo?: string
+  subject: string
+  html: string
+  text?: string
+  attachments?: any[]
+  [key: string]: any
+}
+
+export type BeforeSendHook = (options: BeforeSendMailOptions, email: BaseEmailDocument) => BeforeSendMailOptions | Promise<BeforeSendMailOptions>
+
+export interface JobPollingConfig {
+  maxAttempts?: number        // Maximum number of polling attempts (default: 5)
+  initialDelay?: number       // Initial delay in milliseconds (default: 25)
+  maxTotalTime?: number       // Maximum total polling time in milliseconds (default: 3000)
+  maxBackoffDelay?: number    // Maximum delay between attempts in milliseconds (default: 400)
+}
+
 export interface MailingPluginConfig {
   collections?: {
     templates?: string | Partial<CollectionConfig>
@@ -27,82 +83,51 @@ export interface MailingPluginConfig {
   }
   defaultFrom?: string
   defaultFromName?: string
-  transport?: Transporter | MailingTransportConfig
   queue?: string
   retryAttempts?: number
   retryDelay?: number
-  emailWrapper?: EmailWrapperHook
   templateRenderer?: TemplateRendererHook
   templateEngine?: TemplateEngine
   richTextEditor?: RichTextField['editor']
-  onReady?: (payload: any) => Promise<void>
+  beforeSend?: BeforeSendHook
   initOrder?: 'before' | 'after'
+  jobPolling?: JobPollingConfig
 }
 
-export interface MailingTransportConfig {
-  host: string
-  port: number
-  secure?: boolean
-  auth?: {
-    user: string
-    pass: string
-  }
-}
-
-export interface EmailTemplate {
-  id: string
-  name: string
-  slug: string
-  subject: string
-  content: any // Lexical editor state
-  createdAt: string
-  updatedAt: string
-}
-
-
 export interface QueuedEmail {
   id: string
-  template?: string
+  template?: string | null
   to: string[]
-  cc?: string[]
+  cc?: string[] | null
-  bcc?: string[]
+  bcc?: string[] | null
-  from?: string
+  from?: string | null
-  replyTo?: string
+  fromName?: string | null
+  replyTo?: string | null
   subject: string
   html: string
-  text?: string
+  text?: string | null
-  variables?: Record<string, any>
+  variables?: JSONValue
-  scheduledAt?: string
+  scheduledAt?: string | Date | null
-  sentAt?: string
+  sentAt?: string | Date | null
   status: 'pending' | 'processing' | 'sent' | 'failed'
   attempts: number
-  lastAttemptAt?: string
+  lastAttemptAt?: string | Date | null
-  error?: string
+  error?: string | null
-  priority?: number
+  priority?: number | null
   createdAt: string
   updatedAt: string
 }
 
-export interface SendEmailOptions {
+// Simple helper type for template variables
-  templateSlug?: string
+export interface TemplateVariables {
-  to: string | string[]
+  [key: string]: any
-  cc?: string | string[]
-  bcc?: string | string[]
-  from?: string
-  replyTo?: string
-  subject?: string
-  html?: string
-  text?: string
-  variables?: Record<string, any>
-  scheduledAt?: Date
-  priority?: number
 }
 
 export interface MailingService {
-  sendEmail(options: SendEmailOptions): Promise<string>
-  scheduleEmail(options: SendEmailOptions): Promise<string>
   processEmails(): Promise<void>
+  processEmailItem(emailId: string): Promise<void>
   retryFailedEmails(): Promise<void>
+  renderTemplate(templateSlug: string, variables: TemplateVariables): Promise<{ html: string; text: string; subject: string }>
 }
 
 export interface MailingContext {

src/utils/emailProcessor.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+import type { Payload } from 'payload'
+import { createContextLogger } from './logger.js'
+
+/**
+ * Processes a single email by ID using the mailing service
+ * @param payload Payload instance
+ * @param emailId The ID of the email to process
+ * @returns Promise that resolves when email is processed
+ */
+export async function processEmailById(payload: Payload, emailId: string): Promise<void> {
+  // Get mailing context from payload
+  const mailingContext = (payload as any).mailing
+
+  if (!mailingContext) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'Mailing plugin not found on payload instance. ' +
+      'Ensure the mailingPlugin is properly configured in your Payload config plugins array.'
+    )
+  }
+
+  if (!mailingContext.service) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'Mailing service not available. ' +
+      'The plugin may not have completed initialization. ' +
+      'Check that email configuration is properly set up in your Payload config.'
+    )
+  }
+
+  // Process the specific email
+  await mailingContext.service.processEmailItem(emailId)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Processes a job immediately by finding and executing it
+ * @param payload Payload instance
+ * @param jobId The ID of the job to run immediately
+ * @returns Promise that resolves when job is processed
+ */
+export async function processJobById(payload: Payload, jobId: string): Promise<void> {
+  if (!payload.jobs) {
+    throw new Error('PayloadCMS jobs not configured - cannot process job immediately')
+  }
+
+  try {
+    // Run a specific job by its ID (using where clause to find the job)
+    const result = await payload.jobs.run({
+      where: {
+        id: {
+          equals: jobId
+        }
+      }
+    })
+  } catch (error) {
+    const logger = createContextLogger(payload, 'PROCESSOR')
+    logger.error(`Job ${jobId} execution failed:`, error)
+    throw new Error(`Failed to process job ${jobId}: ${String(error)}`)
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Processes all pending and failed emails using the mailing service
+ * @param payload Payload instance
+ * @returns Promise that resolves when all emails are processed
+ */
+export async function processAllEmails(payload: Payload): Promise<void> {
+  // Get mailing context from payload
+  const mailingContext = (payload as any).mailing
+
+  if (!mailingContext) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'Mailing plugin not found on payload instance. ' +
+      'Ensure the mailingPlugin is properly configured in your Payload config plugins array.'
+    )
+  }
+
+  if (!mailingContext.service) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'Mailing service not available. ' +
+      'The plugin may not have completed initialization. ' +
+      'Check that email configuration is properly set up in your Payload config.'
+    )
+  }
+
+  // Process pending emails first
+  await mailingContext.service.processEmails()
+
+  // Then retry failed emails
+  await mailingContext.service.retryFailedEmails()
+}

src/utils/helpers.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,121 @@
 import { Payload } from 'payload'
-import { SendEmailOptions } from '../types/index.js'
+import { TemplateVariables, PayloadID, PayloadRelation } from '../types/index.js'
+
+/**
+ * Parse and validate email addresses
+ * @internal
+ */
+export const parseAndValidateEmails = (emails: string | string[] | null | undefined): string[] | undefined => {
+  if (!emails || emails === null) return undefined
+
+  let emailList: string[]
+  if (Array.isArray(emails)) {
+    emailList = emails
+  } else {
+    emailList = emails.split(',').map(email => email.trim()).filter(Boolean)
+  }
+
+  // RFC 5322 compliant email validation
+  const emailRegex = /^[a-zA-Z0-9.!#$%&'*+/=?^_`{|}~-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9](?:[a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?(?:\.[a-zA-Z0-9](?:[a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?)*$/
+  const invalidEmails = emailList.filter(email => {
+    // Check basic format
+    if (!emailRegex.test(email)) return true
+    // Check for common invalid patterns
+    if (email.includes('..') || email.startsWith('.') || email.endsWith('.')) return true
+    if (email.includes('@.') || email.includes('.@')) return true
+    // Check domain has at least one dot
+    const parts = email.split('@')
+    if (parts.length !== 2 || !parts[1].includes('.')) return true
+    return false
+  })
+
+  if (invalidEmails.length > 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Invalid email addresses: ${invalidEmails.join(', ')}`)
+  }
+
+  return emailList
+}
+
+/**
+ * Sanitize display names to prevent email header injection
+ * Removes newlines, carriage returns, and control characters
+ * @param displayName - The display name to sanitize
+ * @param escapeQuotes - Whether to escape quotes (for email headers)
+ * @returns Sanitized display name
+ */
+export const sanitizeDisplayName = (displayName: string, escapeQuotes = false): string => {
+  if (!displayName) return displayName
+
+  let sanitized = displayName
+    .trim()
+    // Remove/replace newlines and carriage returns to prevent header injection
+    .replace(/[\r\n]/g, ' ')
+    // Remove control characters (except space and printable characters)
+    .replace(/[\x00-\x1F\x7F-\x9F]/g, '')
+
+  // Escape quotes if needed (for email headers)
+  if (escapeQuotes) {
+    sanitized = sanitized.replace(/"/g, '\\"')
+  }
+
+  return sanitized
+}
+
+/**
+ * Sanitize and validate fromName for emails
+ * Wrapper around sanitizeDisplayName for consistent fromName handling
+ * @param fromName - The fromName to sanitize
+ * @returns Sanitized fromName or undefined if empty after sanitization
+ */
+export const sanitizeFromName = (fromName: string | null | undefined): string | undefined => {
+  if (!fromName) return undefined
+
+  const sanitized = sanitizeDisplayName(fromName, false)
+  return sanitized.length > 0 ? sanitized : undefined
+}
+
+/**
+ * Type guard to check if a Payload relation is populated (object) or unpopulated (ID)
+ */
+export const isPopulated = <T extends { id: PayloadID }>(
+  value: PayloadRelation<T> | null | undefined
+): value is T => {
+  return value !== null && value !== undefined && typeof value === 'object' && 'id' in value
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolves a Payload relation to just the ID
+ * Handles both populated (object with id) and unpopulated (string/number) values
+ */
+export const resolveID = <T extends { id: PayloadID }>(
+  value: PayloadRelation<T> | null | undefined
+): PayloadID | undefined => {
+  if (value === null || value === undefined) return undefined
+
+  if (typeof value === 'string' || typeof value === 'number') {
+    return value
+  }
+
+  if (typeof value === 'object' && 'id' in value) {
+    return value.id
+  }
+
+  return undefined
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolves an array of Payload relations to an array of IDs
+ * Handles mixed arrays of populated and unpopulated values
+ */
+export const resolveIDs = <T extends { id: PayloadID }>(
+  values: (PayloadRelation<T> | null | undefined)[] | null | undefined
+): PayloadID[] => {
+  if (!values || !Array.isArray(values)) return []
+
+  return values
+    .map(value => resolveID(value))
+    .filter((id): id is PayloadID => id !== undefined)
+}
 
 export const getMailing = (payload: Payload) => {
   const mailing = (payload as any).mailing
@@ -9,14 +125,56 @@ export const getMailing = (payload: Payload) => {
   return mailing
 }
 
-export const sendEmail = async (payload: Payload, options: SendEmailOptions): Promise<string> => {
+export const renderTemplate = async (payload: Payload, templateSlug: string, variables: TemplateVariables): Promise<{ html: string; text: string; subject: string }> => {
   const mailing = getMailing(payload)
-  return mailing.service.sendEmail(options)
+  return mailing.service.renderTemplate(templateSlug, variables)
 }
 
-export const scheduleEmail = async (payload: Payload, options: SendEmailOptions): Promise<string> => {
+/**
+ * Render a template and return both rendered content and template ID
+ * This is used by sendEmail to avoid duplicate template lookups
+ * @internal
+ */
+export const renderTemplateWithId = async (
+  payload: Payload,
+  templateSlug: string,
+  variables: TemplateVariables
+): Promise<{ html: string; text: string; subject: string; templateId: PayloadID }> => {
   const mailing = getMailing(payload)
-  return mailing.service.scheduleEmail(options)
+  const templatesCollection = mailing.config.collections?.templates || 'email-templates'
+
+  // Runtime validation: Ensure the collection exists in Payload
+  if (!payload.collections[templatesCollection]) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Templates collection '${templatesCollection}' not found. ` +
+      `Available collections: ${Object.keys(payload.collections).join(', ')}`
+    )
+  }
+
+  // Look up the template document once
+  const { docs: templateDocs } = await payload.find({
+    collection: templatesCollection as any,
+    where: {
+      slug: {
+        equals: templateSlug,
+      },
+    },
+    limit: 1,
+  })
+
+  if (!templateDocs || templateDocs.length === 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Template not found: ${templateSlug}`)
+  }
+
+  const templateDoc = templateDocs[0]
+
+  // Render using the document directly to avoid duplicate lookup
+  const rendered = await mailing.service.renderTemplateDocument(templateDoc, variables)
+
+  return {
+    ...rendered,
+    templateId: templateDoc.id,
+  }
 }
 
 export const processEmails = async (payload: Payload): Promise<void> => {

src/utils/jobPolling.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+import { Payload } from 'payload'
+import { JobPollingConfig } from '../types/index.js'
+
+export interface PollForJobIdOptions {
+  payload: Payload
+  collectionSlug: string
+  emailId: string | number
+  config?: JobPollingConfig
+  logger?: {
+    debug: (message: string, ...args: any[]) => void
+    info: (message: string, ...args: any[]) => void
+    warn: (message: string, ...args: any[]) => void
+    error: (message: string, ...args: any[]) => void
+  }
+}
+
+export interface PollForJobIdResult {
+  jobId: string
+  attempts: number
+  elapsedTime: number
+}
+
+// Default job polling configuration values
+const DEFAULT_JOB_POLLING_CONFIG: Required<JobPollingConfig> = {
+  maxAttempts: 5,
+  initialDelay: 25,
+  maxTotalTime: 3000,
+  maxBackoffDelay: 400,
+}
+
+/**
+ * Polls for a job ID associated with an email document using exponential backoff.
+ * This utility handles the complexity of waiting for auto-scheduled jobs to be created.
+ *
+ * The polling mechanism uses exponential backoff with configurable parameters:
+ * - Starts with an initial delay and doubles on each retry
+ * - Caps individual delays at maxBackoffDelay
+ * - Enforces a maximum total polling time
+ *
+ * @param options - Polling options including payload, collection, email ID, and config
+ * @returns Promise resolving to job ID and timing information
+ * @throws Error if job is not found within the configured limits
+ */
+export const pollForJobId = async (options: PollForJobIdOptions): Promise<PollForJobIdResult> => {
+  const { payload, collectionSlug, emailId, logger } = options
+
+  // Merge user config with defaults
+  const config: Required<JobPollingConfig> = {
+    ...DEFAULT_JOB_POLLING_CONFIG,
+    ...options.config,
+  }
+
+  const { maxAttempts, initialDelay, maxTotalTime, maxBackoffDelay } = config
+  const startTime = Date.now()
+  let jobId: string | undefined
+
+  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxAttempts; attempt++) {
+    const elapsedTime = Date.now() - startTime
+
+    // Check if we've exceeded the maximum total polling time
+    if (elapsedTime > maxTotalTime) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Job polling timed out after ${maxTotalTime}ms for email ${emailId}. ` +
+        `The auto-scheduling may have failed or is taking longer than expected.`
+      )
+    }
+
+    // Calculate exponential backoff delay, capped at maxBackoffDelay
+    const delay = Math.min(initialDelay * Math.pow(2, attempt), maxBackoffDelay)
+
+    // Wait before checking (skip on first attempt)
+    if (attempt > 0) {
+      await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay))
+    }
+
+    // Fetch the email document to check for associated jobs
+    const emailWithJobs = await payload.findByID({
+      collection: collectionSlug,
+      id: emailId,
+    })
+
+    // Check if jobs array exists and has entries
+    if (emailWithJobs.jobs && emailWithJobs.jobs.length > 0) {
+      const firstJob = Array.isArray(emailWithJobs.jobs) ? emailWithJobs.jobs[0] : emailWithJobs.jobs
+      jobId = typeof firstJob === 'string' ? firstJob : String(firstJob.id || firstJob)
+
+      return {
+        jobId,
+        attempts: attempt + 1,
+        elapsedTime: Date.now() - startTime,
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Log progress for attempts after the second try
+    if (attempt >= 2 && logger) {
+      logger.debug(`Waiting for job creation for email ${emailId}, attempt ${attempt + 1}/${maxAttempts}`)
+    }
+  }
+
+  // If we reach here, job was not found
+  const elapsedTime = Date.now() - startTime
+  const timeoutMsg = elapsedTime >= maxTotalTime
+  const errorType = timeoutMsg ? 'POLLING_TIMEOUT' : 'JOB_NOT_FOUND'
+  const baseMessage = timeoutMsg
+    ? `Job polling timed out after ${maxTotalTime}ms for email ${emailId}`
+    : `No processing job found for email ${emailId} after ${maxAttempts} attempts (${elapsedTime}ms)`
+
+  throw new Error(
+    `${errorType}: ${baseMessage}. ` +
+    `This indicates the email was created but job auto-scheduling failed. ` +
+    `The email exists in the database but immediate processing cannot proceed. ` +
+    `You may need to: 1) Check job queue configuration, 2) Verify database hooks are working, ` +
+    `3) Process the email later using processEmailById('${emailId}').`
+  )
+}

src/utils/jobScheduler.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+import type { Payload } from 'payload'
+import { createContextLogger } from './logger.js'
+
+/**
+ * Finds existing processing jobs for an email
+ */
+export async function findExistingJobs(
+  payload: Payload,
+  emailId: string | number
+): Promise<{ docs: any[], totalDocs: number }> {
+  return await payload.find({
+    collection: 'payload-jobs',
+    where: {
+      'input.emailId': {
+        equals: String(emailId),
+      },
+      task: {
+        equals: 'process-email',
+      },
+    },
+    limit: 10,
+  })
+}
+
+/**
+ * Ensures a processing job exists for an email
+ * Creates one if it doesn't exist, or returns existing job IDs
+ *
+ * This function is idempotent and safe for concurrent calls:
+ * - Uses atomic check-and-create pattern with retry logic
+ * - Multiple concurrent calls will only create one job
+ * - Database-level uniqueness prevents duplicate jobs
+ * - Race conditions are handled with exponential backoff retry
+ */
+export async function ensureEmailJob(
+  payload: Payload,
+  emailId: string | number,
+  options?: {
+    scheduledAt?: string | Date
+    queueName?: string
+  }
+): Promise<{ jobIds: (string | number)[], created: boolean }> {
+  if (!payload.jobs) {
+    throw new Error('PayloadCMS jobs not configured - cannot create email job')
+  }
+
+  const normalizedEmailId = String(emailId)
+  const mailingContext = (payload as any).mailing
+  const queueName = options?.queueName || mailingContext?.config?.queue || 'default'
+
+  const logger = createContextLogger(payload, 'JOB_SCHEDULER')
+
+  // First, optimistically try to create the job
+  // If it fails due to uniqueness constraint, then check for existing jobs
+  // This approach minimizes the race condition window
+
+  try {
+    // Attempt to create job - rely on database constraints for duplicate prevention
+    const job = await payload.jobs.queue({
+      queue: queueName,
+      task: 'process-email',
+      input: {
+        emailId: normalizedEmailId
+      },
+      waitUntil: options?.scheduledAt ? new Date(options.scheduledAt) : undefined
+    })
+
+    logger.info(`Auto-scheduled processing job ${job.id} for email ${normalizedEmailId}`)
+
+    return {
+      jobIds: [job.id],
+      created: true
+    }
+  } catch (createError) {
+
+    // Job creation failed - likely due to duplicate constraint or system issue
+
+    // Check if duplicate jobs exist (handles race condition where another process created job)
+    const existingJobs = await findExistingJobs(payload, normalizedEmailId)
+
+
+    if (existingJobs.totalDocs > 0) {
+      // Found existing jobs - return them (race condition handled successfully)
+      logger.debug(`Using existing jobs for email ${normalizedEmailId}: ${existingJobs.docs.map(j => j.id).join(', ')}`)
+      return {
+        jobIds: existingJobs.docs.map(job => job.id),
+        created: false
+      }
+    }
+
+    // No existing jobs found - this is a genuine error
+    // Enhanced error context for better debugging
+    const errorMessage = String(createError)
+    const isLikelyUniqueConstraint = errorMessage.toLowerCase().includes('duplicate') ||
+                                     errorMessage.toLowerCase().includes('unique') ||
+                                     errorMessage.toLowerCase().includes('constraint')
+
+    if (isLikelyUniqueConstraint) {
+      // This should not happen if our check above worked, but provide a clear error
+      logger.warn(`Unique constraint violation but no existing jobs found for email ${normalizedEmailId}`)
+      throw new Error(
+        `Database uniqueness constraint violation for email ${normalizedEmailId}, but no existing jobs found. ` +
+        `This indicates a potential data consistency issue. Original error: ${errorMessage}`
+      )
+    }
+
+    // Non-constraint related error
+    logger.error(`Job creation error for email ${normalizedEmailId}: ${errorMessage}`)
+    throw new Error(`Failed to create job for email ${normalizedEmailId}: ${errorMessage}`)
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Updates an email document to include job IDs in the relationship field
+ */
+export async function updateEmailJobRelationship(
+  payload: Payload,
+  emailId: string | number,
+  jobIds: (string | number)[],
+  collectionSlug: string = 'emails'
+): Promise<void> {
+  try {
+    const normalizedEmailId = String(emailId)
+    const normalizedJobIds = jobIds.map(id => String(id))
+
+    // Get current jobs to avoid overwriting
+    const currentEmail = await payload.findByID({
+      collection: collectionSlug,
+      id: normalizedEmailId,
+    })
+
+    // Extract IDs from job objects or use the value directly if it's already an ID
+    // Jobs can be populated (objects with id field) or just IDs (strings/numbers)
+    const currentJobs = (currentEmail.jobs || []).map((job: any) =>
+      typeof job === 'object' && job !== null && job.id ? String(job.id) : String(job)
+    )
+    const allJobs = [...new Set([...currentJobs, ...normalizedJobIds])] // Deduplicate with normalized strings
+
+    await payload.update({
+      collection: collectionSlug,
+      id: normalizedEmailId,
+      data: {
+        jobs: allJobs
+      }
+    })
+  } catch (error) {
+    const normalizedEmailId = String(emailId)
+    const logger = createContextLogger(payload, 'JOB_SCHEDULER')
+    logger.error(`Failed to update email ${normalizedEmailId} with job relationship:`, error)
+    throw error
+  }
+}

src/utils/logger.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import type { Payload } from 'payload'
+
+let pluginLogger: any = null
+
+/**
+ * Get or create the plugin logger instance
+ * Uses PAYLOAD_MAILING_LOG_LEVEL environment variable to configure log level
+ * Defaults to 'info' if not set
+ */
+export function getPluginLogger(payload: Payload) {
+  if (!pluginLogger && payload.logger) {
+    const logLevel = process.env.PAYLOAD_MAILING_LOG_LEVEL || 'info'
+
+    pluginLogger = payload.logger.child({
+      level: logLevel,
+      plugin: '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
+    })
+
+    // Log the configured log level on first initialization
+    pluginLogger.info(`Logger initialized with level: ${logLevel}`)
+  }
+
+  // Fallback to console if logger not available (shouldn't happen in normal operation)
+  if (!pluginLogger) {
+    return {
+      debug: (...args: any[]) => console.log('[MAILING DEBUG]', ...args),
+      info: (...args: any[]) => console.log('[MAILING INFO]', ...args),
+      warn: (...args: any[]) => console.warn('[MAILING WARN]', ...args),
+      error: (...args: any[]) => console.error('[MAILING ERROR]', ...args),
+    }
+  }
+
+  return pluginLogger
+}
+
+/**
+ * Create a context-specific logger for a particular operation
+ */
+export function createContextLogger(payload: Payload, context: string) {
+  const logger = getPluginLogger(payload)
+
+  return {
+    debug: (message: string, ...args: any[]) => logger.debug(`[${context}] ${message}`, ...args),
+    info: (message: string, ...args: any[]) => logger.info(`[${context}] ${message}`, ...args),
+    warn: (message: string, ...args: any[]) => logger.warn(`[${context}] ${message}`, ...args),
+    error: (message: string, ...args: any[]) => logger.error(`[${context}] ${message}`, ...args),
+  }
+}

template-syntax-migration.md

@@ -1,160 +0,0 @@
-# Template Engine Options
-
-The plugin now supports flexible template rendering with multiple options:
-
-1. **String-based Configuration** (easy setup with built-in engines)
-2. **Custom Template Renderer Hook** (maximum flexibility)
-3. **Simple Variable Replacement** (fallback, no dependencies)
-
-## Configuration Options
-
-### String-based Template Engine Configuration
-Easy setup using built-in template engines:
-
-```typescript
-// Using LiquidJS (default, requires: npm install liquidjs)
-mailingPlugin({
-  templateEngine: 'liquidjs'
-})
-
-// Using Mustache (requires: npm install mustache)
-mailingPlugin({
-  templateEngine: 'mustache'
-})
-
-// Using simple variable replacement (no dependencies)
-mailingPlugin({
-  templateEngine: 'simple'
-})
-```
-
-### Custom Template Renderer Hook
-```typescript
-// Example with Handlebars
-import Handlebars from 'handlebars'
-
-mailingPlugin({
-  templateRenderer: async (template: string, variables: Record<string, any>) => {
-    const compiled = Handlebars.compile(template)
-    return compiled(variables)
-  }
-})
-
-// Example with Mustache
-import Mustache from 'mustache'
-
-mailingPlugin({
-  templateRenderer: async (template: string, variables: Record<string, any>) => {
-    return Mustache.render(template, variables)
-  }
-})
-
-// Example with Nunjucks
-import nunjucks from 'nunjucks'
-
-mailingPlugin({
-  templateRenderer: async (template: string, variables: Record<string, any>) => {
-    return nunjucks.renderString(template, variables)
-  }
-})
-```
-
-### Using LiquidJS (Optional)
-Install the optional dependency:
-```bash
-npm install liquidjs
-# or
-pnpm add liquidjs
-```
-
-### Fallback Mode
-If no custom renderer is provided and neither LiquidJS nor Mustache are installed, simple `{{variable}}` replacement is used.
-
-## Template Syntax Reference
-
-### Mustache Syntax (Logic-less)
-```mustache
-Hello {{user.name}},
-
-{{#user.isPremium}}
-  Welcome to premium! Your balance is {{balance}}.
-{{/user.isPremium}}
-
-{{#orders}}
-  Order: {{id}} - {{date}}
-{{/orders}}
-```
-
-### LiquidJS Syntax (With Logic)
-```liquid
-Hello {{user.name}},
-
-{% if user.isPremium %}
-  Welcome to premium! Your balance is {{balance | formatCurrency}}.
-{% endif %}
-
-{% for order in orders %}
-  Order: {{order.id}} - {{order.date | formatDate: "short"}}
-{% endfor %}
-```
-
-### Simple Variable Replacement
-```
-Hello {{user.name}},
-Your balance is {{balance}}.
-```
-
-## Migration from Handlebars
-
-### Variables
-- **Handlebars**: `{{variable}}`
-- **LiquidJS**: `{{variable}}` (same)
-
-### Conditionals
-- **Handlebars**: `{{#if condition}}content{{/if}}`
-- **LiquidJS**: `{% if condition %}content{% endif %}`
-
-### Loops
-- **Handlebars**: `{{#each items}}{{this}}{{/each}}`
-- **LiquidJS**: `{% for item in items %}{{item}}{% endfor %}`
-
-### Filters/Helpers
-- **Handlebars**: `{{formatDate date "short"}}`
-- **LiquidJS**: `{{date | formatDate: "short"}}`
-
-### Available Filters
-- `formatDate` - Format dates (short, long, or default)
-- `formatCurrency` - Format currency amounts
-- `capitalize` - Capitalize first letter
-
-### Comparison Operations (LiquidJS Advantage)
-- **Handlebars**: Required `{{#ifEquals}}` helper
-- **LiquidJS**: Built-in: `{% if user.role == "admin" %}`
-
-## Example Migration
-
-### Before (Handlebars)
-```handlebars
-Hello {{user.name}},
-
-{{#if user.isPremium}}
-  Welcome to premium! Your balance is {{formatCurrency balance}}.
-{{/if}}
-
-{{#each orders}}
-  Order: {{this.id}} - {{formatDate this.date "short"}}
-{{/each}}
-```
-
-### After (LiquidJS)
-```liquid
-Hello {{user.name}},
-
-{% if user.isPremium %}
-  Welcome to premium! Your balance is {{balance | formatCurrency}}.
-{% endif %}
-
-{% for order in orders %}
-  Order: {{order.id}} - {{order.date | formatDate: "short"}}
-{% endfor %}
-```