Merge pull request #43 from xtr-dev/dev

Remove verbose initialization logs
Update development documentation for silent plugin initialization
2025-12-10 16:23:23 +00:00 · 2025-09-14 18:36:19 +02:00 · 2025-09-14 18:33:34 +02:00 · 2025-09-14 18:18:20 +02:00 · 2025-09-14 18:07:19 +02:00 · 2025-09-14 18:00:23 +02:00
25 changed files with 1476 additions and 788 deletions
--- a/DEVELOPMENT.md
+++ b/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
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -28,26 +28,31 @@ npm install @xtr-dev/payload-mailing

 ## Quick Start

-### 1. Add the plugin to your Payload config
+### 1. Configure email in your Payload config and add the plugin

 ```typescript
 import { buildConfig } from 'payload/config'
 import { mailingPlugin } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
+import { nodemailerAdapter } from '@payloadcms/email-nodemailer'

 export default buildConfig({
  // ... your config
+  email: nodemailerAdapter({
+    defaultFromAddress: 'noreply@yoursite.com',
+    defaultFromName: 'Your Site',
+    transport: {
+      host: 'smtp.gmail.com',
+      port: 587,
+      auth: {
+        user: process.env.EMAIL_USER,
+        pass: process.env.EMAIL_PASS,
+      },
+    },
+  }),
  plugins: [
    mailingPlugin({
      defaultFrom: 'noreply@yoursite.com',
-      transport: {
-        host: 'smtp.gmail.com',
-        port: 587,
-        secure: false,
-        auth: {
-          user: process.env.EMAIL_USER,
-          pass: process.env.EMAIL_PASS,
-        },
-      },
+      defaultFromName: 'Your Site Name',
      retryAttempts: 3,
      retryDelay: 300000, // 5 minutes
      queue: 'email-queue', // optional
@@ -59,6 +64,7 @@ export default buildConfig({
 ### 2. Send emails with type-safe helper

 ```typescript
+// sendEmail is a primary export for easy access
 import { sendEmail } from '@xtr-dev/payload-mailing'
 import { Email } from './payload-types' // Your generated types

@@ -118,13 +124,6 @@ mailingPlugin({
    return yourCustomEngine.render(template, variables)
  },

-  // Email transport
-  transport: {
-    host: 'smtp.gmail.com',
-    port: 587,
-    auth: { user: '...', pass: '...' }
-  },
-
  // Collection names (optional)
  collections: {
    templates: 'email-templates',  // default
@@ -138,13 +137,21 @@ mailingPlugin({
  retryDelay: 300000,            // 5 minutes (default)

  // Advanced options
-  emailWrapper: (email) => ({    // optional layout wrapper
-    ...email,
-    html: `<html><body>${email.html}</body></html>`
-  }),
  richTextEditor: lexicalEditor(),  // optional custom editor
  onReady: async (payload) => {     // optional initialization hook
    console.log('Mailing plugin ready!')
+  },
+
+  // beforeSend hook - modify emails before sending
+  beforeSend: async (options, email) => {
+    // Add attachments, modify headers, etc.
+    options.attachments = [
+      { filename: 'invoice.pdf', content: pdfBuffer }
+    ]
+    options.headers = {
+      'X-Campaign-ID': email.campaignId
+    }
+    return options
  }
 })
 ```
@@ -226,7 +233,7 @@ Thanks for joining {{siteName}}. We're excited to have you!

 **What you can do:**
 • Create beautiful emails with rich text formatting
-• Use the emailWrapper hook to add custom layouts  
+  
 • Queue and schedule emails effortlessly

 Your account was created on {{formatDate createdAt "long"}}.
@@ -237,282 +244,6 @@ The {{siteName}} Team

 ## Advanced Features

-### Custom HTML Layouts with Email Wrapper Hook
-
-The `emailWrapper` hook allows you to apply consistent HTML layouts and styling to all emails sent through the plugin. This is perfect for adding company branding, headers, footers, and responsive styling.
-
-#### Basic Email Wrapper
-
-```typescript
-mailingPlugin({
-  // ... other config
-  emailWrapper: (email) => {
-    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: #f4f4f4; }
-          .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; line-height: 1.6; }
-          .footer { background: #f8f9fa; padding: 15px; text-align: center; color: #6c757d; font-size: 14px; }
-
-          /* Responsive styles */
-          @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {
-            .container { margin: 0 10px; }
-            .content { padding: 20px; }
-          }
-        </style>
-      </head>
-      <body>
-        <div class="container">
-          <div class="header">
-            <h1>My Company</h1>
-          </div>
-          <div class="content">
-            ${email.html}
-          </div>
-          <div class="footer">
-            © 2024 My Company. All rights reserved.<br>
-            <a href="#" style="color: #007bff;">Unsubscribe</a> |
-            <a href="#" style="color: #007bff;">Contact Support</a>
-          </div>
-        </div>
-      </body>
-      </html>
-    `
-
-    return {
-      ...email,
-      html: wrappedHtml,
-      text: `MY COMPANY\n\n${email.text}\n\n© 2024 My Company\nUnsubscribe: [link] | Contact Support: [link]`
-    }
-  }
-})
-```
-
-#### Advanced Email Wrapper with Dynamic Content
-
-```typescript
-mailingPlugin({
-  // ... other config
-  emailWrapper: (email) => {
-    // You can access email properties and customize based on content
-    const isTransactional = email.subject?.includes('Receipt') || email.subject?.includes('Confirmation');
-    const headerColor = isTransactional ? '#28a745' : '#007bff';
-    const headerText = isTransactional ? 'Order Confirmation' : 'My Company';
-
-    const wrappedHtml = `
-      <!DOCTYPE html>
-      <html lang="en">
-      <head>
-        <meta charset="utf-8">
-        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
-        <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
-        <title>${email.subject}</title>
-        <!--[if mso]>
-        <noscript>
-          <xml>
-            <o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
-              <o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch>
-            </o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
-          </xml>
-        </noscript>
-        <![endif]-->
-        <style>
-          /* Reset styles */
-          body, table, td, a { -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -ms-text-size-adjust: 100%; }
-          table, td { mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; }
-          img { -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; border: 0; outline: none; text-decoration: none; }
-
-          /* Base styles */
-          body {
-            margin: 0 !important;
-            padding: 0 !important;
-            background-color: #f4f4f4;
-            font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif;
-          }
-
-          .email-container {
-            max-width: 600px;
-            margin: 0 auto;
-            background-color: #ffffff;
-            border-radius: 8px;
-            overflow: hidden;
-            box-shadow: 0 2px 10px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
-          }
-
-          .email-header {
-            background: linear-gradient(135deg, ${headerColor}, ${headerColor}dd);
-            color: white;
-            padding: 30px 20px;
-            text-align: center;
-          }
-
-          .email-content {
-            padding: 30px;
-            color: #333333;
-            line-height: 1.6;
-          }
-
-          .email-footer {
-            background-color: #f8f9fa;
-            padding: 20px;
-            text-align: center;
-            color: #6c757d;
-            font-size: 14px;
-            border-top: 1px solid #e9ecef;
-          }
-
-          .email-footer a {
-            color: ${headerColor};
-            text-decoration: none;
-          }
-
-          /* Responsive */
-          @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {
-            .email-container {
-              margin: 0 10px !important;
-            }
-            .email-header, .email-content {
-              padding: 20px !important;
-            }
-          }
-        </style>
-      </head>
-      <body>
-        <div class="email-container">
-          <div class="email-header">
-            <h1 style="margin: 0; font-size: 24px;">${headerText}</h1>
-          </div>
-          <div class="email-content">
-            ${email.html}
-          </div>
-          <div class="email-footer">
-            <p style="margin: 0 0 10px;">© ${new Date().getFullYear()} My Company. All rights reserved.</p>
-            <p style="margin: 0;">
-              <a href="mailto:support@mycompany.com">Contact Support</a> |
-              <a href="#">Privacy Policy</a> |
-              <a href="#">Unsubscribe</a>
-            </p>
-          </div>
-        </div>
-      </body>
-      </html>
-    `
-
-    // Also enhance the plain text version
-    const wrappedText = `
-${headerText.toUpperCase()}
-${'='.repeat(headerText.length)}
-
-${email.text || email.html?.replace(/<[^>]*>/g, '')}
-
---
-© ${new Date().getFullYear()} My Company. All rights reserved.
-Contact Support: support@mycompany.com
-Privacy Policy: [link]
-Unsubscribe: [link]
-    `.trim();
-
-    return {
-      ...email,
-      html: wrappedHtml,
-      text: wrappedText
-    }
-  }
-})
-```
-
-#### External CSS and Assets
-
-You can also reference external stylesheets and assets:
-
-```typescript
-mailingPlugin({
-  emailWrapper: (email) => {
-    const wrappedHtml = `
-      <!DOCTYPE html>
-      <html>
-      <head>
-        <meta charset="utf-8">
-        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
-        <title>${email.subject}</title>
-        <!-- External CSS -->
-        <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Inter:wght@400;600&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
-        <style>
-          body { font-family: 'Inter', sans-serif; }
-          /* Your custom styles here */
-        </style>
-      </head>
-      <body>
-        <div style="max-width: 600px; margin: 0 auto;">
-          <img src="https://mycompany.com/email-header.png" alt="My Company" style="width: 100%; height: auto;">
-          <div style="padding: 20px;">
-            ${email.html}
-          </div>
-          <img src="https://mycompany.com/email-footer.png" alt="Footer" style="width: 100%; height: auto;">
-        </div>
-      </body>
-      </html>
-    `;
-
-    return { ...email, html: wrappedHtml };
-  }
-})
-```
-
-#### Template-Specific Layouts
-
-You can customize layouts based on email templates:
-
-```typescript
-mailingPlugin({
-  emailWrapper: (email, context) => {
-    // Access template information if available
-    const templateSlug = context?.templateSlug;
-
-    let layoutClass = 'default-layout';
-    let headerColor = '#007bff';
-
-    if (templateSlug === 'welcome-email') {
-      layoutClass = 'welcome-layout';
-      headerColor = '#28a745';
-    } else if (templateSlug === 'invoice-email') {
-      layoutClass = 'invoice-layout';
-      headerColor = '#dc3545';
-    }
-
-    const wrappedHtml = `
-      <!DOCTYPE html>
-      <html>
-      <head>
-        <meta charset="utf-8">
-        <title>${email.subject}</title>
-        <style>
-          .${layoutClass} { /* template-specific styles */ }
-          .header { background-color: ${headerColor}; }
-        </style>
-      </head>
-      <body>
-        <div class="${layoutClass}">
-          ${email.html}
-        </div>
-      </body>
-      </html>
-    `;
-
-    return { ...email, html: wrappedHtml };
-  }
-})
-```
-
-The `emailWrapper` hook receives the email object with `html`, `text`, and `subject` properties, and should return the modified email object with your custom layout applied.
-
 ### Custom Rich Text Editor

 Override the rich text editor used for templates:
@@ -534,6 +265,56 @@ mailingPlugin({
 })
 ```

+### beforeSend Hook
+
+Modify emails before they are sent to add attachments, custom headers, or make other changes:
+
+```typescript
+mailingPlugin({
+  // ... other config
+  beforeSend: async (options, email) => {
+    // Add attachments dynamically
+    if (email.invoiceId) {
+      const invoice = await generateInvoicePDF(email.invoiceId)
+      options.attachments = [
+        {
+          filename: `invoice-${email.invoiceId}.pdf`,
+          content: invoice.buffer,
+          contentType: 'application/pdf'
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+
+    // Add custom headers
+    options.headers = {
+      'X-Campaign-ID': email.campaignId,
+      'X-Customer-ID': email.customerId,
+      'X-Priority': email.priority === 1 ? 'High' : 'Normal'
+    }
+
+    // Modify recipients based on conditions
+    if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
+      // Redirect all emails to test address in dev
+      options.to = ['test@example.com']
+      options.subject = `[TEST] ${options.subject}`
+    }
+
+    // Add BCC for compliance
+    if (email.requiresAudit) {
+      options.bcc = ['audit@company.com']
+    }
+
+    return options
+  }
+})
+```
+
+The `beforeSend` hook receives:
+- `options`: The nodemailer mail options that will be sent
+- `email`: The full email document from the database
+
+You must return the modified options object.
+
 ### Initialization Hooks

 Control plugin initialization order and add post-initialization logic:
@@ -599,9 +380,9 @@ await processEmails(payload)
 await retryFailedEmails(payload)
 ```

-## PayloadCMS Task Integration
+## PayloadCMS Integration

-The plugin provides a ready-to-use PayloadCMS task for queuing template emails:
+The plugin provides PayloadCMS tasks for email processing:

 ### 1. Add the task to your Payload config

@@ -674,6 +455,27 @@ The task can also be triggered from the Payload admin panel with a user-friendly
 - ✅ **Error Handling**: Comprehensive error reporting
 - ✅ **Queue Management**: Leverage Payload's job queue system

+### Immediate Processing
+
+The send email task now supports immediate processing. Enable the `processImmediately` option to send emails instantly:
+
+```typescript
+await payload.jobs.queue({
+  task: 'send-email',
+  input: {
+    processImmediately: true, // Send immediately (default: false)
+    templateSlug: 'welcome-email',
+    to: ['user@example.com'],
+    variables: { name: 'John' }
+  }
+})
+```
+
+**Benefits**:
+- No separate workflow needed
+- Unified task interface
+- Optional immediate processing when needed
+
 ## Job Processing

 The plugin automatically adds a unified email processing job to PayloadCMS:
--- a/dev/README.md
+++ b/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
-const emailId = await sendEmail(payload, {
-  templateId: 'welcome-template-id',
-  to: 'user@example.com',
-  variables: {
-    firstName: 'John',
-    siteName: 'My App'
+// Send immediate email with template
+const email = await sendEmail(payload, {
+  template: {
+    slug: 'welcome-email',
+    variables: {
+      firstName: 'John',
+      siteName: 'My App'
+    }
+  },
+  data: {
+    to: 'user@example.com',
  }
 })

-// Schedule email
-const scheduledId = await scheduleEmail(payload, {
-  templateId: 'reminder-template-id', 
-  to: 'user@example.com',
-  scheduledAt: new Date(Date.now() + 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000), // 24 hours
-  variables: {
-    eventName: 'Product Launch'
+// Schedule email for later
+const scheduledEmail = await sendEmail(payload, {
+  template: {
+    slug: 'reminder',
+    variables: {
+      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'
  }
 })
 ```
--- a/dev/app/api/test-email/route.ts
+++ b/dev/app/api/test-email/route.ts
@@ -1,37 +1,50 @@
 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
-    if (type === 'send') {
-      // Send immediately
-      result = await sendEmail(payload, {
-        templateSlug,
+    // Use the new sendEmail API
+    const emailOptions: any = {
+      data: {
        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 })
+      }
    }

+    // 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)
+    }
+
+    const result = await sendEmail(payload, emailOptions)
+
    return Response.json({
      success: true,
-      emailId: result,
-      message: type === 'send' ? 'Email sent successfully' : 'Email scheduled successfully',
+      emailId: result.id,
+      message: scheduledAt ? 'Email scheduled successfully' : 'Email queued successfully',
    })
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Test email error:', error)
--- a/dev/payload-types.ts
+++ b/dev/payload-types.ts
@@ -100,7 +100,8 @@ export interface Config {
  };
  jobs: {
    tasks: {
-      'process-email-queue': ProcessEmailQueueJob;
+      processEmails: ProcessEmailsJob;
+      'send-email': TaskSendEmail;
      inline: {
        input: unknown;
        output: unknown;
@@ -232,25 +233,25 @@ export interface Email {
   */
  template?: (string | 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 email address(es), comma-separated
-   */
-  bcc?: string | null;
+  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
   */
@@ -362,7 +363,7 @@ export interface PayloadJob {
    | {
        executedAt: string;
        completedAt: string;
-        taskSlug: 'inline' | 'process-email-queue';
+        taskSlug: 'inline' | 'processEmails' | 'send-email';
        taskID: string;
        input?:
          | {
@@ -395,7 +396,7 @@ export interface PayloadJob {
        id?: string | null;
      }[]
    | null;
-  taskSlug?: ('inline' | 'process-email-queue') | null;
+  taskSlug?: ('inline' | 'processEmails' | 'send-email') | null;
  queue?: string | null;
  waitUntil?: string | null;
  processing?: boolean | null;
@@ -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 +628,83 @@ export interface PayloadMigrationsSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
 }
 /**
 * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
- * via the `definition` "ProcessEmailQueueJob".
+ * via the `definition` "ProcessEmailsJob".
 */
-export interface ProcessEmailQueueJob {
+export interface ProcessEmailsJob {
  input?: unknown;
  output?: unknown;
 }
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "TaskSend-email".
+ */
+export interface TaskSendEmail {
+  input: {
+    /**
+     * 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".
--- a/dev/payload.config.ts
+++ b/dev/payload.config.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 import { mongooseAdapter } from '@payloadcms/db-mongodb'
 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'
@@ -17,7 +15,7 @@ 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)
@@ -85,15 +83,19 @@ const buildConfigWithMemoryDB = async () => {

                  // Queue the welcome email using template slug
                  const emailId = await sendEmail(req.payload, {
-                    templateSlug: 'welcome-email',
-                    to: doc.email,
-                    variables: {
-                      firstName: doc.firstName || doc.email?.split('@')?.[0],
-                      siteName: 'PayloadCMS Mailing Demo',
-                      createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
-                      isPremium: false,
-                      dashboardUrl: 'http://localhost:3000/admin',
+                    template: {
+                      slug: 'welcome-email',
+                      variables: {
+                        firstName: doc.firstName || doc.email?.split('@')?.[0],
+                        siteName: 'PayloadCMS Mailing Demo',
+                        createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+                        isPremium: false,
+                        dashboardUrl: 'http://localhost:3000/admin',
+                      },
                    },
+                    data: {
+                      to: doc.email,
+                    }
                  })

                  console.log('✅ Welcome email queued successfully. Email ID:', emailId)
@@ -133,15 +135,6 @@ const buildConfigWithMemoryDB = async () => {
      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',
@@ -280,56 +273,6 @@ const buildConfigWithMemoryDB = async () => {
          ],
        }),

-        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) => {
--- a/dev/seed.ts
+++ b/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,
                      },
--- a/dev/test-hook-validation.ts
+++ b/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)
--- a/dev/test-plugin.mjs
+++ b/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('✅ scheduleEmail:', typeof scheduleEmail)
+console.log('✅ renderTemplate:', typeof renderTemplate)

 // Test plugin configuration
 try {
--- a/dev/tsconfig.json
+++ b/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"
      ]
    },
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
  "name": "@xtr-dev/payload-mailing",
-  "version": "0.1.5",
+  "version": "0.4.3",
  "description": "Template-based email system with scheduling and job processing for PayloadCMS",
  "type": "module",
  "main": "dist/index.js",
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@
    "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",
+    "payload": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation payload",
+    "generate:importmap": "npm run payload generate:importmap",
+    "generate:types": "npm run payload generate:types",
    "lint": "eslint",
    "lint:fix": "eslint ./src --fix",
    "prepublishOnly": "npm run clean && npm run build",
--- a/payload.config.ts
+++ b/payload.config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/**
+ * This config is only used to generate types.
+ */
+
+import { BaseDatabaseAdapter, buildConfig, Payload} from 'payload'
+import Emails from "./src/collections/Emails.js"
+import {createEmailTemplatesCollection} from "./src/collections/EmailTemplates.js"
+import path from "path"
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'
+
+const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)
+const __dirname = path.dirname(__filename)
+
+export default buildConfig({
+  collections: [
+    Emails,
+    createEmailTemplatesCollection()
+  ],
+  db: {
+    allowIDOnCreate: undefined,
+    defaultIDType: 'number',
+    init: function (args: { payload: Payload; }): BaseDatabaseAdapter {
+      throw new Error('Function not implemented.');
+    },
+    name: undefined
+  },
+  secret: '',
+  typescript: {
+    outputFile: path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/payload-types.ts'),
+  }
+});
--- a/src/collections/Emails.ts
+++ b/src/collections/Emails.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,13 @@ 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',
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -15,13 +15,18 @@ export { default as Emails } from './collections/Emails.js'
 export { mailingJobs, sendEmailJob } from './jobs/index.js'
 export type { SendEmailTaskInput } from './jobs/sendEmailTask.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,
  renderTemplate,
  processEmails,
  retryFailedEmails,
-  sendEmail,
-  type BaseEmailData,
-  type SendEmailOptions,
+  parseAndValidateEmails,
 } from './utils/helpers.js'
+
+// Email processing utilities
+export { processEmailById, processAllEmails } from './utils/emailProcessor.js'
--- a/src/jobs/index.ts
+++ b/src/jobs/index.ts
@@ -1,35 +1,14 @@
-import { processEmailsJob, ProcessEmailsJobData } from './processEmailsJob.js'
+import { processEmailsJob } from './processEmailsTask.js'
 import { sendEmailJob } from './sendEmailTask.js'
-import { MailingService } from '../services/MailingService.js'

+/**
+ * All mailing-related jobs that get registered with Payload
+ */
 export const mailingJobs = [
-  {
-    slug: 'processEmails',
-    handler: async ({ job, req }: { job: any; req: any }) => {
-      // Get mailing context from payload
-      const payload = (req as any).payload
-      const mailingContext = payload.mailing
-      if (!mailingContext) {
-        throw new Error('Mailing plugin not properly initialized')
-      }
-
-      // Use the existing mailing service from context
-      await processEmailsJob(
-        job as { data: ProcessEmailsJobData },
-        { req, mailingService: mailingContext.service }
-      )
-
-      return {
-        output: {
-          success: true,
-          message: 'Email queue processing completed successfully'
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    interfaceName: 'ProcessEmailsJob',
-  },
+  processEmailsJob,
  sendEmailJob,
 ]

-export * from './processEmailsJob.js'
+// Re-export everything from individual job files
+export * from './processEmailsTask.js'
 export * from './sendEmailTask.js'
--- a/src/jobs/processEmailsJob.ts
+++ b/src/jobs/processEmailsJob.ts
@@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
-import type { PayloadRequest } from 'payload'
-import { MailingService } from '../services/MailingService.js'
-
-export interface ProcessEmailsJobData {
-  // No type needed - always processes both pending and failed emails
-}
-
-export const processEmailsJob = async (
-  job: { data: ProcessEmailsJobData },
-  context: { req: PayloadRequest; mailingService: MailingService }
-) => {
-  const { mailingService } = context
-
-  try {
-    console.log('🔄 Processing email queue (pending + failed emails)...')
-
-    // Process pending emails first
-    await mailingService.processEmails()
-
-    // Then retry failed emails
-    await mailingService.retryFailedEmails()
-
-    console.log('✅ Email queue processing completed successfully (pending and failed emails)')
-  } catch (error) {
-    console.error('❌ Email queue processing failed:', error)
-    throw error
-  }
-}
-
-export const scheduleEmailsJob = async (
-  payload: any,
-  queueName: string,
-  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: {},
-      waitUntil: delay ? new Date(Date.now() + delay) : undefined,
-    })
-  } catch (error) {
-    console.error('Failed to schedule email processing job:', error)
-  }
-}
--- a/src/jobs/processEmailsTask.ts
+++ b/src/jobs/processEmailsTask.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+import type { PayloadRequest, Payload } from 'payload'
+import { processAllEmails } from '../utils/emailProcessor.js'
+
+/**
+ * Data passed to the process emails task
+ */
+export interface ProcessEmailsTaskData {
+  // Currently no data needed - always processes both pending and failed emails
+}
+
+/**
+ * Handler function for processing emails
+ * Used internally by the task definition
+ */
+export const processEmailsTaskHandler = async (
+  job: { data: ProcessEmailsTaskData },
+  context: { req: PayloadRequest }
+) => {
+  const { req } = context
+  const payload = (req as any).payload
+
+  try {
+    console.log('🔄 Processing email queue (pending + failed emails)...')
+
+    // Use the shared email processing logic
+    await processAllEmails(payload)
+
+    console.log('✅ Email queue processing completed successfully')
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('❌ Email queue processing failed:', error)
+    throw error
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Task definition for processing emails
+ * This is what gets registered with Payload's job system
+ */
+export const processEmailsTask = {
+  slug: 'process-emails',
+  handler: async ({ job, req }: { job: any; req: any }) => {
+    // Get mailing context from payload
+    const payload = (req as any).payload
+    const mailingContext = payload.mailing
+
+    if (!mailingContext) {
+      throw new Error('Mailing plugin not properly initialized')
+    }
+
+    // Use the task handler
+    await processEmailsTaskHandler(
+      job as { data: ProcessEmailsTaskData },
+      { req }
+    )
+
+    return {
+      output: {
+        success: true,
+        message: 'Email queue processing completed successfully'
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  interfaceName: 'ProcessEmailsTask',
+}
+
+// For backward compatibility, export as processEmailsJob
+export const processEmailsJob = processEmailsTask
+
+/**
+ * Helper function to schedule an email processing job
+ * Used by the plugin during initialization and can be used by developers
+ */
+export const scheduleEmailsJob = async (
+  payload: Payload,
+  queueName: string,
+  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: 'process-emails',
+      input: {},
+      waitUntil: delay ? new Date(Date.now() + delay) : undefined,
+    } as any)
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('Failed to schedule email processing job:', error)
+  }
+}
--- a/src/jobs/sendEmailTask.ts
+++ b/src/jobs/sendEmailTask.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-import { sendEmail, type BaseEmailData } from '../utils/helpers.js'
+import { sendEmail } from '../sendEmail.js'
+import { BaseEmailDocument } from '../types/index.js'
+import { processEmailById } from '../utils/emailProcessor.js'

 export interface SendEmailTaskInput {
  // Template mode fields
@@ -14,17 +16,73 @@ export interface SendEmailTaskInput {
  to: string | string[]
  cc?: string | string[]
  bcc?: string | string[]
-  scheduledAt?: string // ISO date string
+  from?: string
+  fromName?: string
+  replyTo?: string
+  scheduledAt?: string | Date // ISO date string or Date object
  priority?: number
+  processImmediately?: boolean // If true, process the email immediately instead of waiting for the queue

  // Allow any additional fields that users might have in their email collection
  [key: string]: any
 }

+/**
+ * Transforms task input into sendEmail options by separating template and data fields
+ */
+function transformTaskInputToSendEmailOptions(taskInput: SendEmailTaskInput) {
+  const sendEmailOptions: any = {
+    data: {}
+  }
+
+  // If using template mode, set template options
+  if (taskInput.templateSlug) {
+    sendEmailOptions.template = {
+      slug: taskInput.templateSlug,
+      variables: taskInput.variables || {}
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Standard email fields that should be copied to data
+  const standardFields = ['to', 'cc', 'bcc', 'from', 'fromName', 'replyTo', 'subject', 'html', 'text', 'scheduledAt', 'priority']
+
+  // Fields that should not be copied to data
+  const excludedFields = ['templateSlug', 'variables', 'processImmediately']
+
+  // Copy standard fields to data
+  standardFields.forEach(field => {
+    if (taskInput[field] !== undefined) {
+      sendEmailOptions.data[field] = taskInput[field]
+    }
+  })
+
+  // Copy any additional custom fields that aren't excluded or standard fields
+  Object.keys(taskInput).forEach(key => {
+    if (!excludedFields.includes(key) && !standardFields.includes(key)) {
+      sendEmailOptions.data[key] = taskInput[key]
+    }
+  })
+
+  return sendEmailOptions
+}
+
+/**
+ * Job definition for sending emails
+ * Can be used through Payload's job queue system to send emails programmatically
+ */
 export const sendEmailJob = {
  slug: 'send-email',
  label: 'Send Email',
  inputSchema: [
+    {
+      name: 'processImmediately',
+      type: 'checkbox' as const,
+      label: 'Process Immediately',
+      defaultValue: false,
+      admin: {
+        description: 'Process and send the email immediately instead of waiting for the queue processor'
+      }
+    },
    {
      name: 'templateSlug',
      type: 'text' as const,
@@ -95,12 +153,37 @@ export const sendEmailJob = {
        description: 'Optional comma-separated list of BCC email addresses'
      }
    },
+    {
+      name: 'from',
+      type: 'text' as const,
+      label: 'From Email',
+      admin: {
+        description: 'Optional sender email address (uses default if not provided)'
+      }
+    },
+    {
+      name: 'fromName',
+      type: 'text' as const,
+      label: 'From Name',
+      admin: {
+        description: 'Optional sender display name (e.g., "John Doe")'
+      }
+    },
+    {
+      name: 'replyTo',
+      type: 'text' as const,
+      label: 'Reply To',
+      admin: {
+        description: 'Optional reply-to email address'
+      }
+    },
    {
      name: 'scheduledAt',
      type: 'date' as const,
      label: 'Schedule For',
      admin: {
-        description: 'Optional date/time to schedule email for future delivery'
+        description: 'Optional date/time to schedule email for future delivery',
+        condition: (data: any) => !data.processImmediately
      }
    },
    {
@@ -115,62 +198,57 @@ export const sendEmailJob = {
      }
    }
  ],
+  outputSchema: [
+    {
+      name: 'id',
+      type: 'text' as const
+    }
+  ],
  handler: async ({ input, payload }: any) => {
    // Cast input to our expected type
    const taskInput = input as SendEmailTaskInput
+    const shouldProcessImmediately = taskInput.processImmediately || false

    try {
-      // Prepare options for sendEmail based on task input
-      const sendEmailOptions: any = {
-        data: {}
-      }
-
-      // If using template mode
-      if (taskInput.templateSlug) {
-        sendEmailOptions.template = {
-          slug: taskInput.templateSlug,
-          variables: taskInput.variables || {}
-        }
-      }
-
-      // Build data object from task input
-      const dataFields = ['to', 'cc', 'bcc', 'subject', 'html', 'text', 'scheduledAt', 'priority']
-      const additionalFields: string[] = []
-
-      // Copy standard fields
-      dataFields.forEach(field => {
-        if (taskInput[field] !== undefined) {
-          sendEmailOptions.data[field] = taskInput[field]
-        }
-      })
-
-      // Copy any additional custom fields
-      Object.keys(taskInput).forEach(key => {
-        if (!['templateSlug', 'variables', ...dataFields].includes(key)) {
-          sendEmailOptions.data[key] = taskInput[key]
-          additionalFields.push(key)
-        }
-      })
+      // Transform task input into sendEmail options using helper function
+      const sendEmailOptions = transformTaskInputToSendEmailOptions(taskInput)

      // Use the sendEmail helper to create the email
-      const email = await sendEmail<BaseEmailData>(payload, sendEmailOptions)
+      const email = await sendEmail<BaseEmailDocument>(payload, sendEmailOptions)
+
+      // If processImmediately is true, process the email now
+      if (shouldProcessImmediately) {
+        console.log(`⚡ Processing email ${email.id} immediately...`)
+        await processEmailById(payload, String(email.id))
+        console.log(`✅ Email ${email.id} processed and sent immediately`)
+
+        return {
+          output: {
+            success: true,
+            id: email.id,
+            status: 'sent',
+            processedImmediately: true
+          }
+        }
+      }

      return {
        output: {
          success: true,
-          emailId: email.id,
-          message: `Email queued successfully with ID: ${email.id}`,
-          mode: taskInput.templateSlug ? 'template' : 'direct',
-          templateSlug: taskInput.templateSlug || null,
-          subject: email.subject,
-          recipients: Array.isArray(email.to) ? email.to.length : 1,
-          scheduledAt: email.scheduledAt || null
+          id: email.id,
+          status: 'queued',
+          processedImmediately: false
        }
      }

    } catch (error) {
-      const errorMessage = error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error'
-      throw new Error(`Failed to queue email: ${errorMessage}`)
+      // Re-throw Error instances to preserve stack trace and error context
+      if (error instanceof Error) {
+        throw error
+      } else {
+        // Only wrap non-Error values
+        throw new Error(`Failed to process email: ${String(error)}`)
+      }
    }
  }
 }
--- a/src/payload-types.ts
+++ b/src/payload-types.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,436 @@
+/* tslint:disable */
+/* eslint-disable */
+/**
+ * This file was automatically generated by Payload.
+ * DO NOT MODIFY IT BY HAND. Instead, modify your source Payload config,
+ * and re-run `payload generate:types` to regenerate this file.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Supported timezones in IANA format.
+ *
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "supportedTimezones".
+ */
+export type SupportedTimezones =
+  | 'Pacific/Midway'
+  | 'Pacific/Niue'
+  | 'Pacific/Honolulu'
+  | 'Pacific/Rarotonga'
+  | 'America/Anchorage'
+  | 'Pacific/Gambier'
+  | 'America/Los_Angeles'
+  | 'America/Tijuana'
+  | 'America/Denver'
+  | 'America/Phoenix'
+  | 'America/Chicago'
+  | 'America/Guatemala'
+  | 'America/New_York'
+  | 'America/Bogota'
+  | 'America/Caracas'
+  | 'America/Santiago'
+  | 'America/Buenos_Aires'
+  | 'America/Sao_Paulo'
+  | 'Atlantic/South_Georgia'
+  | 'Atlantic/Azores'
+  | 'Atlantic/Cape_Verde'
+  | 'Europe/London'
+  | 'Europe/Berlin'
+  | 'Africa/Lagos'
+  | 'Europe/Athens'
+  | 'Africa/Cairo'
+  | 'Europe/Moscow'
+  | 'Asia/Riyadh'
+  | 'Asia/Dubai'
+  | 'Asia/Baku'
+  | 'Asia/Karachi'
+  | 'Asia/Tashkent'
+  | 'Asia/Calcutta'
+  | 'Asia/Dhaka'
+  | 'Asia/Almaty'
+  | 'Asia/Jakarta'
+  | 'Asia/Bangkok'
+  | 'Asia/Shanghai'
+  | 'Asia/Singapore'
+  | 'Asia/Tokyo'
+  | 'Asia/Seoul'
+  | 'Australia/Brisbane'
+  | 'Australia/Sydney'
+  | 'Pacific/Guam'
+  | 'Pacific/Noumea'
+  | 'Pacific/Auckland'
+  | 'Pacific/Fiji';
+
+export interface Config {
+  auth: {
+    users: UserAuthOperations;
+  };
+  blocks: {};
+  collections: {
+    emails: Email;
+    'email-templates': EmailTemplate;
+    users: User;
+    'payload-locked-documents': PayloadLockedDocument;
+    'payload-preferences': PayloadPreference;
+    'payload-migrations': PayloadMigration;
+  };
+  collectionsJoins: {};
+  collectionsSelect: {
+    emails: EmailsSelect<false> | EmailsSelect<true>;
+    'email-templates': EmailTemplatesSelect<false> | EmailTemplatesSelect<true>;
+    users: UsersSelect<false> | UsersSelect<true>;
+    'payload-locked-documents': PayloadLockedDocumentsSelect<false> | PayloadLockedDocumentsSelect<true>;
+    'payload-preferences': PayloadPreferencesSelect<false> | PayloadPreferencesSelect<true>;
+    'payload-migrations': PayloadMigrationsSelect<false> | PayloadMigrationsSelect<true>;
+  };
+  db: {
+    defaultIDType: number;
+  };
+  globals: {};
+  globalsSelect: {};
+  locale: null;
+  user: User & {
+    collection: 'users';
+  };
+  jobs: {
+    tasks: unknown;
+    workflows: unknown;
+  };
+}
+export interface UserAuthOperations {
+  forgotPassword: {
+    email: string;
+    password: string;
+  };
+  login: {
+    email: string;
+    password: string;
+  };
+  registerFirstUser: {
+    email: string;
+    password: string;
+  };
+  unlock: {
+    email: string;
+    password: string;
+  };
+}
+/**
+ * Email delivery and status tracking
+ *
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "emails".
+ */
+export interface Email {
+  id: number;
+  /**
+   * Email template used (optional if custom content provided)
+   */
+  template?: (number | null) | EmailTemplate;
+  /**
+   * Recipient email addresses
+   */
+  to: string[];
+  /**
+   * CC email addresses
+   */
+  cc?: string[] | null;
+  /**
+   * BCC email addresses
+   */
+  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
+   */
+  replyTo?: string | null;
+  /**
+   * Email subject line
+   */
+  subject: string;
+  /**
+   * Rendered HTML content of the email
+   */
+  html: string;
+  /**
+   * Plain text version of the email
+   */
+  text?: string | null;
+  /**
+   * Template variables used to render this email
+   */
+  variables?:
+    | {
+        [k: string]: unknown;
+      }
+    | unknown[]
+    | string
+    | number
+    | boolean
+    | null;
+  /**
+   * When this email should be sent (leave empty for immediate)
+   */
+  scheduledAt?: string | null;
+  /**
+   * When this email was actually sent
+   */
+  sentAt?: string | null;
+  /**
+   * Current status of this email
+   */
+  status: 'pending' | 'processing' | 'sent' | 'failed';
+  /**
+   * Number of send attempts made
+   */
+  attempts?: number | null;
+  /**
+   * When the last send attempt was made
+   */
+  lastAttemptAt?: string | null;
+  /**
+   * Last error message if send failed
+   */
+  error?: string | null;
+  /**
+   * Email priority (1=highest, 10=lowest)
+   */
+  priority?: number | null;
+  updatedAt: string;
+  createdAt: string;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "email-templates".
+ */
+export interface EmailTemplate {
+  id: number;
+  /**
+   * A descriptive name for this email template
+   */
+  name: string;
+  /**
+   * Unique identifier for this template (e.g., "welcome-email", "password-reset")
+   */
+  slug: string;
+  /**
+   * Email subject line. You can use Handlebars variables like {{firstName}} or {{siteName}}.
+   */
+  subject: string;
+  /**
+   * Email content with rich text formatting. Supports Handlebars variables like {{firstName}} and helpers like {{formatDate createdAt "long"}}. Content is converted to HTML and plain text automatically.
+   */
+  content: {
+    root: {
+      type: string;
+      children: {
+        type: string;
+        version: number;
+        [k: string]: unknown;
+      }[];
+      direction: ('ltr' | 'rtl') | null;
+      format: 'left' | 'start' | 'center' | 'right' | 'end' | 'justify' | '';
+      indent: number;
+      version: number;
+    };
+    [k: string]: unknown;
+  };
+  updatedAt: string;
+  createdAt: string;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "users".
+ */
+export interface User {
+  id: number;
+  updatedAt: string;
+  createdAt: string;
+  email: string;
+  resetPasswordToken?: string | null;
+  resetPasswordExpiration?: string | null;
+  salt?: string | null;
+  hash?: string | null;
+  loginAttempts?: number | null;
+  lockUntil?: string | null;
+  sessions?:
+    | {
+        id: string;
+        createdAt?: string | null;
+        expiresAt: string;
+      }[]
+    | null;
+  password?: string | null;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "payload-locked-documents".
+ */
+export interface PayloadLockedDocument {
+  id: number;
+  document?:
+    | ({
+        relationTo: 'emails';
+        value: number | Email;
+      } | null)
+    | ({
+        relationTo: 'email-templates';
+        value: number | EmailTemplate;
+      } | null)
+    | ({
+        relationTo: 'users';
+        value: number | User;
+      } | null);
+  globalSlug?: string | null;
+  user: {
+    relationTo: 'users';
+    value: number | User;
+  };
+  updatedAt: string;
+  createdAt: string;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "payload-preferences".
+ */
+export interface PayloadPreference {
+  id: number;
+  user: {
+    relationTo: 'users';
+    value: number | User;
+  };
+  key?: string | null;
+  value?:
+    | {
+        [k: string]: unknown;
+      }
+    | unknown[]
+    | string
+    | number
+    | boolean
+    | null;
+  updatedAt: string;
+  createdAt: string;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "payload-migrations".
+ */
+export interface PayloadMigration {
+  id: number;
+  name?: string | null;
+  batch?: number | null;
+  updatedAt: string;
+  createdAt: string;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "emails_select".
+ */
+export interface EmailsSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
+  template?: T;
+  to?: T;
+  cc?: T;
+  bcc?: T;
+  from?: T;
+  fromName?: T;
+  replyTo?: T;
+  subject?: T;
+  html?: T;
+  text?: T;
+  variables?: T;
+  scheduledAt?: T;
+  sentAt?: T;
+  status?: T;
+  attempts?: T;
+  lastAttemptAt?: T;
+  error?: T;
+  priority?: T;
+  updatedAt?: T;
+  createdAt?: T;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "email-templates_select".
+ */
+export interface EmailTemplatesSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
+  name?: T;
+  slug?: T;
+  subject?: T;
+  content?: T;
+  updatedAt?: T;
+  createdAt?: T;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "users_select".
+ */
+export interface UsersSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
+  updatedAt?: T;
+  createdAt?: T;
+  email?: T;
+  resetPasswordToken?: T;
+  resetPasswordExpiration?: T;
+  salt?: T;
+  hash?: T;
+  loginAttempts?: T;
+  lockUntil?: T;
+  sessions?:
+    | T
+    | {
+        id?: T;
+        createdAt?: T;
+        expiresAt?: T;
+      };
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "payload-locked-documents_select".
+ */
+export interface PayloadLockedDocumentsSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
+  document?: T;
+  globalSlug?: T;
+  user?: T;
+  updatedAt?: T;
+  createdAt?: T;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "payload-preferences_select".
+ */
+export interface PayloadPreferencesSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
+  user?: T;
+  key?: T;
+  value?: T;
+  updatedAt?: T;
+  createdAt?: T;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "payload-migrations_select".
+ */
+export interface PayloadMigrationsSelect<T extends boolean = true> {
+  name?: T;
+  batch?: T;
+  updatedAt?: T;
+  createdAt?: T;
+}
+/**
+ * This interface was referenced by `Config`'s JSON-Schema
+ * via the `definition` "auth".
+ */
+export interface Auth {
+  [k: string]: unknown;
+}
+
+
+declare module 'payload' {
+  export interface GeneratedTypes extends Config {}
+}
--- a/src/plugin.ts
+++ b/src/plugin.ts
@@ -9,12 +9,6 @@ import { mailingJobs, scheduleEmailsJob } from './jobs/index.js'
 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'
@@ -74,10 +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,
    ],
@@ -107,12 +106,9 @@ export const mailingPlugin = (pluginConfig: MailingPluginConfig) => (config: Con
        },
      } as MailingContext

-      console.log('PayloadCMS Mailing Plugin initialized successfully')
-
      // Schedule the initial email processing job
      try {
        await scheduleEmailsJob(payload, queueName, 60000) // Schedule in 1 minute
-        console.log(`🔄 Scheduled initial email processing job in queue: ${queueName}`)
      } catch (error) {
        console.error('Failed to schedule email processing job:', error)
      }
--- a/src/sendEmail.ts
+++ b/src/sendEmail.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+import { Payload } from 'payload'
+import { getMailing, renderTemplate, parseAndValidateEmails } from './utils/helpers.js'
+import { BaseEmailDocument } from './types/index.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'
+}
+
+/**
+ * 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 mailing = getMailing(payload)
+  const collectionSlug = options.collectionSlug || mailing.collections.emails || 'emails'
+
+  let emailData: Partial<TEmail> = { ...options.data } as Partial<TEmail>
+
+  // If using a template, render it first
+  if (options.template) {
+    const { html, text, subject } = await renderTemplate(
+      payload,
+      options.template.slug,
+      options.template.variables || {}
+    )
+
+    // Template values take precedence over data values
+    emailData = {
+      ...emailData,
+      subject,
+      html,
+      text,
+    } as Partial<TEmail>
+  }
+
+  // Validate required fields
+  if (!emailData.to) {
+    throw new Error('Field "to" is required for sending emails')
+  }
+
+  // Validate required fields based on whether template was used
+  if (options.template) {
+    // When using template, subject and html should have been set by renderTemplate
+    if (!emailData.subject || !emailData.html) {
+      throw new Error(`Template rendering failed: template "${options.template.slug}" did not provide required subject and html content`)
+    }
+  } else {
+    // When not using template, user must provide subject and html directly
+    if (!emailData.subject || !emailData.html) {
+      throw new Error('Fields "subject" and "html" are required when sending direct emails without a template')
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Process email addresses using shared validation (handle null values)
+  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[])
+    // replyTo should be a single email, so take the first one if array
+    emailData.replyTo = validated && validated.length > 0 ? validated[0] : undefined
+  }
+  if (emailData.from) {
+    const validated = parseAndValidateEmails(emailData.from as string | string[])
+    // from should be a single email, so take the first one if array
+    emailData.from = validated && validated.length > 0 ? validated[0] : undefined
+  }
+
+  // Sanitize fromName to prevent header injection
+  if (emailData.fromName) {
+    emailData.fromName = emailData.fromName
+      .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, '')
+      // Note: We don't escape quotes here as that's handled in MailingService
+  }
+
+  // Normalize Date objects to ISO strings for consistent database storage
+  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()
+  }
+
+  // Create the email in the collection with proper typing
+  const email = await payload.create({
+    collection: collectionSlug,
+    data: emailData
+  })
+
+  // Validate that the created email has the expected structure
+  if (!email || typeof email !== 'object' || !email.id) {
+    throw new Error('Failed to create email: invalid response from database')
+  }
+
+  return email as TEmail
+}
+
+export default sendEmail
--- a/src/services/MailingService.ts
+++ b/src/services/MailingService.ts
@@ -1,25 +1,20 @@
 import { Payload } from 'payload'
 import { Liquid } from 'liquidjs'
-import nodemailer, { Transporter } from 'nodemailer'
 import {
  MailingPluginConfig,
  TemplateVariables,
  MailingService as IMailingService,
-  EmailTemplate,
-  QueuedEmail,
-  MailingTransportConfig,
-  EmailObject
+  BaseEmail, BaseEmailTemplate, BaseEmailDocument, BaseEmailTemplateDocument
 } from '../types/index.js'
 import { serializeRichTextToHTML, serializeRichTextToText } from '../utils/richTextSerializer.js'

 export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
  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
-  private transporterInitialized = false

  constructor(payload: Payload, config: MailingPluginConfig) {
    this.payload = payload
@@ -31,49 +26,55 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
    const emailsConfig = config.collections?.emails
    this.emailsCollection = typeof emailsConfig === 'string' ? emailsConfig : 'emails'

-    // Only initialize transporter if payload is properly set
-    if (payload && payload.db) {
-      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.')
    }
-  }
-
-  private initializeTransporter(): void {
-    if (this.transporterInitialized) return
-
-    if (this.config.transport) {
-      if ('sendMail' in this.config.transport) {
-        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')
-    }
-
-    this.transporterInitialized = true
+    this.emailAdapter = this.payload.email
  }

  private ensureInitialized(): void {
    if (!this.payload || !this.payload.db) {
      throw new Error('MailingService payload not properly initialized')
    }
-    if (!this.transporterInitialized) {
-      this.initializeTransporter()
+    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
+   * and ensure proper formatting
+   */
+  private sanitizeDisplayName(name: string): string {
+    return name
+      .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 to prevent malformed headers
+      .replace(/"/g, '\\"')
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * 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 {
    const fromEmail = this.config.defaultFrom
    const fromName = this.config.defaultFromName

    // 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
-      const escapedName = fromName.replace(/"/g, '\\"')
-      return `"${escapedName}" <${fromEmail}>`
+      return this.formatEmailAddress(fromEmail, fromName)
    }

    return fromEmail || ''
@@ -133,7 +134,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
    }

    const emailContent = await this.renderEmailTemplate(template, variables)
-    const subject = await this.renderTemplateString(template.subject, variables)
+    const subject = await this.renderTemplateString(template.subject || '', variables)

    return {
      html: emailContent.html,
@@ -224,7 +225,7 @@ 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,
@@ -238,10 +239,18 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
      const email = await this.payload.findByID({
        collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
        id: emailId,
-      }) as QueuedEmail
+      }) as BaseEmailDocument

-      let emailObject: EmailObject = {
-        from: email.from || this.getDefaultFrom(),
+      // Combine from and fromName for nodemailer using proper sanitization
+      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,
@@ -249,26 +258,34 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
        subject: email.subject,
        html: email.html,
        text: email.text || undefined,
-        variables: email.variables,
      }

-      // Apply emailWrapper hook if configured
-      if (this.config.emailWrapper) {
-        emailObject = await this.config.emailWrapper(emailObject)
+      // Call beforeSend hook if configured
+      if (this.config.beforeSend) {
+        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 = {
-        from: emailObject.from,
-        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)
+      // Send email using Payload's email adapter
+      await this.emailAdapter.sendEmail(mailOptions)

      await this.payload.update({
        collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
@@ -304,7 +321,7 @@ export class MailingService implements IMailingService {
    const email = await this.payload.findByID({
      collection: this.emailsCollection as any,
      id: emailId,
-    }) as QueuedEmail
+    }) as BaseEmail

    const newAttempts = (email.attempts || 0) + 1

@@ -319,7 +336,7 @@ 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,
@@ -331,7 +348,7 @@ 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
@@ -396,7 +413,7 @@ 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: '' }
    }
--- a/src/types/index.ts
+++ b/src/types/index.ts
@@ -1,25 +1,67 @@
 import { Payload } from 'payload'
-import type { CollectionConfig, RichTextField, TypedCollection } from 'payload'
-import { Transporter } from 'nodemailer'
+import type { CollectionConfig, RichTextField } from 'payload'

-export interface EmailObject {
-  to: string | string[]
-  cc?: string | string[]
-  bcc?: string | string[]
-  from?: string
-  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
+  to: string[]
+  cc?: string[] | null
+  bcc?: string[] | null
+  from?: string | null
+  fromName?: string | null
+  replyTo?: string | null
  subject: string
  html: string
-  text?: string
-  variables?: Record<string, any>
+  text?: string | null
+  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 MailingPluginConfig {
  collections?: {
    templates?: string | Partial<CollectionConfig>
@@ -27,58 +69,37 @@ 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']
+  beforeSend?: BeforeSendHook
  onReady?: (payload: any) => Promise<void>
  initOrder?: 'before' | 'after'
 }

-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[]
-  bcc?: string[]
-  from?: string
-  replyTo?: string
+  cc?: string[] | null
+  bcc?: string[] | null
+  from?: string | null
+  fromName?: string | null
+  replyTo?: string | null
  subject: string
  html: string
-  text?: string
-  variables?: Record<string, any>
-  scheduledAt?: string
-  sentAt?: string
+  text?: string | null
+  variables?: JSONValue
+  scheduledAt?: string | Date | null
+  sentAt?: string | Date | null
  status: 'pending' | 'processing' | 'sent' | 'failed'
  attempts: number
-  lastAttemptAt?: string
-  error?: string
-  priority?: number
+  lastAttemptAt?: string | Date | null
+  error?: string | null
+  priority?: number | null
  createdAt: string
  updatedAt: string
 }
@@ -90,6 +111,7 @@ export interface TemplateVariables {

 export interface MailingService {
  processEmails(): Promise<void>
+  processEmailItem(emailId: string): Promise<void>
  retryFailedEmails(): Promise<void>
  renderTemplate(templateSlug: string, variables: TemplateVariables): Promise<{ html: string; text: string; subject: string }>
 }
--- a/src/utils/emailProcessor.ts
+++ b/src/utils/emailProcessor.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import type { Payload } from 'payload'
+
+/**
+ * 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 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()
+}
--- a/src/utils/helpers.ts
+++ b/src/utils/helpers.ts
@@ -1,38 +1,12 @@
 import { Payload } from 'payload'
 import { TemplateVariables } from '../types/index.js'

-// Base type for email data that all emails must have
-export interface BaseEmailData {
-  to: string | string[]
-  cc?: string | string[]
-  bcc?: string | string[]
-  subject?: string
-  html?: string
-  text?: string
-  scheduledAt?: string | Date
-  priority?: number
-  [key: string]: any
-}
-
-// Options for sending emails
-export interface SendEmailOptions<T extends BaseEmailData = BaseEmailData> {
-  // Template-based email
-  template?: {
-    slug: string
-    variables?: Record<string, any>
-  }
-  // Direct email data
-  data?: Partial<T>
-  // Common options
-  collectionSlug?: string // defaults to 'emails'
-}
-
 /**
 * Parse and validate email addresses
 * @internal
 */
-export const parseAndValidateEmails = (emails: string | string[] | undefined): string[] | undefined => {
-  if (!emails) return undefined
+export const parseAndValidateEmails = (emails: string | string[] | null | undefined): string[] | undefined => {
+  if (!emails || emails === null) return undefined

  let emailList: string[]
  if (Array.isArray(emails)) {
@@ -41,9 +15,20 @@ export const parseAndValidateEmails = (emails: string | string[] | undefined): s
    emailList = emails.split(',').map(email => email.trim()).filter(Boolean)
  }

-  // Basic email validation
-  const emailRegex = /^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/
-  const invalidEmails = emailList.filter(email => !emailRegex.test(email))
+  // RFC 5322 compliant email validation
+  const emailRegex = /^[a-zA-Z0-9.!#$%&'*+/=?^_`{|}~-]+@[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(', ')}`)
  }
@@ -73,83 +58,3 @@ export const retryFailedEmails = async (payload: Payload): Promise<void> => {
  const mailing = getMailing(payload)
  return mailing.service.retryFailedEmails()
 }
-
-/**
- * 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 <T extends BaseEmailData = BaseEmailData>(
-  payload: Payload,
-  options: SendEmailOptions<T>
-): Promise<T> => {
-  const mailing = getMailing(payload)
-  const collectionSlug = options.collectionSlug || mailing.collections.emails || 'emails'
-
-  let emailData: Partial<T> = { ...options.data } as Partial<T>
-
-  // If using a template, render it first
-  if (options.template) {
-    const { html, text, subject } = await renderTemplate(
-      payload,
-      options.template.slug,
-      options.template.variables || {}
-    )
-
-    // Template values take precedence over data values
-    emailData = {
-      ...emailData,
-      subject,
-      html,
-      text,
-    } as Partial<T>
-  }
-
-  // Validate required fields
-  if (!emailData.to) {
-    throw new Error('Field "to" is required for sending emails')
-  }
-
-  if (!emailData.subject || !emailData.html) {
-    throw new Error('Fields "subject" and "html" are required when not using a template')
-  }
-
-  // Process email addresses using shared validation
-  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[])
-  }
-
-  // Convert scheduledAt to ISO string if it's a Date
-  if (emailData.scheduledAt instanceof Date) {
-    emailData.scheduledAt = emailData.scheduledAt.toISOString()
-  }
-
-  // Create the email in the collection
-  const email = await payload.create({
-    collection: collectionSlug as any,
-    data: emailData as any
-  })
-
-  return email as unknown as T
-}