n8n-nodes-emailmd

n8n community node for sending emails rendered from Markdown using emailmd.

Features

• Write email content in Markdown instead of HTML
• YAML frontmatter support (preheader, theme)
• Built-in themes: default, light, dark
• Override theme colors and typography
• Support for: To, CC, BCC, Reply-To, attachments
• Automatic plain-text version generation
• emailmd directives: {button}, :::callout, :::hero, :::footer

Installation

Docker with local volume (recommended)

A typical n8n Docker setup has a volume mounted inside the container at /home/node/.n8n.
On the host it corresponds to the directory you pass via -v or in docker-compose.yml.

Step 1 — clone and build the plugin on the host

git clone ssh://gitea@git.cynarski.pl:65522/n8n/emailmd.git n8n-nodes-emailmd
cd n8n-nodes-emailmd
npm install
npm run build

Step 2 — copy the built plugin to the n8n volume

Assuming the host volume is e.g. at ~/n8n-data:

mkdir -p ~/n8n-data/custom/node_modules/n8n-nodes-emailmd
cp -r dist package.json node_modules ~/n8n-data/custom/node_modules/n8n-nodes-emailmd/

The custom directory inside the volume is automatically scanned by n8n as local node_modules.

Step 3 — docker-compose.yml

Add the N8N_CUSTOM_EXTENSIONS environment variable pointing to the custom directory inside the container:

services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      - N8N_CUSTOM_EXTENSIONS=/home/node/.n8n/custom
    volumes:
      - ~/n8n-data:/home/node/.n8n
    restart: unless-stopped

Then restart the container:

docker compose down && docker compose up -d

Alternative — install inside the container

If you prefer not to copy files manually, you can install the plugin directly in a running container:

# enter the container
docker exec -it -u node <container_name> sh

# install from a local path (if you have a volume)
cd /home/node/.n8n
mkdir -p custom
cd custom
npm init -y
npm install /home/node/.n8n/n8n-nodes-emailmd   # if you copied the directory to the volume

# or from git (requires git in the container)
npm install git+ssh://gitea@git.cynarski.pl:65522/n8n/emailmd.git

After exiting the container, restart n8n:

docker compose restart n8n

Verification

After n8n starts, search for the node named "Send Email (Markdown)" in the editor — if it appears, the installation was successful.

Option 1 — npm link (local development)

# 1. Build the node
cd /path/to/n8n-nodes-emailmd
npm install
npm run build

# 2. Link locally
npm link

# 3. In the n8n directory
cd ~/.n8n
mkdir -p custom
cd custom
npm link n8n-nodes-emailmd

Option 2 — custom nodes path in n8n

Set the environment variable before starting n8n:

export N8N_CUSTOM_EXTENSIONS="/path/to/n8n-nodes-emailmd"
n8n start

Option 3 — npm install (after publishing)

npm install n8n-nodes-emailmd

Configuration

Credentials (SMTP)

Add credentials of type SMTP:

• Host — SMTP server (e.g. smtp.gmail.com)
• Port — 465 (SSL) or 587 (STARTTLS)
• Secure — true for port 465
• User / Password

Node parameters

Example Markdown

---
preheader: Short preview shown in the inbox
---

# Hello {{$json.name}}!

Thank you for signing up. Your account is ready.

:::callout
Your activation code: **{{$json.code}}**
:::

[Activate Account](https://example.com/activate){button}

---

If you have any questions, reply to this email.

Supported emailmd syntax

• Buttons: [text](url){button} or {button .success}, {button .danger}
• Callout: :::callout ... :::
• Hero: :::hero ... :::
• Header/Footer: :::header ... :::, :::footer ... :::
• Alignment: :::centered ... :::
• Tables, lists, code, images — standard Markdown