Mail-Export

Parse .eml/.msg files or convert to pdf, html, jpeg or png format, and extract attachments to files. Support typescript and javascript.

© eml-parser

Installation

npm install mail-export

Note : The converter use puppeteer-html-pdf, that uses puppeteer as a dependency. As a result, you need your own chrome installation, and you can configure the cache as you want using puppeteer configuration

Example Usage

Convert to PDF

The following script works the same for eml & msg files. It will use the Converter class to convert into a readable stream, that will be used thereafter to create a pdf file.

import { normalize } from "node:path";
import { EmlParser, Convert } from "mail-export";
import fs from "node:fs"

const filePath = normalize("test_SA_3.eml"); //can also be a .msg file
const readable = fs.createReadStream(filePath)
const emlParser = new EmlParser(readable);
const html = await emailParser.getAsHtml();
if (!html) throw new Error("No message found");
const converter = new Convert(html);
await converter.createPdf("sample.pdf",{ format: "A4" });

Download all attachments

import { createReadStream, createWriteStream, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
import { normalize } from "node:path";
import { EmlParser, Convert } from "mail-export";

const filePath = normalize("test_SA.eml"); //or .msg file
const email = createReadStream(filePath);
const emailParser = new EmlParser(email);
const attachments = await emailParser.getAttachments({
		ignoreEmbedded: false, //does nothing for .msg files
	});
if (!attachments) throw new Error("No attachments found");
for (const attachment of attachments) {
	//convert to file with attachment.content as Uint8Array
	if (!attachment || !attachment.content || !attachment.filename) continue;
	writeFileSync(attachment.filename, attachment.content);
}

It will successfully download the attachments to the current directory.

Library

Interfaces

ParseOptions

• ignoreEmbedded (optional, boolean)

  • Description: Ignores embedded attachments while parsing email EML attachments.

• highlightKeywords (optional, string[])

  • Description: Highlights specific keywords in the email HTML content using the <mark></mark> HTML tag.
  • Example: If you provide ['foo', 'bar'], the keywords foo and bar will be highlighted in the email HTML content.

• highlightCaseSensitive (optional, boolean)

  • Description: Specifies whether the keyword highlighting is case-sensitive.

• excludeHeader (optional, Partial<ExcludeHeader>)

  • Description: Allows modification of the header in the resulting PDF/HTML output.

ExcludeHeader

The ExcludeHeader type specifies options for excluding certain headers from the HTML output.

• bcc (boolean)

  • Description: Exclude the bcc header from the HTML output.

• cc (boolean)

  • Description: Exclude the cc header from the HTML output.

• to (boolean)

  • Description: Exclude the to header from the HTML output.

• from (boolean)

  • Description: Exclude the from header from the HTML output.

• date (boolean)

  • Description: Exclude the date header from the HTML output.

• subject (boolean)

  • Description: Exclude the subject header from the HTML output.

• replyTo (boolean)

  • Description: Exclude the replyTo header from the HTML output.

• attachments (boolean)

  • Description: Exclude all attachments from the HTML output.

• embeddedAttachments (boolean)

  • Description: Exclude only embedded attachments from the HTML output.
  • Warning: This option is only applicable for EML files.

MessageFields

The MessageFieldData interface is an upgraded version of the FieldsData interface from msgreader. It is specifically used for handling data in the MSG format.

• content (optional, Uint8Array)

  • Description: Contains the raw content of the message as a Uint8Array.

• htmlString (optional, string)

  • Description: Represents the HTML content of the message as a string.

• filename (optional, string)

  • Description: The name of the file associated with the message.

ParseOptions

The ParseOptions interface provides configuration options for parsing EML and MSG files, and provide additional functionality such as keyword highlighting and header exclusion for the html output.

• ignoreEmbedded (optional, boolean)

  • Description: Ignores embedded attachments.
  • Important: This option is only applicable for EML files.

• highlightKeywords (optional, string[])

  • Description: Highlights specific keywords in the email HTML content using the <mark></mark> HTML tag.
  • Example: Providing ['foo', 'bar'] will highlight the keywords foo and bar in the email HTML content.

• highlightCaseSensitive (optional, boolean)

  • Description: Specifies whether the keyword highlighting should be case-sensitive.

• excludeHeader (optional, Partial<ExcludeHeader>)

  • Description: Allows modification of the header in the resulting PDF/HTML output by excluding certain headers.

ExcludeHeader

The ExcludeHeader interface specifies options for excluding certain headers from the HTML/PDF output.

• bcc (boolean)
• cc (boolean)
• to (boolean)
• from (boolean)
• date (boolean)
• subject (boolean)
• replyTo (boolean)
  • Important: Only applicable for EML files.
• attachments (boolean)
• embeddedAttachments (boolean)

MailAddress

The MailAddress interface represents a parsed email address in a digestible format.

• name (optional, string)

  • Description: The name associated with the email address.

• address (optional, string)

  • Description: The actual email address.

Header

The Header interface represents the metadata associated with an email, including sender and recipient information, subject, date, and attachments.

• subject (optional, string)

  • Description: The subject of the email.

• from (optional, MailAddress[])

  • Description: The sender(s) of the email.

• bcc (optional, MailAddress[])

  • Description: The BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) recipient(s) of the email.

• cc (optional, MailAddress[])

  • Description: The CC (Carbon Copy) recipient(s) of the email.

• to (optional, MailAddress[])

  • Description: The primary recipient(s) of the email.

• replyTo (optional, MailAddress[])

  • Description: The reply-to address(es) for the email.
  • Important: This property exists only in the EML format.

• date (optional, string | Date)

  • Description: The date the email was sent. Can be either a string or a Date object.

• attachments (optional, Attachment[] | MessageFieldData[])

  • Description: The attachments included in the email. This can be an array of Attachment objects or MessageFieldData objects.
  • Attachments[]: Represents the attachments for EML files.
  • MessageFieldData[]: Represents the attachments for MSG files.

Implementations

The Parser interface provides methods to parse and extract information from email files, including headers, attachments, and content.

The EmlParser and MessageParser implements the interface Parser.

Usage

• EmlParser: Used to parse EML files.

  import { EmlParser } from "mail-export";
  const readableStream = createReadStream("email.eml");
  const emlParser = new EmlParser(readableStream);

• MessageParser: Used to parse MSG files.

  import { MessageParser } from "mail-export";
  const readableStream = createReadStream("email.msg");
  const messageParser = new MessageParser(readableStream);

Properties

• fileReadStream (Readable)

  • Description: The readable stream of the email file to be parsed.

• parsedMail (MessageFieldData | ParsedMail)

  • Description: The parsed email data, which could be in the form of MessageFieldData or ParsedMail.
  • MessageFieldData: Represents the parsed email data for MSG files.
  • ParsedMail: Represents the parsed email data for EML files.

Methods

• parse(options?: ParseOptions): Promise<MessageFieldData | ParsedMail | undefined>

  • Description: The primary function for parsing the email file. Converts the readable stream into a parsed email, allowing for content and header extraction.
  • Note: If parsedMail already exists, this method returns it directly without re-parsing the file.
  • Parameters:
    • options (optional, ParseOptions): Options to modify the parsing behavior.

• getHeader(options?: ParseOptions): Promise<Header | undefined>

  • Description: Parses and returns the header of the email, including any attachments.
  • Parameters:
    • options (optional, ParseOptions): Options to modify the parsing behavior.
  • Returns: A Header object containing the email's header information.

• getAttachments(options?: ParseOptions): Promise<MessageFieldData[] | Attachment[]>

  • Description: Retrieves the attachments and their contents from the email.
  • Parameters:
    • options (optional, ParseOptions): Options to modify the parsing behavior.
  • Returns: An array of MessageFieldData or Attachment objects representing the email's attachments.

• getAsHtml(options?: ParseOptions): Promise<string | undefined>

  • Description: Returns the email content as an HTML string, including the header and attachments. Attachments can be downloaded if the HTML is directly written to a file.
  • Parameters:
    • options (optional, ParseOptions): Options to modify the parsing behavior.
  • Returns: The email as an HTML string.

• getBodyHtml(options?: ParseOptions): Promise<string | undefined>

  • Description: Returns the email content as an HTML string, excluding the header and attachments.
  • Parameters:
    • options (optional, ParseOptions): Options to modify the parsing behavior.
  • Returns: The email body as an HTML string.

EmlParser methods

The EmlParser provides additional methods for parsing EML files.

• `getEmbedded(options?: ParseOptions): Promise<Attachment[]>
  • Description: Retrieves the embedded attachments from the EML file.
  • Parameters:
    • options (optional, ParseOptions): Options to modify the parsing behavior.
  • Returns: An array of Attachment objects representing the embedded attachments.

Convert

The Convert class provides methods to convert email content to PDF, buffer or Readable.

It uses, internally puppeteer-html-pdf to convert the HTML content to PDF. For option, you can refer to the puppeteer-html-pdf documentation.

Note : convertToStream and convertToBuffer remove the path option if provided.

Default options:

{
  format: "A4",
  headless: true,
  args: ["--no-sandbox", "--disable-setuid-sandbox", "--disabled-setupid-sandbox"]
}

Constructor

const converter = new Converter(html)

• html : string

Methods

• convertToStream(opt?: PuppeteerHTMLPDFOptions):Promise<Readable>
  • Description: Convert to a pdf Readable from the buffer sent by PuppeteerHTMLPDF
  • Parameters:
    • opt (optional, PuppeteerHTMLPDFOptions): Option for Puppeteer
  • Returns: Readable (Promise)
• convertToBuffer(opt?: PuppeteerHTMLPDFOptions):Promise<Buffer>
  • Description: Convert the HTML to a PDF Buffer
  • Parameters:
    • opt (optional, PuppeteerHTMLPDFOptions): Option for Puppeteer
  • Returns: Buffer (Promise)
• createPdf(path: string, opt?: PuppeteerHTMLPDFOptions):Promise<void>
  • Description : Convert a html to a pdf file, following the pdf parameter.
  • Parameters :
    • path (string) : Path to save the PDF.
    • opt (optional, PuppeteerHTMLPDFOptions): Option for Puppeteer
  • Returns : Void