I'm looking for an efficient way to automate my workflows that involve handling emails with attachments. The current process I have is pretty manual: I receive an email with an attachment, run the file through a Python script, and then send the output back via email or upload it somewhere. While I have the middle step coded, I still end up moving files around and sending emails manually. I know that I could set something up using AWS, but I'm hoping there's a simpler alternative that links these steps together seamlessly.
4 Answers
Have you considered just creating a free zap on Zapier? A lot of the automation you need can be handled with workflow tools without diving into coding.
I've faced a similar problem before and found success with Zapier. It allows you to set up triggers for incoming emails with attachments, and you can either call your Python script using webhooks or run it directly if you host your script elsewhere. Sending the email back is straightforward too! The only drawback is that the free tier has some limits, but if you aren’t processing a ton of emails daily, it should work for you. It's way simpler than configuring an entire AWS setup for this process.
You might want to look for a Python library that can help you read your emails. You could filter by specific senders who send attachments and then delegate the processing to your existing Python module. Plus, you can run this setup on just about any server, including your personal computer or a small VPS. Authenticating with most email services isn't too complicated either.
How essential is email for your workflow? It might simplify things to switch to using a Google Form or Microsoft Form for the input instead.
That's a great suggestion! I'm starting to find some inbound handling services that are helpful, but it would be amazing to just drop my code in there rather than relying on webhooks.