Ask HN: Would you pay for simple PostgreSQL email integration?

#1

Post by philmcp » Sat, May 15, 2021, 3:17 PM UTC

I have a web crawler which sometimes fails. To make sure its running properly, I'd like to get an email each day with the latest 5 records in the Postgres table. Or even better, send an email if "something doesn't look right" (e.g. no data for 2 hours).

I've also had similar use cases in this domain (i.e. SQL + email):

* When a new row is entered into my 'contact' table, I'd like an email to be sent to me

* Create a VIEW (e.g. last weeks sales) then send the results of it each day to a list of people (e.g. sales team)

Does anyone else have this pain point? i.e. "integrating email into your Postgresql database". I've tried using Zapier but it doesn't offer exactly what I want

So I was thinking of building something like this: https://imgur.com/a/S54o7ea

Should I build this or is it a terrible idea?

Re: Ask HN: Would you pay for simple PostgreSQL email integration?

#2

Post by philmcp » Sat, May 15, 2021, 3:17 PM UTC

Link to the screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/S54o7ea

Re: Ask HN: Would you pay for simple PostgreSQL email integration?

#3

Post by new_guy » Sat, May 15, 2021, 3:20 PM UTC

It would take literally all of 5 minutes to code that up, why on Earth would anyone pay you for that?

Re: Ask HN: Would you pay for simple PostgreSQL email integration?

#4

Post by philmcp » Sat, May 15, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

new_guy wrote: post #3

It would take literally all of 5 minutes to code that up, why on Earth would anyone pay you for that?

Ye - I realise there are a ton of libraries / services offering email as a service, but what I want is different. I want something much simpler, allowing me to using a no-code approach (i.e. a tool aimed at less technical people e.g. business analysts etc).

Programatic email:

* Can be difficult to implement (need coding skills)

* It's difficult to format the data (e.g. as a table in an email)

* What if I want to schedule?

* How do I monitor / track send history?

* etc etc

Re: Ask HN: Would you pay for simple PostgreSQL email integration?

#5

Post by trentprynn » Sat, May 15, 2021, 4:58 PM UTC

In my opinion, if someone is administering a database they likely have enough programming ability to write a bash/powershell script to do a SELECT TOP 5 * FROM query on whatever database and pump the results through twilio to wherever they want.

Re: Ask HN: Would you pay for simple PostgreSQL email integration?

#6

Post by jka » Sat, May 15, 2021, 9:56 PM UTC

I'd be inclined not to use or pay for a feature like this, and here is the reasoning why:

- PostgreSQL is a mature and thoroughly-tested database system, and it supports features that make implementing the business logic you mention relatively straightforward

- E-mail is a mature and well-tested standard, and the systems that can send and deliver it are well-known although they can sometimes require careful configuration

The logic required to implement a link between the two is small (in terms of lines of code), and it shouldn't introduce much internal overhead to review and deploy. Explaning and documenting it for a wide audience should also be feasible.

To introduce a third-party component (and perhaps an entire low-code platform to support that component?) would require at least the same amount of review, while also being updated, modified, and discontinued at the whim of an external vendor. That doesn't seem to be a good trade-off.

That's not to say it's not a potentially viable business idea. It'd be possible to persuade people that they could and should pay for a feature like this. I just don't personally think it's sensible for long-term business integrity.