Guidelines and best practices for building applications with Beefree SDK](https

When to use this skill

Guidelines and best practices for building applications with Beefree SDK, including installation, authentication, configuration, customization, and template management

Source

Synced from https://github.com/PatrickJS/awesome-cursorrules/tree/main/rules/beefreeSDK.mdc.

Beefree SDK Guidelines

Guidelines and best practices for building applications with Beefree SDK, including installation, authentication, configuration, customization, and template management.

Installation Guidelines

Package Installation

• Install the Beefree SDK package using npm or yarn:

bash npm install @beefree.io/sdk # or yarn add @beefree.io/sdk

Dependencies

• Beefree SDK requires the following core dependencies:

json { "dependencies": { "@beefree.io/sdk": "^9.0.2-fix-optional-url-config.0", "axios": "^1.10.0", "express": "^5.1.0", "cors": "^2.8.5", "dotenv": "^17.2.0" } }

Environment Setup

• Create a .env file in your project root with your Beefree credentials:

env BEE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id_here BEE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret_here

Authentication Guidelines

Proxy Server Setup

• ALWAYS use a proxy server for authentication to protect your credentials
• Create a proxy server file (e.g., proxy-server.js) to handle authentication:

javascript import express from 'express'; import cors from 'cors'; import axios from 'axios'; import dotenv from 'dotenv';

dotenv.config();

const app = express(); const PORT = 3001;

app.use(cors()); app.use(express.json());

const BEE_CLIENT_ID = process.env.BEE_CLIENT_ID; const BEE_CLIENT_SECRET = process.env.BEE_CLIENT_SECRET;

// V2 Auth Endpoint app.post('/proxy/bee-auth', async (req, res) => { try { const { uid } = req.body;

const response = await axios.post( 'https://auth.getbee.io/loginV2', { client_id: BEE_CLIENT_ID, client_secret: BEE_CLIENT_SECRET, uid: uid || 'demo-user' }, { headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' } } );

res.json(response.data); } catch (error) { console.error('Auth error:', error.message); res.status(500).json({ error: 'Failed to authenticate' }); } });

app.listen(PORT, () => { console.log(Proxy server running on http://localhost:${PORT}); });

Authentication Process

• Use the V2 authentication endpoint: https://auth.getbee.io/loginV2
• Pass the ENTIRE API response to the Beefree SDK, not just the token
• Example authentication call:

typescript const token = await fetch('http://localhost:3001/proxy/bee-auth', { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify({ uid: 'demo-user' }) }).then(res => res.json());

Container Setup Guidelines

HTML Container

• Create a dedicated container element for the Beefree SDK:

html <div id="beefree-sdk-container"></div>

CSS Styling

• Style the container to ensure proper display:

css #beefree-sdk-container { position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; right: 0px; height: 600px; width: 90%; margin: 20px auto; border: 1px solid #ddd; border-radius: 8px; }

React Container

• For React applications, the following code snippet shows an example using refs to manage the container:

typescript const containerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);

return ( <div id="beefree-react-demo" ref={containerRef} style={{ height: '600px', width: '90%', margin: '20px auto', border: '1px solid #ddd', borderRadius: '8px' }} /> );

Configuration Guidelines

Required Configuration Parameters

• ALWAYS include the container parameter in your configuration:

typescript const beeConfig = { container: 'beefree-sdk-container', // Required language: 'en-US' };

Optional Configuration Parameters

• Customize your SDK with optional parameters:

typescript const beeConfig = { container: 'beefree-sdk-container', // Required language: 'en-US', specialLinks: [ { type: "unsubscribe", label: "Unsubscribe", link: "http://[unsubscribe]/", }, { type: "subscribe", label: "Subscribe", link: "http://[subscribe]/", }, ], mergeTags: [ { name: "First Name", value: "[first_name]", }, { name: "Last Name", value: "[last_name]", }, { name: "Email", value: "[email]", }, ] };

Callback Functions

• Implement essential callback functions for proper functionality:

typescript const beeConfig = { container: 'beefree-sdk-container', onSave: function (jsonFile, htmlFile) { console.log("Template saved:", jsonFile); // Implement custom save logic here }, onAutoSave: function (jsonFile) { console.log("Auto-saving template..."); localStorage.setItem("email.autosave", jsonFile); }, onSend: function (htmlFile) { console.log("Email ready to send:", htmlFile); // Implement custom send logic here }, onError: function (errorMessage) { console.error("Beefree SDK error:", errorMessage); // Handle errors appropriately } };

SDK Initialization Guidelines

Basic Initialization

• Initialize the Beefree SDK with proper error handling:

typescript async function initializeBeefree(authResponse) { try { const bee = new BeefreeSDK(authResponse); bee.start(beeConfig, {}); console.log('Beefree SDK initialized successfully'); } catch (error) { console.error('Failed to initialize Beefree SDK:', error); } }

React Integration

• For React applications, the following code snippet shows an example using useEffect for initialization:

typescript useEffect(() => { async function initializeEditor() { const beeConfig = { container: 'beefree-react-demo', language: 'en-US', onSave: (pageJson: string, pageHtml: string, ampHtml: string | null, templateVersion: number, language: string | null) => { console.log('Saved!', { pageJson, pageHtml, ampHtml, templateVersion, language }); }, onError: (error: unknown) => { console.error('Error:', error); } };

const token = await fetch('http://localhost:3001/proxy/bee-auth', { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify({ uid: 'demo-user' }) }).then(res => res.json());

const bee = new BeefreeSDK(token); bee.start(beeConfig, {}); }

initializeEditor(); }, ]);

Template Loading Guidelines

Loading Templates

• Use the start() method with template data to load existing templates:

typescript // Load template from localStorage const selectedTemplate = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('currentEmailData'));

if (selectedTemplate) { beefreeSDKInstance.start(selectedTemplate); console.log('Loaded template from localStorage'); } else { // Start with empty template beefreeSDKInstance.start(); console.log('Started with empty template'); }

Template Storage

• Store templates in localStorage for persistence while testing:

typescript // Save template data localStorage.setItem('currentEmailData', JSON.stringify(templateData)); localStorage.setItem('currentEmailName', emailName);

// Load template data const emailData = localStorage.getItem('currentEmailData'); const emailName = localStorage.getItem('currentEmailName');

Autosave Functionality

• Implement autosave to prevent data loss:

typescript onAutoSave: function (jsonFile) { console.log("Auto-saving template..."); localStorage.setItem("email.autosave", jsonFile); }

HTML Import Guidelines

HTML Importer API

• Use the HTML Importer API to convert existing HTML templates to Beefree SDK format
• API endpoint: https://api.getbee.io/v1/conversion/html-to-json
• Reference: HTML Importer API Documentation

Import Process

• Convert HTML templates to Beefree SDK's native JSON format:

javascript const response = await fetch('https://api.getbee.io/v1/conversion/html-to-json', { method: 'POST', headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer Enter Dev Console API Key as Bearer token", "Content-Type": "text/html" }, body: "<!DOCTYPE html><html><body><h1>Hello World</h1></body></html>" }); const data = await response.json();

Loading Imported Templates

• Load imported templates into the Beefree SDK:

typescript const importedTemplate = await importHtmlTemplate(htmlContent); beefreeSDK.start(importedTemplate);

Error Handling Guidelines

onError Callback

• ALWAYS implement the onError callback to handle SDK errors:

typescript onError: function (errorMessage) { console.error("Beefree SDK error:", errorMessage); // Display user-friendly error message document.getElementById('beefree-sdk-container').innerHTML = '<div class="error">Error loading Beefree SDK: ' + errorMessage.message + '</div>'; }

Authentication Error Handling

• Handle authentication failures gracefully:

typescript function getBeeToken(callback) { fetch('/api/beefree/auth', { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify({ client_id: 'your_client_id', client_secret: 'your_client_secret', uid: beeConfig.uid }) }) .then(response => { if (!response.ok) throw new Error('Auth failed: ' + response.status); return response.json(); }) .then(data => { callback(data); }) .catch(error => { console.error('Error getting Beefree token:', error); document.getElementById('beefree-sdk-container').innerHTML = '<div class="error">Failed to authenticate with Beefree. Please check your credentials and try again.</div>'; }); }

Template Change Tracking Guidelines

Track Message Changes

• Implement template change tracking to monitor changes made by end users
• Reference: Track Message Changes Documentation

Change Detection

• Use the onChange callback to track template changes:

typescript onChange: function (jsonFile, response) { console.log('json', jsonFile); console.log('response', response); },

Customization Guidelines

UI Customization

Customize the Beefree SDK appearance with:

• Customized Themes
• Custom CSS

Language Customization

• Set the language for internationalization:

typescript const beeConfig = { container: 'beefree-sdk-container', language: 'en-US', // or 'es-ES', 'fr-FR', etc. };

Merge Tags and Special Links

• Configure merge tags and special links for email personalization:

typescript const beeConfig = { container: 'beefree-sdk-container', mergeTags: [ { name: "First Name", value: "[first_name]" }, { name: "Last Name", value: "[last_name]" }, { name: "Email", value: "[email]" }, { name: "Company", value: "[company]" } ], specialLinks: [ { type: "unsubscribe", label: "Unsubscribe", link: "http://[unsubscribe]/" }, { type: "subscribe", label: "Subscribe", link: "http://[subscribe]/" }, { type: "webview", label: "View in Browser", link: "http://[webview]/" } ] };

Other Customizations

Reference the official Beefree SDK technical documentation for a comprehnsive reference of possible customizations.

Best Practices

Performance Optimization

• Initialize the Beefree SDK only when it is actually needed in your application.
• Properly clean up SDK resources when they are no longer required (e.g., when navigating away or closing the editor).
• Handle errors gracefully to prevent application crashes or unexpected behavior.

Security

• Never expose your Beefree SDK client credentials in any frontend or public code.
• Always use a secure backend or proxy server to handle authentication and sensitive operations.
• Validate and sanitize all user inputs before passing them to the SDK to prevent security vulnerabilities.

User Experience

• Show appropriate loading indicators while the SDK is initializing or performing operations.
• Display clear and helpful error messages to users if something goes wrong.
• Implement automatic saving or progress tracking to prevent data loss.

Code Organization

• Keep SDK configuration separate from initialization and business logic for better maintainability.
• Use strong typing (e.g., TypeScript or similar) where possible to improve code safety and clarity.
• Ensure robust error handling throughout your integration, regardless of the tech stack or framework used.

Examples

Complete React Component

Reference the full project at beefree-react-demo.

typescript
import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
import BeefreeSDK from '@beefree.io/sdk';

export default function BeefreeEditor() {
  const containerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    async function initializeEditor() {
      const beeConfig = {
        container: 'beefree-react-demo',
        language: 'en-US',
        onSave: (pageJson: string, pageHtml: string, ampHtml: string | null, templateVersion: number, language: string | null) => {
          console.log('Saved!', { pageJson, pageHtml, ampHtml, templateVersion, language });
        },
        onError: (error: unknown) => {
          console.error('Error:', error);
        }
      };

      const token = await fetch('http://localhost:3001/proxy/bee-auth', {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
        body: JSON.stringify({ uid: 'demo-user' })
      }).then(res => res.json());

      const bee = new BeefreeSDK(token);
      bee.start(beeConfig, {});
    }

    initializeEditor();
  }, []);

  return (
    <div
      id="beefree-react-demo"
      ref={containerRef}
      style={{
        height: '600px',
        width: '90%',
        margin: '20px auto',
        border: '1px solid #ddd',
        borderRadius: '8px'
      }}
    />
  );
}

Complete HTML Implementation

Reference the complete project at Beefree SDK multiple-versions-concept.

html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <title>Beefree SDK - Email Builder</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
    <style type="text/css">
      #beefree-sdk-container {
        position: absolute;
        top: 0px;
        bottom: 0px;
        left: 0px;
        right: 0px;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="beefree-sdk-container"></div>
    <!-- Bundle the official @beefree.io/sdk package and expose BeefreeSDK from your app entrypoint. -->
    <script type="text/javascript">
      const beeConfig = {
            container: 'beefree-sdk-container',
    uid: 'demo-user-' + Date.now(),
    language: 'en-US',
        onSave: function (jsonFile, htmlFile) {
          console.log("Template saved:", jsonFile);
        },
        onError: function (errorMessage) {
          console.error("Beefree SDK error:", errorMessage);
        }
      };

      function getBeeToken(callback) {
        fetch('/api/beefree/auth', {
          method: 'POST',
          headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
          body: JSON.stringify({ uid: beeConfig.uid })
        })
        .then(response => response.json())
        .then(data => callback(data))
        .catch(error => {
          console.error('Error getting Beefree token:', error);
        });
      }

      function initializeBeefree(authResponse) {
        const bee = new BeefreeSDK(authResponse);
        bee.start(beeConfig, {});
      }

      getBeeToken(initializeBeefree);
    </script>
  </body>
</html>