NestJS | Novu Documentation

In this guide, we will add a Novu Bridge Endpoint to a NestJS application and send our first test workflow.

Set up your local environment

Start Local Studio

Start the Local Studio by running:

npx novu dev

The Local Studio will be available at http://localhost:2022. This is where you can preview and test your workflows.

Install packages

Install Required Packages

Install the Novu Framework package:

npm install @novu/framework

This package provides all the necessary tools to build and manage your notification workflows.

Add the NovuModule to your application

The NovuModule is a NestJS module that registers the Novu Endpoint in your application.

The following example does not support NestJS dependency injection. If you need to @Injectable dependencies in your workflow definition, see Advanced Usage.

import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { NovuModule } from '@novu/framework/nest';
import { testWorkflow } from './novu/workflows';
 
@Module({
    imports: [
        NovuModule.register({
            apiPath: '/api/novu',
            workflows: [testWorkflow],
        }),
    ],
})
export class AppModule {}

Configure your secret key

Add Your Secret Key

Add your Novu Secret Key to your environment variables:

# .env
NOVU_SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key

Create your workflow definition

Add a novu folder in your src folder as such src/novu/workflows.ts that will contain your workflow definitions.

Start your application

Start your NestJS application with the Novu Endpoint configured.

If your NestJS application is running on other than 4000 port, restart the npx novu dev command with the port:

npx novu@latest dev --port <YOUR_NESTJS_APPLICATION_PORT>

Test your endpoint

Test Your Workflow

Test your workflow by triggering it from the Local Studio or using the Novu API:

curl -X POST https://api.novu.co/v1/events/trigger \
  -H 'Authorization: ApiKey YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "name": "my-workflow",
    "to": "subscriber-id",
    "payload": {}
  }'

You should see the notification being processed in your Local Studio.

Deploy your application

Deploy Your App

Deploy your application to your preferred hosting provider. Make sure the /api/novu endpoint is accessible from the internet.

For local development and testing, you can use tools like ngrok to expose your local server to the internet.

Next Steps

Now that you have your first workflow running, you can:

Learn about Workflow Controls to expose no-code editing capabilities
Explore different Channel Steps like Email, SMS, Push, and more
Set up Action Steps like Delay and Digest
Check out our React Email integration for building beautiful email templates

Advanced Usage (Dependency Injection)

If you need to inject dependencies into your workflow definition, you can use the registerAsync method.

Add the NovuModule using the registerAsync method to your AppModule.

import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { NovuModule } from '@novu/framework/nest';
import { NotificationService } from './notification.service';
import { UserService } from './user.service';
 
@Module({
  imports: [
    NovuModule.registerAsync({
      imports: [AppModule],
      useFactory: (notificationService: NotificationService) => ({
        apiPath: '/api/novu',
        workflows: [notificationService.welcomeWorkflow()],
      }),
      inject: [NotificationService],
    }),
  ],
  providers: [NotificationService, UserService],
  exports: [NotificationService],
})
export class AppModule {}

For example, you might need to inject a service that fetches the user's name from a database. This is useful when you need to fetch data in realtime during the execution of your workflow.

An example UserService is available below with hardcoded values, but in a real-world application you might use a database or an external API to fetch the user's name.

import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
 
@Injectable()
export class UserService {
  getUser(id: string) {
    return {
      name: 'John Doe',
      email: `john.doe.${id}@example.com`,
    };
  }
}

Finally, configure your NotificationService to use the injected UserService.

import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
import { workflow } from '@novu/framework';
import { z } from 'zod';
import { UserService } from './user.service';
 
@Injectable()
export class NotificationService {
  constructor(private readonly userService: UserService) {}
 
  public welcomeWorkflow() {
    return workflow(
      'welcome-email',
      async ({ step, payload }) => {
        await step.email('send-email', async () => {
          const user = this.userService.getUser(payload.userId);
 
          return {
            subject: `Hello, ${user.name}`,
            body: `We are glad you are here!`,
          };
        });
      },
      {
        payloadSchema: z.object({
          userId: z.string(),
        }),
      }
    );
  }
}

A full example NestJS application demonstrating dependency injection is available here.

NestJS Quickstart