AI Invoice Mailer

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ai email finance automation frontend

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AI Invoice Mailer

Generate professional invoices with AI and send them to clients via SMTP email. Manage clients, auto-populate invoice fields, and deliver polished results in one workflow.

AI Invoice Mailer is a full-stack automation that combines AI text generation with SMTP email delivery to produce and send professional invoices with minimal effort.

What it does

• Client management : Save and list clients with save-client and list-clients habits
• AI invoice generation : Uses OpenAI to auto-fill line items, descriptions, and totals based on a short prompt
• Email delivery : Sends the finished invoice directly to the client via SMTP using credentials stored in .env

Environment variables (.env / keyring on apps)

Variable	Purpose
HABITS_OPENAI_API_KEY	OpenAI API key for AI-powered invoice content generation
HABITS_SMTP_HOST	SMTP server hostname (e.g. smtp.gmail.com)
HABITS_SMTP_PORT	SMTP port (typically 587 for STARTTLS)
HABITS_SMTP_USER	SMTP login username / email address
HABITS_SMTP_PASSWORD	SMTP password or app-specific password
HABITS_EMAIL_FROM	Display name and address used as the sender

How to set up

1. Copy .env.example to .env and fill in your credentials.
2. On desktop/mobile apps, the same keys are stored securely in the system keyring.
3. Run save-client to add a client, then generate-invoice to create and send an invoice.

Tech stack

• habits framework for workflow orchestration
• OpenAI for natural-language invoice generation
• SMTP (Nodemailer-compatible) for email delivery
• Frontend habit for interactive client/invoice management UI

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Run Your .habit File

Run on Mobile

• [ ] Download the Cortex App from store or the downloads page
• [ ] Open the Cortex App on your device
• [ ] Tap "Open Habit" or "+" button
• [ ] Select your .habit file from your device storage
• [ ] The habit will be loaded and ready to run

Run on Desktop

• [ ] Download the Cortex App for your platform from the downloads page
• [ ] Install and open the Cortex App
• [ ] Click "Open Habit" or drag & drop your .habit file
• [ ] The habit will be loaded and ready to run
• [ ] Optional: Place a .env file in the same directory as your .habit file to override environment variables

Run on Server

Run your .habit file as a server using the Cortex CLI:

# Install and run in one command
npx @ha-bits/cortex --config ./your-app.habit

• [ ] Make sure Node.js 20+ is installed
• [ ] Run the command above with your .habit file path
• [ ] Server will start on the specified port (default: 3000)
• [ ] Access the app at http://localhost:3000
• [ ] Optional: Place a .env file next to your .habit file - it will automatically override any embedded environment variables

Run Serverless

For serverless or containerized deployments, we recommend using Docker:

# Using Docker (recommended for serverless)
docker run -p 3000:3000 -v $(pwd)/your-app.habit:/app/habit.habit \
  node:20-alpine npx @ha-bits/cortex --config /app/habit.habit --host 0.0.0.0

Or create a Dockerfile:

FROM node:20-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY your-app.habit ./
COPY .env ./ # Optional: include environment variables
RUN npm install -g @ha-bits/cortex
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["cortex", "--config", "./your-app.habit", "--host", "0.0.0.0"]

• [ ] Create a Dockerfile or use the Docker run command above
• [ ] Deploy to your preferred cloud provider (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.)
• [ ] Configure environment variables via your cloud provider's secrets management
• [ ] Set up health checks at /habits/base/api endpoint

Workflow Visualization

Requirements

• OPENAI_API_KEY (OpenAI API key)
• SMTP_HOST (SMTP server hostname)
• SMTP_PORT (SMTP port)
• SMTP_USER (SMTP login username / email address)
• SMTP_PASSWORD (SMTP password or app-specific password)
• EMAIL_FROM (Display name and address used as the sender)

Quick Start

Run using the Habits CLI wrapper, recommended if you develop local Habits

# First, download the example files
npx habits@latest cortex --config ./ai-invoice-mailer/stack.yaml

Download ai-invoice-mailer.habit

Get in touch

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This habit is a starting point. Tell us about your stack and we'll help you get it working exactly the way your team needs.

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