IFTTT

For this project we’re going to use a free service called IFTTT that stands for If This Than That.

This service is used to automate a wide variety of tasks online. In this case, we will send an email when the ESP pushbutton is pressed.

Type in your browser https://ifttt.com and click the “Get started” button in the middle of the page. Complete the form with your details and create your account.

Creating the Applet

Open the “My Applets” tab, press the create “New Applet” button.

Click the “This” word and search for the “Webhooks” service.

Receive a web request

You need to type in the event name button_pressed. With the Webhooks service you can trigger an action when you make an HTTP request to a specific URL.

Click the “Create trigger” button:

Now press the “That” word and search for the Gmail service.

Send email

?

If it’s the first time using the Gmail service with IFTTT, a new window opens and you’ll have to grant access, so IFTTT can send out emails through your account.

Choose the “Send email” option and enter the email address in the “To address” field where you want to receive your notification.

You can customize the subject and body of the email, but for demonstration purposes I’ll leave the default values. Finally press the “Create action” button.

You should have your Applet created after clicking “Finish”:

Testing the Applet

Open the “Search” tab, find the Webhooks service and open it.

Go to the “Documentation” tab.

Here you can find your unique API KEY that you must keep private. Type in the event name, button_pressed. Your final URL should appear in the bottom of the web page. Copy that URL.

Open a new tab in your browser and hit enter. You should see this message saying “Congratulations!”.

Open your email client and the new message should be there.

In case the email didn’t arrive after a few seconds, I recommend double-checking the URL and see if you’re using the correct event name, both in your Applet and in your URL.