[GSoC 2026] Interested in Email-ext plugin – Outlook SMTP OAuth

Contributing GSoC
1

Hello Jenkins community,

My name is Vaibhav. I’m preparing for Google Summer of Code 2026 and I’m interested in the project idea:
“Jenkins email notifications using Outlook SMTP with OAuth”.

I have successfully set up and built the email-ext-plugin locally.

Command used: mvn verify -DskipTests

BUILD SUCCESS
BUILD SUCCESS1920×1080 356 KB

Environment:

  • OS: Windows 11
  • Java: OpenJDK 17
  • Maven: 3.9.12
  • Command used: mvn verify -DskipTests
  • Result: BUILD SUCCESS

I would appreciate guidance on:

  1. Where to start in the email-ext-plugin codebase for OAuth
  2. Any recommended beginner issues or preparation tasks
  3. Preferred communication channel with mentors

Thank you for your time.

2

Quick update on my exploration of the email-ext-plugin:

I’ve reviewed ExtendedEmailPublisher.java and EmailType.java.

I noticed that SMTP properties are configured before JavaMail Session creation, and authentication is currently handled via a JavaMail Authenticator.

This suggests that OAuth support (for Outlook SMTP, using a client-credentials flow) could be added as an alternative authentication mechanism by:

  • introducing OAuth-specific SMTP properties, and

  • providing an OAuth-based Authenticator,
    while keeping the existing username/password flow unchanged for backward compatibility.

Next, I plan to explore how Jenkins plugins typically handle OAuth tokens and secrets (credentials storage, secure handling, and refresh flow).

Please let me know if this approach aligns with expectations, or if there’s a preferred starting point.

3

Update:

I have submitted my first pull request to the Jenkins email-ext-plugin.

PR: Improve logging and exception handling in sendMail by Vaibhav34-2006 · Pull Request #1452 · jenkinsci/email-ext-plugin · GitHub

This change improves logging and exception handling in the sendMail() method
without changing any existing behavior or logic.

CI is currently running and a review has been requested.
Looking forward to feedback and guidance on next steps.

4

Update:

The PR has now been reviewed and merged.

Improve logging and exception handling in sendMail by Vaibhav34-2006 · Pull Request #1452 · jenkinsci/email-ext-plugin
Thanks to the maintainers for the feedback and guidance.

I’m continuing with small, focused improvements in the email-ext plugin
and will share further progress as I move toward a GSoC proposal.