undefined method `[]' for nil:NilClass on mandrill mailer - ruby-on-rails

Question

I'm trying to use the mandrill_mailer gem to control transactional email, though it's returning a undefined method [] for nil:NilClass error and highlights a line in my mailer, even if I remove this line and most of the others the problem seems to persist.
mailers/panel_mailer.rb
class PanelMailer < MandrillMailer::TemplateMailer
def blast(user, template)
humans = user.humans
mandrill_mail(
template: 'blast-1',
subject: template.subject,
to: [
{ email: "callum#hotmail.com", name: "Callum Short" }
],
vars: {
'BG_COLOUR' => "##{user.bghex}",
'LOGO' => user.logourl_url
},
template_content: {'body' => template.body},
inline_css: true,
preserve_recipients: true,
recipient_vars: {"callum#hotmail.com" => {'FULL_NAME' => "Callum Short"}}
)
end
end
Full Trace:
mandrill_mailer (0.5.1) lib/mandrill_mailer/template_mailer.rb:171:in `mandrill_mail'
mandrill_mailer (0.5.1) lib/mandrill_mailer/core_mailer.rb:278:in `call'
mandrill_mailer (0.5.1) lib/mandrill_mailer/core_mailer.rb:278:in `method_missing'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_controller/metal/implicit_render.rb:4:in `send_action'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/abstract_controller/base.rb:189:in `process_action'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_controller/metal/rendering.rb:10:in `process_action'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/abstract_controller/callbacks.rb:20:in `block in process_action'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:113:in `call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:113:in `call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:166:in `block in halting'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:229:in `call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:229:in `block in halting'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:229:in `call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:229:in `block in halting'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:166:in `call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:166:in `block in halting'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:166:in `call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:166:in `block in halting'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:166:in `call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:166:in `block in halting'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:86:in `call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:86:in `run_callbacks'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/abstract_controller/callbacks.rb:19:in `process_action'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_controller/metal/rescue.rb:29:in `process_action'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_controller/metal/instrumentation.rb:31:in `block in process_action'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/notifications.rb:159:in `block in instrument'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/notifications/instrumenter.rb:20:in `instrument'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/notifications.rb:159:in `instrument'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_controller/metal/instrumentation.rb:30:in `process_action'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_controller/metal/params_wrapper.rb:250:in `process_action'
activerecord (4.1.8) lib/active_record/railties/controller_runtime.rb:18:in `process_action'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/abstract_controller/base.rb:136:in `process'
actionview (4.1.8) lib/action_view/rendering.rb:30:in `process'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_controller/metal.rb:196:in `dispatch'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_controller/metal/rack_delegation.rb:13:in `dispatch'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_controller/metal.rb:232:in `block in action'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/routing/route_set.rb:82:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/routing/route_set.rb:82:in `dispatch'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/routing/route_set.rb:50:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/journey/router.rb:73:in `block in call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/journey/router.rb:59:in `each'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/journey/router.rb:59:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/routing/route_set.rb:678:in `call'
omniauth (1.2.2) lib/omniauth/strategy.rb:186:in `call!'
omniauth (1.2.2) lib/omniauth/strategy.rb:164:in `call'
omniauth (1.2.2) lib/omniauth/strategy.rb:186:in `call!'
omniauth (1.2.2) lib/omniauth/strategy.rb:164:in `call'
omniauth (1.2.2) lib/omniauth/strategy.rb:186:in `call!'
omniauth (1.2.2) lib/omniauth/strategy.rb:164:in `call'
warden (1.2.3) lib/warden/manager.rb:35:in `block in call'
warden (1.2.3) lib/warden/manager.rb:34:in `catch'
warden (1.2.3) lib/warden/manager.rb:34:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/etag.rb:23:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/conditionalget.rb:35:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/head.rb:11:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/params_parser.rb:27:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/flash.rb:254:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/session/abstract/id.rb:225:in `context'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/session/abstract/id.rb:220:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/cookies.rb:560:in `call'
activerecord (4.1.8) lib/active_record/query_cache.rb:36:in `call'
activerecord (4.1.8) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:621:in `call'
activerecord (4.1.8) lib/active_record/migration.rb:380:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/callbacks.rb:29:in `block in call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:82:in `run_callbacks'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/callbacks.rb:27:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/reloader.rb:73:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/remote_ip.rb:76:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/debug_exceptions.rb:17:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/show_exceptions.rb:30:in `call'
railties (4.1.8) lib/rails/rack/logger.rb:38:in `call_app'
railties (4.1.8) lib/rails/rack/logger.rb:20:in `block in call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/tagged_logging.rb:68:in `block in tagged'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/tagged_logging.rb:26:in `tagged'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/tagged_logging.rb:68:in `tagged'
railties (4.1.8) lib/rails/rack/logger.rb:20:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/request_id.rb:21:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/methodoverride.rb:21:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/runtime.rb:17:in `call'
activesupport (4.1.8) lib/active_support/cache/strategy/local_cache_middleware.rb:26:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/lock.rb:17:in `call'
actionpack (4.1.8) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/static.rb:84:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/sendfile.rb:112:in `call'
railties (4.1.8) lib/rails/engine.rb:514:in `call'
railties (4.1.8) lib/rails/application.rb:144:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/lock.rb:17:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/content_length.rb:14:in `call'
rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/handler/webrick.rb:60:in `service'
C:/RailsInstaller/Ruby1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/webrick/httpserver.rb:138:in `service'
C:/RailsInstaller/Ruby1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/webrick/httpserver.rb:94:in `run'
C:/RailsInstaller/Ruby1.9.3/lib/ruby/1.9.1/webrick/server.rb:191:in `block in start_thread'

Answer 1

Log into mailchimp, go to templates, select your template and select "send to mandrill"
The error will go away :)
I will do an episode in the near future on this on http://rby.io/r/5509d6

Answer 2

Since are using url helpers inside mailer you should define default_url_options as a hash and specify :host option as well in development.rb or production.rb (they might differ):
config.mandrill_mailer.default_url_options = { host: 'localhost:3000' }
The error is thrown because default_url_options are nil while url helper is trying :[] method to fetch some properties.
method_missing which appears in error trace is just MandrillMailer's way to get access to Rails url helpers.