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Authentication Emails

Authentication ties directly into the Email functionality that Payload provides. This allows you to send emails to users for verification, password resets, and more. While Payload provides default email templates for these actions, you can customize them to fit your brand.

Email Verification

Email Verification forces users to prove they have access to the email address they can authenticate. This will help to reduce spam accounts and ensure that users are who they say they are.

To enable Email Verification, use the auth.verify property on your Collection Config:

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import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
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export const Customers: CollectionConfig = {
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// ...
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auth: {
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verify: true
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},
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}

The following options are available:

OptionDescription
generateEmailHTMLAllows for overriding the HTML within emails that are sent to users indicating how to validate their account. More details.
generateEmailSubjectAllows for overriding the subject of the email that is sent to users indicating how to validate their account. More details.

generateEmailHTML

Function that accepts one argument, containing { req, token, user }, that allows for overriding the HTML within emails that are sent to users indicating how to validate their account. The function should return a string that supports HTML, which can optionally be a full HTML email.

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import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
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export const Customers: CollectionConfig = {
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// ...
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auth: {
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verify: {
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generateEmailHTML: ({ req, token, user }) => {
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// Use the token provided to allow your user to verify their account
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const url = `https://yourfrontend.com/verify?token=${token}`
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return `Hey ${user.email}, verify your email by clicking here: ${url}`
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},
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},
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},
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}

generateEmailSubject

Similarly to the above generateEmailHTML, you can also customize the subject of the email. The function argument are the same but you can only return a string - not HTML.

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import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
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export const Customers: CollectionConfig = {
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// ...
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auth: {
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verify: {
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generateEmailSubject: ({ req, user }) => {
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return `Hey ${user.email}, reset your password!`;
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}
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}
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}
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}

Forgot Password

You can customize how the Forgot Password workflow operates with the following options on the auth.forgotPassword property:

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import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
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export const Customers: CollectionConfig = {
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// ...
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auth: {
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forgotPassword: {
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// ...
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},
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},
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}

The following options are available:

OptionDescription
expirationConfigure how long password reset tokens remain valid, specified in milliseconds.
generateEmailHTMLAllows for overriding the HTML within emails that are sent to users attempting to reset their password. More details.
generateEmailSubjectAllows for overriding the subject of the email that is sent to users attempting to reset their password. More details.

generateEmailHTML

This function allows for overriding the HTML within emails that are sent to users attempting to reset their password. The function should return a string that supports HTML, which can be a full HTML email.

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import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
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export const Customers: CollectionConfig = {
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// ...
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auth: {
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forgotPassword: {
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generateEmailHTML: ({ req, token, user }) => {
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// Use the token provided to allow your user to reset their password
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const resetPasswordURL = `https://yourfrontend.com/reset-password?token=${token}`
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return `
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<!doctype html>
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<html>
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<body>
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<h1>Here is my custom email template!</h1>
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<p>Hello, ${user.email}!</p>
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<p>Click below to reset your password.</p>
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<p>
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<a href="${resetPasswordURL}">${resetPasswordURL}</a>
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</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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`
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},
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},
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},
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}

The following arguments are passed to the generateEmailHTML function:

ArgumentDescription
reqThe request object.
tokenThe token that is generated for the user to reset their password.
userThe user document that is attempting to reset their password.

generateEmailSubject

Similarly to the above generateEmailHTML, you can also customize the subject of the email. The function argument are the same but you can only return a string - not HTML.

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import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
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export const Customers: CollectionConfig = {
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// ...
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auth: {
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forgotPassword: {
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generateEmailSubject: ({ req, user }) => {
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return `Hey ${user.email}, reset your password!`;
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}
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}
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}
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}

The following arguments are passed to the generateEmailSubject function:

ArgumentDescription
reqThe request object.
userThe user document that is attempting to reset their password.
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