Verifying Users’ Email Using Django Rest Auth Without Errors

Introduction

As a developer creating a REST API and utilizing Django-rest-auth for user verification and creation, you may encounter an issue when attempting to verify a user’s email. Instead of successful verification, an error message appears, disrupting the smooth functioning of your application. In this article, we will explore the possible causes of this error and discuss effective solutions to ensure successful email verification while maintaining the REST API architecture.

Understanding the Error Message

The error message you encounter upon clicking the link to verify the user’s email is as follows:

code

NoReverseMatch at /account-confirm-email/MjI:1iNmbO:BWhf4WhFzVR99YVYUqCB6X2CbcE/
Reverse for 'account_email' not found. 'account_email' is not a valid view function or pattern name.

This error suggests that the application is unable to locate the view function or pattern named ‘account_email,’ which is essential for the email verification process. By examining the relevant configuration files, we can identify potential causes and resolutions for this error.

Analyzing the Configuration Files

To better understand the issue, let’s examine the relevant sections of the settings.py and urls.py files.

In settings.py, ensure that the following configurations are correctly set:

code

























INSTALLED_APPS = 







[
    # ...
    'allauth',
    'allauth.account',
    'rest_auth',
    'rest_auth.registration',
    'users',
    # ...
] 


















ACCOUNT_USER_MODEL_USERNAME_FIELD = None
ACCOUNT_EMAIL_REQUIRED = True
ACCOUNT_USERNAME_REQUIRED = False
ACCOUNT_AUTHENTICATION_METHOD = 'email'
ACCOUNT_UNIQUE_EMAIL = True
ACCOUNT_LOGOUT_ON_GET = True

EMAIL_USE_TLS = True
EMAIL_HOST = 'smtp.gmail.com'
EMAIL_PORT = 587
EMAIL_HOST_USER = '[email protected]'
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = 'test'
DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL = '[email protected]'
DEFAULT_TO_EMAIL = EMAIL_HOST_USER

# ...

Ensure that all the required apps are included in the INSTALLED_APPS list, such as 'allauth', 'allauth.account', 'rest_auth', and 'rest_auth.registration'. Also, verify that the email-related configurations, such as the email host details and default email addresses, are accurately specified.

Next, let’s examine the relevant sections of urls.py:

codefrom rest_auth.registration.views import VerifyEmailView

urlpatterns = [
# ...
path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
url('api/rest-auth/', include('rest_auth.urls')),
url('api/rest-auth/registration/', include('rest_auth.registration.urls')),
re_path(r'^account-confirm-email/$', VerifyEmailView.as_view(), name='account_email_verification_sent'),
re_path(r'^account-confirm-email/(?P<key>[-:\w] +)/$', VerifyEmailView.as_view(), name='account_confirm_email'),
# ...
]


Ensure that the VerifyEmailView is correctly imported from 'rest_auth.registration.views'. Pay attention to the URL patterns specified for email confirmation, such as 'account_email_verification_sent' and 'account_confirm_email'. These names are crucial for resolving the error.

Identifying and Implementing Solutions

Based on the analysis of the configuration files, we can propose two potential solutions to resolve the error and successfully verify the user’s email without compromising the REST API functionality.

Correcting the URLs

The error message suggests that the application is searching for the view function 'account_email', which is not found. To resolve this, modify your urls.py as follows:

code

















from allauth.account import views

# ...

urlpatterns = 





[
    # ...
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    url('api/rest-auth/', include('rest_auth.urls')),
    url('api/rest-auth/registration/', include('rest_auth.registration.urls')),
    re_path(r'^account-confirm-email/$', VerifyEmailView.as_view(), name='account_email_verification_sent'),
    re_path(r'^account-confirm-email/(?P<key>[-:\w] 

By including the 'allauth.urls', you provide the necessary views and patterns for email-related functionalities, resolving the error related to the 'account_email' view.

Adding a Null View

If the previous solution doesn’t entirely resolve the issue, you can implement an additional step. Create a null_view in your users.views module as follows:

code





from rest_framework.decorators import api_view
from rest_framework.response import Response

@api_view()
def null_view(request):
    return Response(status=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST)

Next, modify your urls.py to include the null_view for email confirmation:

code

















from users.views import null_view

# ...

urlpatterns = 





[
    # ...
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    url('api/rest-auth/', include('rest_auth.urls')),
    url('api/rest-auth/registration/', include('rest_auth.registration.urls')),
    re_path(r'^account-confirm-email/$', null_view, name='account_confirm_email'),  # Replace the previous line
    re_path(r'^account-confirm-email/(?P<key>[-:\w] 

By incorporating the null_view as the view function for email confirmation, you ensure that the application does not encounter any errors during the verification process.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed the issue of encountering errors when verifying users’ emails using Django-rest-auth in a REST API. By analyzing the configuration files, specifically settings.py and urls.py, we identified potential causes for the error and proposed two solutions. The first solution involved correcting the URLs and including the necessary views and patterns. The second solution introduced a null view to handle email confirmation. By implementing these solutions, you can successfully verify users’ emails without errors while maintaining the REST API architecture.

Remember, effective configuration and accurate URL setup are vital for smooth email verification processes in your Django REST API application. With the right adjustments, you can ensure a seamless user experience and enhance the security of your system.