Django Email Login (instead of using username)

by default, django use username to login. For some case, using email is better than username (most user remember email rather than username). Important: email need to be unique to support this login mechanism.

login with email

Step 1: Preparation, Create Django Project
create virtualenv: virtualenv venv
start virtualenv: venv/Scripts/activate
install Django in virtualenv: pip install django==4.2
Create Django: django-admin startproject myproject
Go to myproject folder: cd myproject

Step 2: Create Django Apps
Create apps: python manage.py startapp core

Step 3: Create User Models (core/models.py) extends AbstractUser

from django.contrib.auth.models import AbstractUser
from django.db import models

class User(AbstractUser):
    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)

email field should be set as unique field

Step 4: Create Backend Authentication (core/backends.py)

Create new file core/backends.py

from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
from django.contrib.auth.backends import ModelBackend

class EmailBackend(ModelBackend):
    def authenticate(self, request, username=None, password=None, **kwargs):
        UserModel = get_user_model()
        try:
            user = UserModel.objects.get(email=username)
        except UserModel.DoesNotExist:
            return None
        else:
            if user.check_password(password):
                return user
        return None

Step 5: Update myproject/settings.py

Add INSTALED_APPS, add AUTH_USER_MODEL and add AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS

...
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'core', #updated
]
...
AUTH_USER_MODEL = 'core.User' #updated
AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = ['core.backends.EmailBackend'] #updated

Step 6: Register User Model in Admin Site

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import User

# Register your models here.
admin.site.register(User)

Step 7: Makemigration and Migrate
Make migrations: python manage.py makemigrations
Migrate: python manage.py migrate

Step 8: Create Superuser
Make migrations: python manage.py createsuperuser
Type username, email password and retype password

Step 9: Test
Run Server: python manage.py runserver
Testing: http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin

logged in with email