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Notify previous addresses

The notify_previous_addresses action sends a notification to a user's previous email or phone addresses when they change a verifiable address through the settings flow. Use it to alert users to address changes on their account so they can react if a change was not made by them.

The action runs on the after settings flow for the profile method, after the change is persisted. Notification delivery never blocks or fails the settings flow: if a message can't be queued, Ory logs a warning and the flow still succeeds.

Choose which addresses to notify

The recipients configuration controls which of the user's previous addresses receive a notification:

ValueNotifies
removedOnly the addresses that were removed by the change. This is the default.
all_verifiedAll of the user's previously verified addresses.
allAll of the user's previous addresses, whether or not they were verified.

Only email and phone (SMS) addresses are notified. Ory sends notifications only when the set of verifiable addresses actually changes. Changing a verification status alone does not trigger a notification.

Enable the action

Enable notify_previous_addresses using either the Ory Console or the Ory CLI.

  1. Go to AuthenticationAccount verification in the Ory Console.
  2. Enable Self-service Settings: Notify previous addresses.
  3. Select which addresses to notify under Notify previous addresses recipients.
  4. Click Save.
tip

To require verification of the new address before the change is applied, combine this action with verify_new_address.