Custom User Model with Email as Username

A snippet showing how to configure Django to use email as the primary login field.


# models.py

from django.contrib.auth.models import AbstractBaseUser, BaseUserManager, PermissionsMixin
from django.db import models
from django.utils import timezone

class CustomUserManager(BaseUserManager):
    def create_user(self, email, password=None, **extra_fields):
        if not email:
            raise ValueError('Email must be provided')
        email = self.normalize_email(email)
        user = self.model(email=email, **extra_fields)
        user.set_password(password)
        user.save(using=self._db)
        return user

    def create_superuser(self, email, password=None, **extra_fields):
        extra_fields.setdefault('is_staff', True)
        extra_fields.setdefault('is_superuser', True)
        return self.create_user(email, password, **extra_fields)

class CustomUser(AbstractBaseUser, PermissionsMixin):
    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
    is_active = models.BooleanField(default=True)
    is_staff = models.BooleanField(default=False)
    date_joined = models.DateTimeField(default=timezone.now)

    objects = CustomUserManager()

    USERNAME_FIELD = 'email'
    REQUIRED_FIELDS = []

    def __str__(self):
        return self.email
  

# settings.py

AUTH_USER_MODEL = 'your_app.CustomUser'
  

# admin.py

from django.contrib import admin
from django.contrib.auth.admin import UserAdmin
from .models import CustomUser

class CustomUserAdmin(UserAdmin):
    model = CustomUser
    list_display = ['email', 'is_staff', 'is_active']
    ordering = ['email']
    fieldsets = (
        (None, {'fields': ('email', 'password')}),
        ('Permissions', {'fields': ('is_staff', 'is_active', 'is_superuser')}),
    )
    add_fieldsets = (
        (None, {
            'classes': ('wide',),
            'fields': ('email', 'password1', 'password2', 'is_staff', 'is_active')}
        ),
    )
    search_fields = ('email',)

admin.site.register(CustomUser, CustomUserAdmin)
  
Explanation:
  • We create a custom user model by extending AbstractBaseUser and PermissionsMixin.
  • The manager handles creation of regular and super users using email instead of username.
  • Set USERNAME_FIELD = 'email' to make email the primary identifier.
  • Register the model in settings.py with AUTH_USER_MODEL.
  • Custom admin configuration ensures proper form handling for your new user model.
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