🔐 Add email verification bypass for testing environments

- Add REQUIRE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION setting (default: True)
- Skip email verification when setting is False
- Auto-verify users and provide welcome bonus when bypassed
- Updated .env.example with documentation
- Allows testing on Railway without email setup until final domain

Perfect for Railway deployment until email/domain configuration is ready.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

.env.example

@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ DEBUG=True
 ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost,127.0.0.1,your-domain.com
 CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:8000,http://127.0.0.1:8000
 
+# Email Verification
+# Set to False to bypass email verification for testing (until final domain is ready)
+REQUIRE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION=True
+
 # Database Configuration
 # Default: SQLite (simple, reliable, no setup required)
 # Railway: Automatically uses PostgreSQL via DATABASE_URL

authentication/views.py

@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ def login_view(request):
         
         user = authenticate(request, username=email, password=password)
         if user is not None:
-            # Check if email is verified
+            # Check if email is verified (only if email verification is required)
-            if not user.email_verified:
+            if settings.REQUIRE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION and not user.email_verified:
                 messages.warning(request, 'Please verify your email address before logging in. Check your inbox for the verification link.')
                 return render(request, 'authentication/login.html')
             
@@ -154,15 +154,28 @@ def register_view(request):
                 email=email,
                 password=password1
             )
-            # Don't automatically login - require email verification first
             
-            # Send verification email
+            # Handle email verification based on settings
-            if send_verification_email(user):
+            if settings.REQUIRE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION:
-                messages.success(request, 'Account created successfully! Please check your email to verify your account.')
+                # Don't automatically login - require email verification first
+                # Send verification email
+                if send_verification_email(user):
+                    messages.success(request, 'Account created successfully! Please check your email to verify your account.')
+                else:
+                    messages.warning(request, 'Account created but verification email could not be sent. You can request a new one after logging in.')
+                
+                return redirect('authentication:login')
             else:
-                messages.warning(request, 'Account created but verification email could not be sent. You can request a new one after logging in.')
+                # Skip email verification - auto-verify and login
+                user.email_verified = True
+                user.save()
                 
-            return redirect('authentication:login')
+                # Add initial wallet balance for new users
+                user.add_balance(50, "Welcome bonus - 50 AED to get started!")
+                
+                login(request, user)
+                messages.success(request, f'Welcome {user.username}! Your account has been created and you\'ve received 50 AED welcome bonus.')
+                return redirect('core:homepage')
         except Exception as e:
             logger.error(f"Error creating account for {email}: {str(e)}")
             messages.error(request, 'Error creating account')

netcop_hub/settings.py

@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ if config('RAILWAY_ENVIRONMENT', default=''):
 else:
     SITE_URL = config('SITE_URL', default='http://localhost:8000')
 
+# Email verification requirement
+# Set to False for testing environments until final domain is ready
+REQUIRE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION = config('REQUIRE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION', default=True, cast=bool)
+
 
 # Application definition