Verifying your email proves to Cajole that the address you signed up with actually belongs to you. We ask for it because starting a Cajole, commenting, applying to an Open Call, dueling another Cajole, and submitting proof all involve real people and real reputations — and we want to make sure that the person you say you are is the person who's committing to these actions.
You can back a Cajole right away without verifying — backing is friction-free, so if you find a campaign you want to support, you can do that immediately. Verifying unlocks everything else: creating campaigns, commenting, applying to or dueling existing Cajoles, and submitting proof when you're the target.
How do I verify my email?
When you signed up, we sent a verification email to the address on your account. Open it and click the **Verify your email** button. That's all — once you click, the platform unlocks immediately.
I can't find the verification email.
A few places to check first:
Your spam or junk folder. Verification emails are sent from `[email protected]`. Mark our address as a safe sender if you find it there.
The Promotions or Updates tab if you're in Gmail.
The exact inbox you signed up with. If you used Apple Sign In or Google Sign In, your verification email was sent to the address tied to that provider — which might be different from the one you check every day. Apple's "Hide My Email" private-relay address is a common one to miss.
If it's still not there, you can send yourself a fresh one any time from your Account Settings page. When your email isn't verified, a yellow banner sits at the top of that page with a Resend verification email button — click it and a new email goes out within a minute.
You can also click Resend email from the modal that pops up when you try to do something that needs verification (start a Cajole, comment, apply to an Open Call, etc.).
My verification link says it's expired or invalid.
Verification links work for one week from when they were sent. If yours has expired, if it's already been used, or if something else about it looks off, you'll see a modal explaining what happened with a Resend email button. Click it and a fresh email lands in your inbox within a minute, with a new link good for another week.
Each time you request a new verification email, the previous one stops working — so always use the most recent email in your inbox.
I verified, but Cajole still says I'm unverified.
Refresh the page or sign out and back in — the verified status should update once your session reloads. If it still won't budge, reach out to us and we'll sort it out manually.
Can I change the email address I'm verifying?
If you signed up with the wrong address, you can update your email on the Account tab of your Account Settings before verifying. Once you save the new address, a fresh verification email goes out to it — verify there instead.
What if I never verify?
You'll still be able to browse Cajole, follow campaigns, and back any Cajole you find. But the modal will keep prompting you whenever you try to start a Cajole, comment, apply to an Open Call — and the banner on Account Settings will remind you on every visit. There's no penalty, just a wall on the actions that need a verified identity to make sense.