Duplicate Email Checks Create Silent Data Conflicts in User Systems
A developer discovered that their signup flow verified users twice — once via a typed OTP code and again through an auth service confirmation link — without either check being aware of the other. Users who completed the OTP step were immediately signed in, making the second confirmation email redundant and easy to ignore. This left accounts in a state where one record showed email ownership proven while another flagged it as unconfirmed, creating a silent contradiction in the database. The auth service's confirmation email was a platform default that had never been disabled after the team built their own OTP-based verification flow. The core lesson drawn is that two separate records of the same fact will eventually diverge, and any system or future feature reading only one of them will silently reach the wrong conclusion.
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