---
title: Username recovery
description: Username recovery lets end users recover their usernames using other information they remember, such as their email address.
component: pingoneaic
page_id: pingoneaic:self-service:username-recovery
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingoneaic/self-service/username-recovery.html
keywords: ["Accounts", "Journeys", "Nodes & Trees", "Forgotten Username"]
section_ids:
  forgotten-username-rest-sample: Example forgotten username REST output
---

# Username recovery

Username recovery lets end users recover their usernames using other information they remember, such as their email address.

PingOne Advanced Identity Cloud includes a **ForgottenUsername** journey template. This journey collects an end user's email address and then uses it to search for a user identity with that address. It then emails the username associated with that email address to the end user.

|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| - | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|   | When reviewing the journey template, notice that both [Identify Existing User node](https://docs.pingidentity.com/auth-node-ref/latest/identify-existing-user.html) outputs connect to the [Email Suspend node](https://docs.pingidentity.com/auth-node-ref/latest/email-suspend.html).This is recommended behavior for security reasons. Returning different outcomes potentially exposes which end users have accounts in your system. |

![Sample forgotten username journey](_images/PlatformForgottenUsername.png)

An alternative journey sends a verification link, then uses the [Display Username node](https://docs.pingidentity.com/auth-node-ref/latest/display-username.html) once the end user returns from the email.

## Example forgotten username REST output

When calling a username recovery self-service endpoint, you'll receive a JSON object back, containing callbacks for each of the nodes included in the username recovery journey.

> **Collapse: Sample JSON callbacks**
>
> ```json
> {
>   "authId": "<omitted for length>",
>   "callbacks": [
>     {
>       "type": "StringAttributeInputCallback",
>       "output": [
>         {
>           "name": "name",
>           "value": "mail"
>         },
>         {
>           "name": "prompt",
>           "value": "Email Address"
>         },
>         {
>           "name": "required",
>           "value": true
>         },
>         {
>           "name": "policies",
>           "value": {}
>         },
>         {
>           "name": "failedPolicies",
>           "value": []
>         },
>         {
>           "name": "validateOnly",
>           "value": false
>         },
>         {
>           "name": "value",
>           "value": ""
>         }
>       ],
>       "input": [
>         {
>           "name": "IDToken1",
>           "value": ""
>         },
>         {
>           "name": "IDToken1validateOnly",
>           "value": false
>         }
>       ],
>       "_id": 0
>     }
>   ],
>   "header": "Forgotten Username",
>   "description": "Enter your email address or <a href=\"#/service/Login\">Sign in</a>"
> }
> ```