# Email verification: codes or links, and how long does an AI agent wait?

At 61 of 63 products, the sign-up mail reached our agent's inbox within a minute. The median wait was 13 seconds.

Drives: 1 Oct 2026 to 1 Nov 2026 · 63 products · Step: [Get in](https://agentdrives.com/access/get-in.md) · Subject: Email verification · Counted 1 Nov 2026. Source: https://agentdrives.com/findings/email-verification?via=md · CC BY 4.0

## What we found

| The mail carried | Products | Median wait | Verified without a browser |
|---|---|---|---|
| A link only | 34 of 63 | 14 seconds | 8 of 34 |
| A code only | 17 of 63 | 11 seconds | under 5 |
| A code and a link | 12 of 63 | 13 seconds | 0 of 12 |

| Where verification finished | Products | Share of the 51 |
|---|---|---|
| Without a browser | 9 of 51 | 18% |
| In a browser | 39 of 51 | 76% |
| Stopped at verification | under 5 |  |
| All with an outcome recorded | 51 of 63 |  |

- 23 of the 63 mails came within 10 seconds.
- A code or a link made little difference to the wait.

## For product owners

- Send the verification mail at once, with the code or the link near the top.
- Let the link verify the account by itself, without a second sign-in in a browser.
- Accept the code over your API as well as in the sign-up form.

## For agent builders

- Give your agent an inbox on a domain you control, and check it for a minute after sign-up.
- Have a browser ready for the last step of verification.

## How we tested

- Drives from 1 Oct 2026 to 1 Nov 2026, 201 products. At 63 of them a sign-up mail with a code or a link reached our agent's inbox and was timed.
- Our agent signs up with an address on our own domain and reads that inbox itself.
- Each wait runs from the step that sent the mail to its arrival in the inbox, on the product's newest drive.
- 12 of the 63 timed mails have no verification outcome recorded, so the table of where verification finished counts the other 51.

## Limits

- Each product's mail as it was on the day of its drive.
- A product that sent no mail, or a mail without a code or a link, isn't in the count.
- Medians are shown over 10 products or more, counts from 5.

## Sources

- [Every number on this page, with its definition](https://agentdrives.com/data/facts.md?via=md#mail.measured)
- [Agent access: Get in](https://agentdrives.com/access/get-in.md)
- [How we drive](https://agentdrives.com/method.md?via=md)