---
title: Search alert limitations
slug: '74'
canonical_url: https://docs.coveo.com/en/74/
collection: build-a-search-ui
source_format: adoc
---
# Search alert limitations
When you enable search alerts in a search page, you should be aware that [certain limitations apply to search-tokens](https://docs.coveo.com/en/56/).

If you're using [search token](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1346/) [authentication](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2120/) in a search page, the Search API always sends email notifications to the first [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) in the array of `userIds` of the token with which the [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) who subscribes to search alert notifications authenticates.

This implies that the `name` value of the first entry in the array of `userIds` you specify when creating a [search token](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1346/) should always be a valid email address.

This also implies that if you're using a single [search token](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1346/) to [authenticate](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2120/) more than one [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/), only the first [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) in the array of `userIds` of that token actually receives email notifications for search alerts to which any other [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) who [authenticates](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2120/) with that token subscribes.

## Example

* You generate a [search token](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1346/) like the following for a single [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) whose email address is `john_doe@example.com`:

```http
POST /rest/search/token HTTP/1.1
​
Host: platform.cloud.coveo.com
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer MyOAuth2Token
```

**Payload**

```json
{
  "userIds": [
    {
      "name": "anonymous@coveo.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "john_doe@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    }
  ]
}
```

If the [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) [authenticates](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2120/) with this [search token](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1346/) and decides to subscribe to certain search alerts, the Search API will send email notification to `anonymous@coveo.com`, which is probably not the correct address.
The [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) will therefore never receive search alert email notifications.

* You generate a [search token](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1346/) like the following to [authenticate](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2120/) four distinct [users](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/):

```http
POST /rest/search/token HTTP/1.1
​
Host: platform.cloud.coveo.com
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer MyOAuth2Token
```

**Payload**

```json
{
  "userIds": [
    {
      "name": "jane_doe@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "john_doe@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "bob_smith@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "alice_smith@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    }
  ]
}
```

If the [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) `john_doe@example.com` subscribes to certain search alerts, the [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) `jane_doe@example.com` will actually receive the email notifications.

Moreover, if the [users](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/) `bob_smith@example.com` and `alice_smith@example.com` also subscribe to certain search alerts, `jane_doe@example.com` will receive email notifications for those search alerts as well.

* If you want search alert email notifications to work properly while still allowing your [search tokens](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1346/) to [impersonate](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2737/) the [anonymous](https://docs.coveo.com/en/m5ki3986/) identity, you should generate a {search token} like the following for each [user](https://docs.coveo.com/en/250/):

```http
POST /rest/search/token HTTP/1.1
​
Host: platform.cloud.coveo.com
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer MyOAuth2Token
```

**Payload**

```json
{
  "userIds": [
    {
      "name": "john_doe@example.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    },
    {
      "name": "anonymous@coveo.com",
      "provider": "Email Security Provider"
    }
  ]
}
```