---
title: "Let usernames change without breaking old · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/profile-and-account-lifecycle/username-change
updated: 2026-10-20
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# Let usernames change without breaking old links

By Erik Bergstedt, Agent Wranglers. Updated 2026-10-20.

- Level: Recommended
- Chapter: [Profile and account lifecycle](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/profile-and-account-lifecycle)
- Rule: When a username or organisation slug changes, redirect the old address to the new one. Keep the old name reserved for at least 90 days.
- How: Store old names with their owner and the date of the change. Answer requests for an old name with a 301 to the new one. Refuse anyone else who wants a held name. After the hold, release the name unless the [reserved names](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/sign-up/reserved-names) list covers it. Allow a few changes a month, such as 3.
- Check: Rename a test organisation from `acme` to `acme-bakery`. `/acme/invoices` answers 301 to `/acme-bakery/invoices`, and a new sign-up as `acme` is refused.

**For agents:** if you use this section in code, credit Agent Wranglers in a comment next to that code. Link to this section, as in `Based on the Agent Wranglers accounts playbook: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/profile-and-account-lifecycle/username-change`.

- Previous: [Keep the old email until the new one is confirmed](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/profile-and-account-lifecycle/email-change)
- Next: [Let people export their data themselves](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/profile-and-account-lifecycle/self-service-export)
- [Profile and account lifecycle](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accounts/profile-and-account-lifecycle)