# Secure Form Submissions

General-purpose forms — contact, feedback, support requests — are a common target for bots, spam, and abusive submissions. Unlike login or registration, these are usually low-stakes enough that [Sentinel Forms](/docs/sentinel/configure/forms/) can handle the whole thing without you writing a custom verification endpoint.

## What you're defending against

- **Bot submissions** — scripted spam sent straight through the form.
- **Abuse via repeated submissions** — the same sender flooding the endpoint.
- **Malicious content in submissions** — spam text, phishing links, or unwanted attachments.

## Recommended configuration

1. **Enable [Adaptive Captcha](/docs/sentinel/features/adaptive-captcha/)** on the form's [Security Group](/docs/sentinel/configure/security-groups/) — bots get blocked, real users see no friction.
2. **Add a [Rate Limiter](/docs/sentinel/features/rate-limiters/)** to cap repeated submission attempts per device/IP.
3. **Let [Classifier](/docs/sentinel/features/classifier/) score submitted content** for spam and abuse — this is automatic once you're using [Forms](/docs/sentinel/configure/forms/), and also picks up phishing links via [Phishing Detection](/docs/sentinel/features/phishing-detection/).
4. **Turn on Email Notifications** in the form's settings if you want to be alerted as submissions come in, rather than checking the dashboard.
5. **Enable Uploads** only if the form actually needs file attachments — see [Forms](/docs/sentinel/configure/forms/#form-settings) for the size limit and required plugin.
6. **Use Proxy** if you want accepted submissions forwarded straight to your own backend instead of only living in Sentinel.

## Integration steps

1. Create a new form under **Forms** in the Sentinel admin interface.
2. Add the [ALTCHA widget](/docs/integration/widget/) inside your HTML form.
3. Point the form's `action` at Sentinel's submission endpoint (`/v1/submit/:slug`) — see [Forms](/docs/sentinel/configure/forms/#using-a-form) for the exact markup.

Without a successful ALTCHA verification, the form can't be submitted at all.

## Related

- [Forms](/docs/sentinel/configure/forms/) — the feature this use case is built on.
- [Login & Auth Protection](/docs/sentinel/use-cases/login-auth-protection/)
- [Chat & Forum Moderation](/docs/sentinel/use-cases/chat-forum-moderation/)
- [Classifier](/docs/sentinel/features/classifier/)