I'm investigating the feasibility of my company using the DocuSign API for a specific scenario. We are generating PDFs on our side which we then wish to use embedded signatures to sign on our end. The form must be signed by two parties, who are both physically present in the same session.
It sounds like Docusign isn't friendly towards the idea of submitting custom PDFs with signatures on them, as opposed to applying signatures to uploaded template PDFs. It also sounds like it does not want to do two different signatures in the same ceremony for security / auditing reasons. Is this correct? I'm not interested in doubling my number of round trips.
DocuSign can handle this scenario via one embedded signing session per signer. That way, each signer sees what is appropriate to them, the auditing is complete, etc.
You could also enable each signer to sign via their own mobile phone rather than passing around a tablet or somesuch.
Yes, there would be more than one API call to set this up. API call times to create a new signing session are quick. This is a frequent use case for DocuSign customers and developers.
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How can I sign a document via API call without email client and UI interaction? Or if there is no way to sign, perhaps there is a way to force change status of a document?
I've seen many people asked for this and the answer was no, but all those posts are 2 years old. Perhaps there is a solution to it today?
It is possible to do everything via UI, but it is a terrible idea to spend time on an external service instead of your system under test.
Some say it defeats the purpose as the signer must view the document first, yes, but it is irrelevant, I simply want to test the flow of the system under test.
Please advise!
For testing purposes, you do not need to unit test the DocuSign signing ceremony since we test it all of the time. Instead, test that your API calls create the DocuSign envelope correctly.
For example, after your application creates the DocuSign envelope, your tests can interrogate DocuSign (via the API) that the envelope exists, is ready to be signed, etc.
If you're using embedded signing, you can test that your app can successfully obtain the URL for the signing via the DocuSign API.
For an end to end test, test software is available (from test software organizations) to interact with a web browser as a human does. Only test envelopes can be "signed" in this way.
For production signing of documents, the DocuSign signature appliance supports programmatic signing of documents using standards-based signatures (digital signatures). Your workflow must be authorized to sign documents on behalf of the signer.
For example, programmatically signing invoices sent by a company to its customers.
I'm trying to find out if it is possible using the DocuSign API to create a signing request that is sent to multiple parties for signature with nobody seeing the other parties signatures until they have all signed?
Once all parties have signed I would download the final PDF and review this then send to all parties, but not sure if it's possible to hide these as it goes from one recipient to another?
Well, one technique would be for each signer to have their own signature page for the document set. The signature page would actually be a separate document within the envelope. (But signers are not particularly aware of the fact that there can be multiple documents in an envelope since they all flow together.)
You'd use the document visibility feature so each signer would only see the main document(s) and their own signing page.
Try it out first via the web tool, docs within the developer sandbox. Then automate via the API.
I'm working on testing our application and have the need to simulate signing of a document via the API. These aren't real documents I just need to be able to set the signing the order in a specific order but I don't receive emails for recipients until the previous one has signed. So is it possible to use the DocuSign API to sign a "Sign Here" tab? Or do I have any other options?
I haven't been able to find any clear information on this topic although I fear the answer is not. Looking through DocuSign's REST API there's a couple of endpoints that suggests I might be able to do this but I'm not quite sure it's referencing what I'm looking to do. The following endpoint has a GET and PUT function but not sure it's what I want.
{{baseUrl}}/envelopes/{{envelopeId}}/recipients/{{recipientId}}/signature_image
No, the DocuSign API does not have a functionality for 'robo-signing'.
If the goal is to check routing order, you could change a Signer to a Carbon Copy recipient: CC roles are immediately completed.
For reference, the signature_image API calls allow you to view or change a user's adopted signatures. They shouldn't be used to apply a signature to a document.
We are using the DocuSign REST services and currently passing in the recipients required to sign the document from two People columns in a SharePoint document library. The client would now like to have it that they have secondary signers, e.g. the original users could sign but if they are not available their assistant must do so. What would be the best solution for this?
I noticed mention of something similar here:
Docusign multiple signers for one signature line
They want this to happen at run time though, so the email addresses get sent on the original request to create the envelope and this solution above speaks more to the concept of creating them via the DocuSign interface which is not ideal for them. Has anyone else tried this?
Do the assistants sign as themselves or on behalf of the original signer? I'm making some assumptions here, but most assistants would have access to their boss' emails, so presumably they'd have access to the DocuSign notifications that comes though. In that case, the assistant could simply sign as the original signer by clicking through to the envelope from the email. While this is usually a bit of an eyebrow raising move in terms of security, the reality is that many partners in law firms already delegate their authority to their PAs to sign on their behalf, and today these PAs have copies of all their bosses' signature images to place on documents.
A slightly better move, if the requirement is for the assistant to sign under their own name, is to go into the envelope from their boss' email and reassign the envelope to themselves. Then they will receive an email and they can sign under their own name and all of this will show in the audit trail.
Either way there isn't anything you need to do from an API perspective apart from ensuring the right features are turned on to allow signers to reassign.
The other option is using Signing Groups, but the groups need to be set up beforehand in the DocuSign account and your API call will enter the signing group ID (under the "signingGroupId" parameter) instead of the recipient name and email. This means either the boss or their assistant could sign if they are in the same signing group, but does not enforce one over the other.
A question from a non-developer. I am getting a website made of my business where our product is to email signed documents. I want to automate that process by incorporating Docusign.
The documentation is written for developers, so I just want a laymen's version.
Can I get the API to sign a document with my signature, add the signed date and two other custom fields and then email to the customer?
The way I think it may work is by creating a template in docusign and adding the tags then the api going to work to email it.
Am I correct?
Technically speaking, the scenario you describe is achievable with the DocuSign REST API -- with a couple of caveats:
The API call would have to supply the document(s) as part of the API call. It's not currently possible to auto-apply signatures with the API when you're using DocuSign Templates as a basis for creating the envelope.
Regarding the "two other custom fields" you want to auto-populate on the document(s) via the API at the same time that the API auto-applies your signature and signed date -- the only two types of fields that are supported in this scenario are Text and Checkbox.
Although you can't use a Template to specify the document(s), fields/tags, recipients, etc. -- all of this can be specified via the API call itself. Assuming you have control of the document(s) being sent, you could use DocuSign's "anchor text" feature to specify where each field/tag should be placed in the document(s).
Keep in mind that the audit trail for the Envelope will show that the API auto-applied the signature to the document(s), rather than an actual human purposefully and intentionally (electonically) signing the document(s) themselves. I'm no lawyer and this is certainly not intended to be legal advice -- but common sense may imply that a programmatically-applied signature might not be considered equal to a signature that a human actually purposefully and intentionally (electronically) applied themselves. IMO, one of DocuSign's strengths is the audit trail information recorded for each transaction that can be used to prove the authenticity of each signing transaction -- if you start auto-applying signatures via the API, you might risk losing that ability to prove the authenticity of the transaction(s).