Skip to main content

Signing flow

The signing flow decides what a signer or approver has to do before they can sign. Withstandard, they get the documents and are trusted to read them. Withguided, they acknowledge each document, one at a time, first.


The two flows​

Set signing_flow on the agreement to one of these values:

  • standard: Participants are presented with the main document and its attachments, but reading them is their responsibility. This is the default.
  • guided: Each signer and approver must read and acknowledge the main document, then each attachment, in order. They can't sign or approve until every document is acknowledged.

Setting the flow​

Pass signing_flow when you create the agreement:

POST /agreements
{
    "signing_flow": "guided"
}

If you leave it out, the agreement uses standard.

You can change it with PUT /agreements/{agreement_id} while the agreement is draft or open. To change it on a pending agreement, move it back to open first. See Lifecycle.

The agreement object returns the current value in signing_flow.


What guided changes​

  • Order: The main document comes first, followed by the attachments in order. A participant can't skip ahead.
  • Who it applies to: Signers and approvers. Observers don't sign, so they aren't asked to acknowledge anything.
  • Which documents count: The main document and every attachment.

Tracking acknowledgements​

Each time a participant acknowledges a document, Zigned records a sign_event.document.acknowledged event. Subscribe to it with a webhook if you want to follow progress through the documents as it happens.


Editing and resending​

If you edit an agreement and send it again, earlier acknowledgements no longer count. Every signer and approver has to acknowledge each document again from the point the agreement was resent. The earlier acknowledgements stay in the agreement's history.


When to use guided​

Use guided when you need to show that each signer or approver went through every document, for example when the attachments carry terms that matter as much as the main document. Use standard when the documents are short or the participants already know their contents.


Requirements​

signing_flow requires API client version 3.6.0. Upgrade your client from the API client settings on zigned.se by clicking "Upgrade".