An Envelope object represents a signature request sent to one or more recipients. It bundles the documents to be signed, the recipients assigned to each document together with their form fields. The envelope's status tracks the request through its lifecycle, from creation and sending through completion, expiry, or voiding. Once a document has been signed by all of its recipients, the envelope references the final signed document and its audit log.

The Create Envelope endpoint creates a new envelope for one or more previously generated PDF documents.

Each document must include a sourceDocumentId: the ID of any PDFGate document that has fillable fields. This can be a PDF generated from HTML with form fields via the Generate PDF endpoint, a PDF with fields added through the Create PDF Fields endpoint, or a signing template set up with the dashboard's drag-and-drop designer. Each document must also include one or more recipients.

This endpoint creates the envelope in the created status. See Envelope Statuses for more details about the envelope lifecycle. After calling this endpoint, you should use the Send Envelope endpoint to email each recipient a link to the signing UI.

See the Getting Started guide for a complete example.

The Send Envelope endpoint sends an email to each recipient in the envelope with a secure link to access the signing UI and sign the document. The link remains valid until the envelope expires, after which it can no longer be used.

To ensure secure access, recipients must complete OTP (one-time password) verification before accessing the signing experience.

Embedded recipients receive no email. Sending activates the envelope for them, and their signing links are generated with the Create Embed Link endpoint.

The Get Envelope endpoint retrieves the current state of an envelope by its ID.

You can use this endpoint to track the envelope status, inspect document-level progress, and view recipient statuses.

The Create Embed Link endpoint generates a short-lived signing link for an embedded recipient, intended to be rendered inside your own application, for example in an iframe. The link expires 10 minutes after creation; generate a fresh one right before showing each signing session. The session itself keeps working after the link expires.

Only envelopes in the in_progress status are accepted: send the envelope first. The recipient must have been created with embedded set to true and must not have signed yet.

When the session ends, the iframe is redirected to the returnUrl with an event query parameter (signing_complete, voided, expired, or not_found) together with envelopeId, documentId, and recipientId. Existing query parameters on the URL are preserved. The redirect is a UI signal only. Confirm the result with the envelope.recipient.signed webhook event or by fetching the envelope.

For the full flow, read the embedded signing guide.

The Void Envelope endpoint voids (cancels) an envelope in the created or in_progress status. Recipients who have not signed yet receive an email letting them know the signature request has been cancelled, and their signing links stop working immediately.

Documents that were already signed by all recipients are not affected: they remain signed and stay available to their recipients together with their audit logs. Documents that were still waiting for signatures become voided and can no longer be signed through this envelope.

Voiding is only possible while at least one signature is still outstanding. Once the last recipient signs, the envelope can no longer be voided, even if its status still shows in_progress for a short time while PDFGate finalizes the signed documents and audit logs.

The Delete Envelope endpoint permanently deletes an envelope and the files it produced. This action can't be undone.

When an envelope is deleted:

• The signed documents and audit log files produced by the envelope are permanently removed from storage.
• Recipient personal data, form field values, and signatures stored on the envelope are anonymized.
• Recipient preview links stop working.
• The envelope is no longer accessible through the API.

The source documents the envelope was created from are not deleted. To remove those as well, use the Delete Document endpoint.

Only envelopes in draft, completed, expired, or voided status can be deleted. An envelope in created or in_progress status can't be deleted: void the envelope first, then delete it. If the envelope still has documents being finalized after signing, deletion is rejected until they complete.

Deleting an envelope does not affect charges for signatures that were already completed.

An envelope moves through different statuses during the signing process. The status shows whether the envelope has been created, sent for signing, completed, expired, voided, or deleted.

Lifecycle

Envelopes created through the dashboard start with the draft status while they are being configured. Once sent, the status moves to created and then immediately to in_progress.

Envelopes created through the API start directly with the created status.

After the envelope is sent using the Send Envelope endpoint, the status becomes in_progress.

When all required documents and signatures are completed, the envelope becomes completed.

If an envelope is not completed before its expiration date, it becomes expired. By default envelopes expire 30 days after creation; the default can be changed in the dashboard signing settings, and per envelope with the expiresInDays parameter of the Create Envelope endpoint (up to 90 days). Sandbox envelopes always expire after 5 days.

An envelope in created or in_progress can be cancelled at any time using the Void Envelope endpoint, moving it to voided. Recipients who have not signed yet are notified and their signing links stop working. Documents already signed by all recipients are not affected.

An envelope in draft, completed, expired, or voided status can be permanently deleted using the Delete Envelope endpoint.

Once an envelope expires or is voided, unsigned documents inside it can no longer be signed through the original envelope. To collect signatures for those documents, create a new envelope and resend the signature requests.

You are not charged for signatures that were not completed before the envelope expired or was voided.

Reminders

Reminder emails are sent only while the envelope is active. Reminders stop when:

• the recipient signs,
• the envelope is completed,
• the envelope expires,
• the envelope is voided,
• or the configured reminder attempt limit is reached.