eSign Transaction Quickstart Guide

The Proof Business API lets you send documents for Signature with just a few lines of code. Our RESTful APIs are designed to have predictable, resource-oriented URLs.

To get started with a Proof account, see our pricing page, or contact [email protected] if you have any questions about your account.

1. Generate your API key.

See our guides on API Keys for more info.

2. Create Transaction

The minimum required parameters to create a Business eSign transaction via the Create Transaction endpoint are

  1. the signer's email address
  2. a document with the following attributes:
  • document_requirement = esign
  • customer_can_annotate = true: the Proof API requires that all eSign transactions are pre-tagged with signer requirements or that customer_can_annotate is enabled to allow the signer to place their own signature tags. For more information on tagging solutions see Document Tagging.

See our guide on document requirements for more info.

POST /transactions
{
  "signers": [
    {
      "email": "[email protected]"
    }
  ],
  "documents": [{
    "resource": "https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tests/xhtml/testfiles/resources/pdf/dummy.pdf",
    "requirement": "esign",
    "customer_can_annotate": true
  }]
}

Alternatively, you can create the transaction as a draft, and then update it or add documents later:

POST /transactions

{
  "signers": [
    {
      "email": "[email protected]"
    }
  ],
  "draft": true
}

4. Add Documents to the Transaction

If you marked the transaction as a draft in step 3, call the Add Document endpoint to add the documents to be signed. The minimum required document parameters to create an eSign transaction are:

  1. the signer's email address
  2. a document with the following attributes:
  • document_requirement = esign
  • customer_can_annotate = true (or an alternative tagging solution configured - see Document Tagging)

See our guide on document requirements for more info.

POST /transactions/ot_xxxxxxx/documents

{
    "resource": "https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tests/xhtml/testfiles/resources/pdf/dummy.pdf",
    "requirement": "esign",
    "customer_can_annotate": true
}

5. Monitoring the Transaction

You can leverage Proof webhooks to monitor the state of the transaction.

6. Retrieve the Completed Transaction

The Retrieve Transaction endpoint will return links to the completed documents.


What’s Next

Learn how to pass in a template in your document resource if you use the same document for every transaction!