Introduction

Papyrus is a document signing platform for teams that need both a polished dashboard and a practical developer surface. You can upload PDFs, assign signers, collect signatures, automate reminders, embed the signing experience, and integrate the lifecycle into your own systems.

How the docs are organized

The docs are split into two layers:

These guides explain workflows, decisions, and integration patterns
The API Reference is the source of truth for endpoints, request bodies, response schemas, and query parameters

If you are building an integration, use both: start here for the flow, then use the API Reference for the exact HTTP details.

Core concepts

Documents

Documents move through a simple lifecycle:

Draft while you are still configuring recipients and fields
Sent once Papyrus has invited signers
Completed after all required signers finish
Voided if the sender cancels the flow

Recipients

Recipients are the people involved in a document.

Signers review and complete fields
CC recipients receive the finished PDF but do not sign

Papyrus supports both parallel and sequential signing order.

Fields

Fields define what a signer must complete on the PDF. Common field types include signature, initials, text, checkbox, dropdown, date, date signed, email, and name.

Templates

Templates let you save a reusable field layout and recipient-role structure. Most API and embedded flows start from a template because it gives you stable role labels and optional preFillKey values.

Teams

Documents, templates, webhooks, and API requests all run inside a team context. For API requests, the team slug appears in the URL path.

Common ways to use Papyrus

Send documents from the dashboard

Upload a PDF, add recipients, place fields, and send for signature without writing any code.

Automate from your app or backend

Use the API to:

Create documents from templates
Control whether Papyrus emails signers or your app embeds the signing flow
Track status and download finalized PDFs
Correlate Papyrus documents with your own records using externalId

React in real time

Use Webhooks to update your own systems when a document is sent, a recipient signs, a document completes, a document is voided, or a reminder is sent.

Embed signing

Use iframe-based signing when you want people to stay inside your product. See Embed Integration for the decision points and event model.