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
Declined if a signer declines to sign
Expired if the signing deadline passes before completion

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 goes on the PDF. Common field types include signature, initials, text, checkbox, dropdown, date, date signed, email, and name. Every field is either a prefill field, filled in while the document is prepared, or a recipient field, completed by a signer.

These four terms appear throughout the docs and the API:

Prefill field — a field assigned to no recipient. Its value is filled in during document preparation (in the web editor or through the API values payload) and signers see it as fixed, read-only content.
Recipient field — a field assigned to a recipient role and completed at signing. It may carry a default value the signer can edit.
Field label — a stable string address for a field (for example company_name), used by the API to write and read field values. Auto-generated when you don't set one. Compatible placements with the same trimmed, case-insensitive label share one value.
Default value — the initial, editable value of a recipient field. At document creation the value resolves as: API values[label], then the template's defaultValue, then empty.

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 field labels.

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 one or more PDF or DOCX files, 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.