Quick Start

Get started with SignEngine in less than 5 minutes! This guide will walk you through creating your first envelope and sending a document for signature.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• Node.js 20+ installed (for TypeScript/JavaScript SDK)
• A SignEngine account (sign up at signengine.dev)
• Your API key (available in your dashboard)

Installation

Install the SignEngine SDK for your preferred language:

TypeScript/JavaScript

npm install @signengine/api-client

Python

pip install signengine

PHP

composer require signengine/signengine-php

Java

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.signengine</groupId>
    <artifactId>signengine-java</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0</version>
</dependency>

.NET

dotnet add package SignEngine.SDK

Your First Envelope

Let's create an envelope and send a document for signature.

TypeScript/JavaScript

import { SignEngineClient } from '@signengine/api-client';
import fs from 'fs';

// Initialize the client
const client = new SignEngineClient({
  apiKey: process.env.SIGNENGINE_API_KEY,
});

async function sendDocumentForSignature() {
  // Read the PDF document
  const documentBuffer = fs.readFileSync('./contract.pdf');

  // Create an envelope
  const envelope = await client.envelopes.create({
    name: 'Employment Contract',
    recipients: [
      {
        email: '[email protected]',
        name: 'Jane Smith',
        role: 'signer',
        order: 1,
      },
    ],
    documents: [
      {
        name: 'contract.pdf',
        content: documentBuffer,
      },
    ],
    fields: [
      {
        type: 'signature',
        recipientEmail: '[email protected]',
        page: 1,
        x: 100,
        y: 500,
        width: 200,
        height: 50,
      },
      {
        type: 'date',
        recipientEmail: '[email protected]',
        page: 1,
        x: 100,
        y: 450,
        width: 150,
        height: 30,
      },
    ],
  });

  console.log(`✅ Envelope created: ${envelope.id}`);
  console.log(`📧 Sent to: ${envelope.recipients[0].email}`);
  console.log(`📊 Status: ${envelope.status}`);

  return envelope;
}

sendDocumentForSignature();

Python

from signengine import SignEngineClient
import os

# Initialize the client
client = SignEngineClient(api_key=os.getenv('SIGNENGINE_API_KEY'))

# Read the PDF document
with open('./contract.pdf', 'rb') as f:
    document_content = f.read()

# Create an envelope
envelope = client.envelopes.create(
    name='Employment Contract',
    recipients=[
        {
            'email': '[email protected]',
            'name': 'Jane Smith',
            'role': 'signer',
            'order': 1
        }
    ],
    documents=[
        {
            'name': 'contract.pdf',
            'content': document_content
        }
    ],
    fields=[
        {
            'type': 'signature',
            'recipient_email': '[email protected]',
            'page': 1,
            'x': 100,
            'y': 500,
            'width': 200,
            'height': 50
        }
    ]
)

print(f"✅ Envelope created: {envelope.id}")
print(f"📧 Sent to: {envelope.recipients[0].email}")
print(f"📊 Status: {envelope.status}")

What Just Happened?

1. Initialized the client with your API key
2. Created an envelope with a recipient
3. Uploaded a document (PDF)
4. Placed signature fields on the document
5. Sent the envelope to the recipient

The recipient will receive an email with a link to sign the document!

Check Envelope Status

You can check the status of your envelope at any time:

const envelope = await client.envelopes.get('envelope-id');

console.log(`Status: ${envelope.status}`);
// Possible statuses: draft, sent, delivered, signed, completed, declined, voided

Next Steps

Now that you've sent your first document, explore more features:

• Authentication - Learn about API authentication
• Core Concepts - Understand envelopes, recipients, and fields
• API Reference - Explore all available endpoints
• SDKs - Deep dive into SDK features

Common Issues

API Key Not Working

Make sure your API key is correctly set:

export SIGNENGINE_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Document Upload Fails

Ensure your document is:

• A valid PDF file
• Less than 10MB in size
• Not password-protected

Need More Help?

• 📖 Check the full documentation
• 🐛 Report issues on GitHub