A ceremony is the session where a recipient interacts with an envelope and its documents—for example, to sign them.

SignatureAPI offers two methods to authenticate recipients before starting the ceremony.

SignatureAPI authenticates the recipient by sending them an email containing a link. The link leads directly to the ceremony, where the recipient can sign documents.

This is the default authentication method.

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Custom Authentication

Your service (or another external service) authenticates the recipient. You send the authentication data to SignatureAPI, which we then include in the envelope’s audit log. SignatureAPI provides a Ceremony URL, which you can:

  • Share directly with the recipient
  • Redirect the recipient to
  • Embed in your application

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Audit Log Records

When a recipient accesses the ceremony, SignatureAPI logs their authentication event. Each event includes the date, time, and IP address, which appear in the audit log.

SignatureAPI adds a new authentication record to the audit log each time the recipient accesses the ceremony. If the recipient accesses it multiple times, the audit log will contain several entries reflecting each access.

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URL Expiration

All ceremony links expire after 30 days, or are revoked when:

  • You create a new ceremony for the same recipient.
  • The recipient completes the envelope (for example, by signing the documents).