Ceremony – SignatureAPI Docs

A ceremony is the session where a recipient authenticates and acts on an envelope. Depending on the recipient type, those actions include signing, approving, or preparing documents.

Each recipient has one active ceremony at a time. Creating a new ceremony for a recipient automatically revokes any previous ceremony.

A ceremony belongs to a recipient.

Lifecycle

A ceremony’s status tracks the recipient’s progress. See the ceremony lifecycle for details on each status.

Attributes

authentication

array of authentication object

Show Email Link Authentication

With email link authentication, the recipient receives an email with a direct link to the ceremony. Clicking the link authenticates the recipient and opens the signing session.

type

enum

The type of authentication. Available values: email_link, email_code, and custom.

For email link authentication, this value is email_link.

subject_override

string | null

The custom subject line used for this recipient's invitation email. null if the envelope title is used.

message_override

string | null

The custom message body used for this recipient's invitation email. null if the envelope message is used.

Show Email Code Authentication

With email code authentication, the recipient receives an email from SignatureAPI containing a 9-digit code. The recipient must enter this code to authenticate and access the ceremony.

type

enum

The type of authentication. Available values: email_link, email_code, and custom.

For email code authentication, this value is email_code.

Show Custom Authentication

With custom authentication, your application authenticates the recipient. SignatureAPI provides a ceremony URL that you share or embed in your application to give the recipient access.

type

enum

The type of authentication. Available values: email_link, email_code, and custom.

For custom authentication, this value is custom.

provider

string

The name of your company or application that authenticated the recipient. This value appears in the envelope audit log as the authentication provider.

data

object

Key-value pairs with metadata about the authentication event, such as timestamps, session IDs, and user identifiers. These values appear in the envelope audit log.

The values in data must be sufficient to verify how the recipient was authenticated. You must retain all records needed to prove the recipient's authentication, such as session information. In cases such as legal proceedings, you may need to provide these records to confirm identity.

Review our Terms & Conditions for details.

redirect_url

string | null

An HTTPS URL to redirect the recipient to after the ceremony finishes.

Learn more in Redirect URL.

redirect_delay

integer | null

The delay in seconds before the ceremony redirects to redirect_url (standalone ceremonies) or emits completion events (embedded ceremonies).

Defaults to 3. Allowed range: 0 to 20.

Learn more in Redirect URL.

url_variant

enum

The format of the ceremony URL.

Available options:

standard (default): Full-length URL. Works for most use cases.
short: Shortened URL. Use this when sharing through space-constrained channels such as SMS or push notifications.

embeddable_in

array of strings

Origins allowed to embed this ceremony in an iframe.

These values set the frame-ancestors directive in the ceremony’s Content Security Policy (CSP) header. Sources typically take the form of a scheme and host (for example, https://app.example.com). Wildcards are supported (for example, https://*.example.com). For all available options, see the frame-ancestors documentation.

Defaults to an empty list ([]), which means embedding is not allowed. To allow embedding from all origins (not recommended for production), use ["*"].

Only the origin (scheme and host) is used. Paths are ignored.

url

string | null

The URL where the recipient can access the ceremony. You can share this link with the recipient directly or embed it in your application.

This property is null when:

The ceremony uses email_link authentication. SignatureAPI delivers the URL by email in that case.
The ceremony is not active (for example, it is completed, revoked, or declined).

The URL expires 30 days after creation, or when a new ceremony is created for the same recipient.