🧾 Definition

The "Send Template for Signing" action allows you to send documents for electronic signatures using a predefined DocuSign template. This action streamlines your document workflows by leveraging reusable templates from your DocuSign account that already include structured layouts, roles, and signature fields.

By simply selecting a template and populating a few key fields like the email subject, message, and recipients (based on the template configuration), you can automate sending personalized agreements without manually uploading or formatting documents each time. It’s especially powerful for standard processes like onboarding, contract approvals, NDAs, and service agreements—saving time while maintaining consistency and compliance.

Key capabilities include:

Auto-population of fields based on DocuSign template settings
Predefined recipient roles and signing order support
Automatic tracking of signature outcome and timestamps
Easy access to signed documents and completion certificates

**Note:**If you’re not familiar with what a DocuSign template is or how to create one, please watch this official DocuSign tutorial video on their YouTube channel. It explains templates clearly and shows you how to set them up step-by-step. Once your template is created, you can easily use it with this action.

Watch the DocuSign Templates Tutorial

Example Use Cases :

Employee Onboarding

Automatically send offer letters or employment agreements to new hires using a standardized DocuSign template. Recipient roles such as "Candidate" and "HR" are predefined, ensuring a consistent and smooth onboarding experience.

Sales Contracts

Use a reusable sales contract template to send agreements to clients with pre-configured fields like pricing, terms, and signature lines. Sales reps only need to provide the customer’s info—no need to manually upload or configure documents.

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)

Quickly send NDAs to partners, vendors, or contractors using a prebuilt template. Ensures every NDA follows your company’s approved legal structure and formatting, reducing legal risks.

Service Agreements

For recurring service engagements, send templated contracts to clients with consistent language, terms, and signature requests. Helps maintain brand integrity and accelerates contract execution.

Student or Volunteer Consent Forms

Schools or organizations can use templates to distribute and collect signed consent or waiver forms from students or volunteers, minimizing repetitive work for admins.

📝 Inputs

Connection

This field connects your flow to your DocuSign account. It authorizes Zenphi to access your templates and perform actions (like sending envelopes) on your behalf. Ensure the correct DocuSign connection is selected so templates and recipients can be retrieved properly.

Template

Choose from your existing DocuSign templates. Templates are pre-designed document blueprints containing:

Documents (PDFs, DOCs)
Predefined recipient roles (like “Manager,” “Client,” or “HR”)
Signature, text, date fields, and other interactive elementsBy selecting a template, you eliminate the need to design the document every time and ensure consistency and accuracy across repeated processes.

Email Subject

This defines the subject line of the email that will be sent to all recipients. Use it to briefly summarize the purpose of the document, such as:

"Contract Agreement for Review"
"Please Sign Your Offer Letter"

A clear subject line improves response rate and helps recipients recognize the email quickly.

Email Message

Add a personalized message to be included in the email body sent to recipients. Use it to:

Provide context
Share next steps
Include contact informationExample:“Hi John, please review and sign the attached NDA. Let us know if you have any questions.”

This message helps guide recipients through the signing process and can reduce confusion or delays.

Recipients

These are pulled directly from the selected template. Recipient roles (like “Employee,” “Supervisor,” or “Legal Reviewer”) are predefined when the template is created in DocuSign.Once the template is selected, you’ll simply need to map each role to the actual name and email of the person involved in the flow. This makes the process fast, consistent, and error-free.

📤 Outputs

Agreement ID

The unique identifier of the envelope (agreement) created and sent via DocuSign. You can use this ID to track the envelope’s status, reference it in future actions, or fetch related data such as audit trails and signed documents.

Event Time

The exact date and time when the envelope was successfully sent. This timestamp helps in tracking activity history, automating time-based actions, or auditing process steps.

Outcome

Shows the final status of the envelope. Possible values include:

completed – All recipients have signed.
declined – One of the recipients rejected the envelope.
voided – The envelope was manually canceled or invalidated.This helps determine what to do next in your process, like notifying stakeholders or retrying the step.

Payload

This contains the signed document(s) in binary or base64 format. You can save it to cloud storage (like Google Drive), send it in an email, or attach it to a record in your system of choice.

Certificate Payload

Contains the certificate of completion—a formal document provided by DocuSign that includes the audit trail of signing (timestamps, IP addresses, signer emails, etc.). It ensures legal compliance and traceability for signed agreements.

Declined by Name

The full name of the recipient who declined to sign the document. This field will only contain a value if the envelope status is declined. It helps you identify who halted the process.

Declined by Email

The email address of the person who declined. Useful for follow-ups, rerouting the process, or reviewing communication history.

Declined Time

The timestamp when the recipient declined the signing request. It supports tracking delays, troubleshooting, and escalating issues promptly.

Declined Reason

If the recipient included a reason for declining, it will appear here. This provides insight into objections, misunderstandings, or errors in the document and allows for quicker resolution.

Fields

These are the actual field values populated by the recipients during signing. For example, if your template includes a “Start Date” or “Department” field, this output will include the values entered by the user. You can extract and use these in subsequent steps—like storing them in a database or sending a follow-up message.

📝 Example of a Situation

**Prepare Your Template:**You have already created a DocuSign template that includes fields like Address, Phone Number, and Date of Birth. Each field is named clearly inside the template.
**Select Template in the Action:**In your automation flow, you choose this saved DocuSign template in the Send Template for Signing action.
**Send for Signing:**The action sends the document created from the template to the recipient (e.g., a candidate) for signing.
**Recipient Fills and Signs:**The recipient opens the document, fills in any empty fields, and signs it.
**Receive Completed Data:**Once signed, the action outputs all the filled-in information and the signed document content.
**Use Output Data:**You can then use this data for further automation steps, like saving it to a database or sending confirmation emails.

This process makes your workflow faster and more reliable by reusing your template and automating data collection and signing in one seamless step.