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POST
Create Envelope

Authorizations

Authorization
string
header
required

Bearer authentication header of the form Bearer <token>, where <token> is your auth token.

Body

application/json
name
string
required

The Envelope's name. It doesn't have to be unique.

Minimum string length: 1
mode
enum<string>
required

The Signing Mode in an enum that defines the signing order. It has two possible values:

  • sequential: Participants receive notifications one at a time, in the order they were added to the envelope. Each new notification is triggered once the previous participant has completed their signing.
  • parallel: All participants are notified at the same time and can sign the documents in the envelope independently, without waiting for others.
Available options:
sequential,
parallel
notification
object

The notification object defines the email sent to participants when an envelope is delivered for signing. It contains a subject and a body as nested parameters, and both fields support dynamic variables.

Required unless notificationsManagedBy is sender. It is optional in the schema because the requirement depends on notificationsManagedBy:

  • notificationsManagedBy omitted or nitro: notification is required, with a non-empty subject and body.
  • notificationsManagedBy is sender: notification must be omitted. Nitro sends no email for this envelope, so the copy would never be rendered. Sending both is rejected with a 400.

Dynamic Variables You can personalize notification emails by referencing dynamic variables in the subject or body. Available variables: envelope_name: The name of the envelope being signed. sender_name_or_email: The sender’s name, or their email address if the name is not available.

Syntax: To reference the variables, wrap them with $() in your message. Example: $(envelope_name)

notification object example:

notificationsManagedBy
enum<string>

Who notifies the participants of this envelope. Two values are accepted:

  • nitro (default): Nitro sends the participant notification emails, as it always has.
  • sender: Nitro sends no automated email notifications to signers or CC recipients — including signature requests, reminders and signature completion notices. You distribute the signing links yourself, using the List Signer Signing URLs by Envelope ID endpoint and the envelope webhooks.

When set to sender, the notification object must be omitted — its subject and body would never be rendered, so sending both is rejected with a 400. When it is omitted or set to nitro, the notification object is required.

This setting is only available to API applications.

By enabling this setting, you assume full responsibility for notifying signers and CC recipients of pending signature requests, deadlines, and completed documents through your own communication channels. Nitro Sign will not notify these participants on your behalf under any circumstances while this setting is enabled.

Depending on your use case and jurisdiction, failure to adequately notify signers may affect the enforceability of the resulting electronic signature or your compliance obligations under applicable e-signature laws (e.g., ESIGN Act, UETA, eIDAS). We strongly recommend consulting your legal or compliance team before enabling this setting in production.

This setting requires SMS authentication to be configured for all signers on the envelope, as an additional safeguard against unauthorized access to signing links. Sending the envelope for signing fails if any signer is missing it.

Available options:
nitro,
sender

Response

When an envelope is created you will get a unique ID for it. You can add assets to the envelope later by referencing its unique ID using other endpoints in this API.

ID
string<uuid>

A unique UUIDv4 string that identifies the envelope in the Nitro system.

createdAt
string<date-time>

UTC timestamp indicating when the envelope was created.

lastModifiedAt
string<date-time>

UTC timestamp indicating the last time the envelope was updated. Matches createdAt at the time of creation.

name
string

The name of the envelope.

status
enum<string>

The internal status of the envelope. Defaults to drafted on creation.

Available options:
drafted,
sent,
processing,
sealed,
rejected,
cancelled,
deleted
mode
enum<string>

Signing mode for the envelope.

Available options:
sequential,
parallel
notification
object

Notification settings for the envelope. Omitted while notificationsManagedBy is sender: Nitro renders no copy for such an envelope, so it exposes none.

notificationsManagedBy
enum<string>

Who notifies the participants of this envelope: nitro or sender. Defaults to nitro.

Available options:
nitro,
sender