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How to apply a brand and template to an envelope

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This topic demonstrates how to apply a brand and a template to an envelope with the eSignature REST API.

Run this code example from our Quickstart or launcher projects: Bash, C#, Java, Node.js, PHP, PowerShell, Python, or Ruby.

Required data

Running the code in this how-to requires this data:

Data elementDescription
{API_ACCOUNT_ID}A GUID value that identifies your account. This value is automatically generated by Docusign for any account you create. Copy the value from the API Account ID field on the Apps and Keys page.
{BASE_PATH}A string value that forms the root of the URL required to make API calls. The base path value in the example code is set to target the developer environment at
https://<domain>/restapi
Where <domain> is demo.docusign.net for the developer environment and is the result of the GetUserInfo call in production.
{BRAND_ID}A GUID value that identifies a brand. For more information, see Branding.
{SIGNER_EMAIL}A string value for the email address where the signer will receive a notification of the signing request.
{SIGNER_NAME}A string value for the full name of the signer.
{TEMPLATE_ID}A GUID value that identifies a Docusign template that is used to create a Docusign envelope. This value is automatically generated by Docusign when the template is created.

Step 1. Obtain your OAuth token

To make the API call shown in this how-to, you need a valid OAuth access token. Docusign supports access tokens for three different recommended OAuth grant types: Public Authorization Code Grant, Confidential Authorization Code Grant, and JSON Web Token (JWT) Grant. Choose the OAuth grant type appropriate for your scenario.

See Confidential Authorization Code Grant for guidance on your options to get an Confidential Authorization Code Grant OAuth token.

Three icons that represent the three methods a user can use to obtain an OAuth token: JSON Web Token (JWT), Public Authorization Code Grant (ACG), and Confidential Authorization Code grant

Step 2. Construct your API headers

After you have a valid OAuth access token, you are ready to construct the API headers that you will pass to the API call. Construct your headers like this, but make sure to substitute your valid OAuth access token for {ACCESS_TOKEN}.

declare -a Headers=('--header' "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
					'--header' "Accept: application/json" \
					'--header' "Content-Type: application/json")

Step 3. Construct the request body

Next, create the request body to create an envelope using your template and brand, substituting your signer email for {SIGNER_EMAIL}, signer name for {SIGNER_NAME}, template ID for {TEMPLATE_ID] and your brand ID for {BRAND_ID}.

printf \
'{
    "templateId": "'$template_id'",
    "brandId": "'$brand_id'",
    "templateRoles": [
        {
            "email": "'"${SIGNER_EMAIL}"'",
            "name": "'"${SIGNER_NAME}"'",
            "roleName": "signer"
        },
        {
            "email": "'"${CC_EMAIL}"'",
            "name": "'"${CC_NAME}"'",
            "roleName": "cc"
        }
    ],
        "status": "sent"
}' >> $request_data

Step 4. Call the eSignature REST API

Now that you have constructed your API headers and request body, you can send the envelope with the Envelopes:create method and include the request body to generate the envelope from your template and customized by your brand. Here’s how you make the call, but make sure to substitute your API account ID for {ACCOUNT_ID}, your brand ID for {BRAND_ID}, and your template ID for {TEMPLATE_ID}.

View the source code for this how-to on GitHub: Bash, C#, Java, Node.js, PHP, PowerShell, Python, or Ruby.

Status=$(curl -w '%{http_code}' -i --request POST ${base_path}/v2.1/accounts/${account_id}/envelopes \
     "${Headers[@]}" \
     --data-binary @${request_data} \
     --output ${response})

Expected response

If you run this code example from our Quickstart or launcher projects, you should see a JSON response similar to the code shown.

Sample response
{
  "envelopeId": "e2b719ff-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-a2dfc235fd09",
  "uri": "/envelopes/e2b719ff-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-a2dfc235fd09",
  "statusDateTime": "2020-08-12T23:23:19.9200000Z",
  "status": "sent"
}

Next steps