Why the access code is not in the invite

When you set an access code, the signer must enter it before they can view or sign. Share the code separately from the signing link — it is not in the invite email. It is not in the SMS either. Inkpacket stores only a hash, never the plaintext. That is pin-channel honesty: an empty inbox-search for the PIN is expected, a copied URL without the code is not a broken send, and Settings will not “include the PIN next time.”

When a PIN belongs on the envelope is when to require an access code. The lock after five misses is access-code lockout recovery. A public slug PIN is when to set a Web Form access code. Desk help is Docs. This guide is why the mail and the text never print the code.

The FAQ says share the code separately. Features names the same rule under access codes. Ask Inkpacket for the access code is not in the invite to open this article. Ask how do access codes work to open help. Those phrases stay on the product screens. This article is the public version of why the invite looks like an open link until they hit the unlock page.

What the invite contains

• The tokenized signing URL. /sign/TOKEN — and embed at /embed/sign/TOKEN.
• The envelope title and the usual mail chrome when Resend is configured.
• Not the access code. Not a hint. Not the last four characters.
• Not a second attachment with the PIN. There is no PIN file.

If Resend is missing, the desk says Invite email was not sent — copy the link and share it. Copy the URL. Still do not paste the PIN into that same message if you meant two channels. SMS uses the same tokenized link. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. The text, when it leaves, still omits the code — Docs. A Web Form PIN uses the same five-try, 15-minute lockout and the same “not in the share page body as a gift” rule: you tell the filler out of band.

What this is not

• Not a mail bug. The skip line Invite email was not sent is about delivery, not about hiding the PIN.
• Not a Free-plan tease. Checkout does not sell “PIN in the email.” The field is on every send.
• Not a rotate. Resend and phone-only correct keep the same hash. Email-change correct keeps the hash too; it retires the token, not the PIN.
• Not an API rate limit. A wrong PIN returns attempts remaining. Five misses lock for 15 minutes as HTTP 429 on unlock — access-code 429 versus API rate limit.

Generate a code on the send form if you do not want to invent it. A code must be 4–32 characters with no spaces. Empty unlock: Enter the access code the sender gave you. Wrong code: That access code is incorrect. N attempts remaining. After five incorrect tries: Too many incorrect access codes. Try again in 15 minutes. Wait. The failure count clears when the lockout window ends. Do not open Billing hoping a paid lane will email the PIN retroactively.

The click-path

1. On Documents → new #access-code, set a code or generate one. Leave blank for an open link.
2. Send. Copy the signing link if mail skips. Copy the code into a second channel — chat, voice, a different inbox.
3. If you resend, the mail still omits the PIN. Tell them again out of band if they lost the code.
4. If they lock out, wait 15 minutes. Do not mint a twin envelope “so they get a new PIN in the email.” They will not.
5. On a phone, the send form is still Documents. Access code is a field, not a drawer row of its own.

Public API send accepts the same optional access code. The invite mail and SMS still omit it. An Idempotency-Key on send replays that body — do not reuse a key after you add a PIN. Reminders go out by email today. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Email still soft-fails. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Drive missing: Drive not configured. Stripe off: Payments not live.

Ask and the unlock

Ask Inkpacket for the access code is not in the invite to open this article. Ask how do access codes work to open help. Marketing Ask stays site Q&A and deep links. It will not email the PIN or unlock a signer from this article. If they only have the URL, they will see the unlock page. That is the product.

Caps and what is not open yet

Setting an access code is not a send by itself. Send is. Free allows 5 packets a month. Free at 5 packets a month is the live cap desk send, bulk rows, Web Form fills, and API send share. Hitting it returns HTTP 402 ENVELOPE_LIMIT. Starter is 20 envelopes — more than Free — plus 3 published Web Forms. Seat counts are planning numbers; invite does not refuse when a workspace is full.

Billing is published, not charging. Checkout is not open. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Drive missing: Drive not configured. Stripe off: Payments not live. Those flags do not put the PIN in the invite or sell a “PIN in mail” add-on. The FAQ and More on access codes use Share the code separately from the signing link — it is not in the invite email in the same words.

Share the link. Share the code somewhere else. File the envelope when they unlock and sign. Open a workspace on Free — see published pricing — and send one throwaway with a PIN so pin-channel honesty is an invite you already searched, not a missing field you opened Settings to “fix.”