Why a decline reason is required

Decline is the signer’s verb. On the signing page — and inside an embed — they can refuse, but they must leave a reason. An empty box returns Add a short reason so the sender knows why you declined. The API returns A decline reason is required. The reason is 500 characters or fewer. That is decline-reason honesty: a blank refuse is not a decline, a missing string is not a void, and Settings will not “skip the reason next time.”

What one refusal does to the envelope is decline closes the envelope. After a mark, the two verbs are void after a partial sign versus decline. The sender’s stop is void does not email the signer. Desk help is Docs. This guide is why the reason field is not optional chrome.

The FAQ says signers can decline with a reason. Features names the same verb under envelope admin. Ask Inkpacket for why a decline reason is required to open this article. Ask how to decline to open help. Those phrases stay on the product screens. This article is the public version of why Submit on an empty reason box does nothing useful.

What the reason does

• It is required. Empty decline is rejected. The envelope stays sent until a reason lands.
• It is short. 500 characters or fewer. A novel is not a decline reason.
• It is shown on that document. The sender can read why the signer stopped.
• It closes the envelope. Status becomes declined. Every signing and embed link stops. Reminders stop.

Treat the reason as operational data. Wrong entity and terms changed are different follow-ups. The audit log records the decline. A workspace or per-packet webhook, if set, receives the declined event on that same envelope id. The sender is emailed when Resend is configured; otherwise the decline is logged the same way as an invite. The reason is not a second envelope and not a seat invite.

What this is not

• Not a void. Void is the sender stopping an in-flight envelope. Decline is the signer refusing.
• Not a correct. A typo in the inbox is still Correct recipient, not a decline with “wrong email” as a workaround.
• Not a skip. Later sequential orders are not invited after a decline. There is no skip control.
• Not a Free-plan tease. Checkout does not sell “decline without a reason.” The field is on every signing page.

One decline closes the whole envelope, even when later sequential signers have not been invited yet. If you needed a different person after a refusal, send a new envelope — or, if nobody has signed and you only had the wrong email, correct the recipient before they decline. Completed envelopes cannot be declined; they are already filed. Expired envelopes cannot be declined either. A draft has no signing page yet.

The click-path

1. Open the signing link or the embed. The decline control is on that page, not in Billing.
2. Leave a short reason. Empty: Add a short reason so the sender knows why you declined.
3. Submit. Status becomes declined. Links die. Reminders stop.
4. If you are the sender and the reason is “wrong inbox,” the next send is a new envelope. This id is closed.
5. On a phone, Documents is a drawer row. Envelope admin on a sent envelope is still void, correct, or resend — decline stays the signer’s verb.

Public API decline requires the same reason string. A missing reason returns A decline reason is required. Reminders go out by email today. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Email still soft-fails on the notify. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Drive archive never runs on declined — it waits for completed. Stripe off: Payments not live. None of those flags skip the reason box.

Ask and the reason

Ask Inkpacket for why a decline reason is required to open this article. Ask how to decline to open help. Marketing Ask stays site Q&A and deep links. It will not decline an envelope or invent a reason from this article. If they only click Decline and leave the box empty, the page says so. That is the product.

Caps and what is not open yet

Decline is not a send. The send that created the envelope already counted. 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 skip the reason or reopen a declined envelope. The FAQ and More on voiding, correcting and resending use A decline reason is required and Add a short reason so the sender knows why you declined in the same words.

Leave the reason. Close the envelope. Send a new envelope if the work still needs a signature. Open a workspace on Free — see published pricing — and decline one throwaway with a real sentence so decline-reason honesty is a required box you already filled, not a silent refuse you hoped Settings would allow.