Reminder cadence versus envelope expiry

A reminder interval and an expiration are two controls on the same send form. They are not aliases. Cadence is how often Inkpacket emails an outstanding signer again. Expiry is how many days the signing link stays valid. Mixing them up is how an envelope “dies” on day three when you only meant a nudge — or sits forever because you turned reminders off and thought that closed the window. That is cadence-versus-expiry honesty: two fields, two jobs, two outcomes.

The combined walkthrough is reminders and expiry so envelopes don’t stall. Picking a window is how to choose an envelope expiry. What the hourly job does after a nudge is what happens after a signing reminder fires. Desk help splits the same pair: Docs and Docs. Features keeps them under reminders. This guide is the split itself.

Workspace defaults live in Settings #cadence. Owners and admins change them. The send form can override them on that envelope. Ask Inkpacket for cadence to open Settings. Ask set reminder or set expiration to open the send form. Those phrases stay on the product screens. This article is the public version of why they are not one slider.

The two fields

• Reminder interval — default every 3 days. Set 0 to skip reminders on that envelope.
• Expiration — default 14 days. Set 0 if the link should not expire.
• A scheduled job emails outstanding SENT envelopes when the interval has elapsed.
• The same hourly cron marks overdue SENT envelopes expired so the document list stays honest.

You can expire without reminding. You can remind until expiry. You can skip both. You cannot make a reminder close the link. You cannot make expiry send another email. A reminder leaves the envelope SENT. Expiry changes the status to expired. The signer then sees This signing link has expired and cannot complete the envelope. Embed uses the same token, so the iframe dies with the link.

What each is not

• A reminder is not a resend you clicked. Resend is Envelope admin — the same token, now.
• Expiry is not a void. Void is the sender stopping the deal. Expiry is the window ending.
• Interval 0 is not expired. The link still works until the expiration field says otherwise.
• Days 0 is not “remind forever.” It means the link does not expire. Cadence still applies if the interval is not 0.

If Resend is missing, a reminder is logged the same way as the first invite. The envelope stays SENT. Copy the signing link and share it. That skip is not an expiry. Do not void the envelope because a nudge never left the server. Resend after a soft-fail email is the manual verb when you want another copy today.

How to set them

1. Open Documents → new. The reminder field is #reminders. The expiration field is #expiration.
2. Keep 3 and 14 if you have no reason to change them.
3. Set the interval to 0 when the signer is in the room or already on a call.
4. Set expiration to 0 only when you truly want an open-ended link.
5. Change workspace defaults in Settings #cadence if every later send should inherit a different pair.

A Web Form stores reminder days and expiration on the published form. Every later fill inherits that pair. Envelopes already created keep the days they were born with. Changing the form does not rewrite last week’s envelopes. Operating a Web Form share link is that inheritance.

After the window

Expired envelopes cannot be voided, corrected, or resent. The API returns This envelope has expired. Ask for a new envelope if the work still needs a signature. That new send is a new envelope toward the monthly cap. The expired id stays on the desk as the record of a window that ended. A webhook fires expired when you have a URL configured.

Reminders skip signed, declined, voided, and expired envelopes. Sequential later signers who have not been invited yet do not get a reminder — first-signer waiting message. Resend follows the same rule. Do not treat a quiet later inbox as a cadence bug.

The click-path

1. Decide whether you need a nudge, a deadline, both, or neither.
2. Set the two fields on send, or confirm Settings #cadence first.
3. After send, read SENT. A reminder will not change that status.
4. After expiry, read expired. Do not look for Envelope admin on that id.
5. If mail skipped a reminder, copy the signing link. Do not mint a twin envelope.

The FAQ states the same defaults. Features names reminders and auto-expiration together because they share a send form, not because they are one control. Keep the nouns separate when you brief a teammate.

Caps and what is not open yet

A reminder is not a send. Expiry is not a send. The original send 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 turn a reminder into an expiry. The FAQ and reminders on Features use interval 0 and 14 days in the same words.

Set cadence when you want a nudge. Set expiry when you want a close date. Stay on that envelope id until the window ends or they sign. Then file the stamped PDF — the pair was the product working. Open a workspace on Free — see published pricing — and send a throwaway with interval 0 and a short expiry so both outcomes are something you have watched.