Sequential vs parallel signing on one envelope

One envelope can collect more than one signature. Inkpacket does that on a single envelope: you add recipients on the send form, assign field marks to recipient slots, and choose sequential or parallel routing. The audit trail stays on that envelope id. You do not mint a chain of copies and hope someone forwards the next link.

Desk help is Docs. The signing-link feature note is signing link. If you are sending to a list of people who each need their own envelope, that is bulk send, not routing. If you have not placed fields yet, read how to place signature fields on a PDF first.

The two modes

Sequential routing

Sequential routing uses an explicit order. Inkpacket emails the current order, then the next after everyone at that order finishes. Recipients who share the same order sign in parallel with each other, then the envelope advances. After a sequential send the desk says First signer was invited. Later recipients get their link after earlier ones finish.

A later sequential signer who opens their link early sees a waiting page. They cannot view the PDF until it is their turn. That is deliberate: the earlier person may still decline, and one decline closes the whole envelope. Do not send them a screenshot of the file as a workaround — wait for the advance, or change the work with envelope admin.

Parallel routing

Parallel routing invites every recipient at once. Each person gets a tokenized URL, completes the fields assigned to them, and submits. The envelope completes when every signer has finished. Use this when order does not matter — two partners on the same vendor cover, two managers acknowledging the same policy.

An envelope accepts up to 20 recipients. Place fields for a recipient before you send. A mark with no assignee is a gap on the filed PDF. Field types and field placement match the editor.

When to choose which

• Sequential: a countersign after an offer is accepted, a controller after a requester, a board chair after members at the same order.
• Parallel: several people must sign and none should wait on another inbox.
• Same-order sequential: two people at order 1, then one person at order 2. The pair signs together; the last person waits.
• Bulk send: each person should have a separate envelope, not a shared envelope.

A Web Form fill creates one envelope for the person who submitted the slug. It does not add a second signer. If you need a countersign after a public fill, start a new envelope from the template — or send from the desk with two recipients after you have both names.

What happens after send

Reminders and resend only email people who have already been invited. A sequential signer who has not reached their turn does not get a nudge about a link they cannot use yet. Expiration still applies to the envelope as a whole. Reminders and expiry and reminder help cover the job.

One decline still closes the whole envelope, even when later sequential signers have not been invited yet. That is the same rule as a single-signer refuse. If you needed a different person after a refusal, send a new envelope — or, if nobody has signed and only the email was wrong, correct the recipient on the same envelope.

Void stops every signing and embed link on that envelope. Correct updates an outstanding signer’s name, email, or phone. Resend emails the existing link to people who already have one. Completed envelopes cannot be voided. Those verbs stay on the same envelope id so your webhook consumers do not merge twins.

SMS and embed still follow the invite

Text-message (SMS) reminders are coming soon, and reminders go out by email today. Inkpacket does not text a signing link. The desk still shows the URL. SMS signing invites is the dedicated guide.

Embedded signing uses the same token. A later sequential signer framed too early will see the waiting page inside the iframe. Embedded signing explains the allowlist and postMessage events.

The same choice on the public API

Owners and admins mint org-scoped tokens in Settings. POST /api/v1/packets/:id/send accepts recipients and routingMode (SEQUENTIAL or PARALLEL). A single name and email still works. Create-from-template first so the field marks already have recipient slots. Public API and signed webhooks lists the rest of the routes.

Send still checks the monthly envelope count. One multi-signer envelope is one envelope, not one envelope per recipient. Free allows 5 packets a month. A decline or void still used that send. Choosing a plan and the FAQ repeat the cap.

Habits that keep a multi-signer envelope honest

1. Name recipient slots the way the team talks — “Requester,” “Controller,” not “Signer 2.”
2. Place every required mark before send. Do not discover a missing date after the first person finished.
3. Tell sequential later signers they will wait. A surprise waiting page looks like a broken link.
4. If the deal is off, void the envelope. Do not wait for the last person to decline.
5. If only the address is wrong and nobody has signed, correct — do not clone a second envelope.

Sequential and parallel routing belong on one envelope. Bulk send belongs on a list. Web Forms belong on a public slug. Pick the tool that matches who starts the envelope. Then file the stamped PDF when everyone has finished — what a completed envelope includes — or open a workspace on Free and send a two-signer envelope today.