When Drive archive soft-fails

Drive archive is an optional copy after an envelope completes. In Settings you turn it on and store a Drive folder id — or paste a folder URL. Inkpacket then uploads the stamped PDF and a JSON export of the audit log to that folder. Share the folder with the OAuth user or the service account. The envelope on the desk is still the record. The folder is a convenience export.

When GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_SECRET, and GOOGLE_DRIVE_REFRESH_TOKEN are missing — and GOOGLE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON is missing too — Settings and the desk report Drive not configured. The files are not uploaded. Inkpacket does not pretend they landed. This guide is that miss: what the two failure lines mean, and why you should not send a second envelope to “retry Drive.”

Where the uploaded PDF lives on the envelope is where uploaded PDFs are stored. What a completed envelope includes is completed envelope, stamped PDF, and audit. Desk help is Docs. Features is Google Drive archive.

The two failure lines

Drive not configured means the workspace keys are absent. Saving the Settings toggle while Drive is not configured records the skip — it is not a silent success. GET /api/v1/health reports driveConfigured. Settings shows the same flag. Archive to Drive on a completed envelope retries; without keys it soft-fails again.

Drive was not archived means credentials were present enough to try, and Google rejected the upload. The desk names the reason. The envelope still completes on the desk. Status is still completed. The stamped PDF is still downloadable from that envelope. A failed export does not un-stamp the file.

What archive returns

• uploaded — the PDF and audit JSON landed in the folder.
• error — the attempt failed; read the status text.
• status — the human line Settings and the envelope show.

Do not treat a missing folder file as a missing signature. Download from the envelope. Preview the pages in the field editor. FAQ covers empty, missing, and unavailable stored objects.

What still happened

• The signer finished. The audit shows completed.
• The stamped PDF is a second object on the envelope.
• Reminders already stopped because the envelope is no longer outstanding.
• A webhook, if you set one, can still fire completed even when Drive misses.

A webhook miss is a different queue — when webhook delivery fails. Iframe postMessage is a parent-tab signal. Drive is an export. Those three are not interchangeable. Do not void a completed envelope because the folder is empty. Completed envelopes cannot be voided.

Retry from the completed envelope

Archive to Drive on that document tries again. If keys are still missing, you get the same Drive not configured line. If Google still refuses, you get Drive was not archived again. Fix the folder share or the credentials, then retry. Do not mint a twin envelope. A second send spends a second month toward the cap and creates a second audit trail.

What Drive archive is not

• Not the primary store. S3-compatible keys keep PDFs on the envelope; otherwise Local fallback.
• Not a signing door. Signers never open Drive to finish.
• Not a Web Form. The public slug does not write to Drive until a fill completes.
• Not a bulk-send column. Each completed row archives on its own envelope, or soft-fails on its own envelope.

Turn the toggle on before you need the export, then send one throwaway envelope so you have seen uploaded or the honest skip. The FAQ says the desk does not pretend the upload happened. If invite email was not sent on that throwaway, copy the signing link, finish it yourself, and watch Settings — the skip is easier to trust when you have caused it once.

Caps and what is not open yet

An archive attempt is not a send. The send that completed 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 file or un-file the stamped PDF. The FAQ and Google Drive archive on Features use Drive not configured in the same words.

Leave the completed envelope on the desk. Retry archive after keys exist. Do not clone the envelope because a folder is empty. Then read the audit on that document — reading an audit trail — if someone asks whether they signed. Open a workspace on Free — see published pricing — turn the toggle on, complete one envelope, and confirm the skip or the upload before you promise a shared folder to a teammate.