E-signature glossary

This glossary defines the words that come up when you send, sign or build signing into software, in plain language, with a note on how each one works in docuinked.

Law and standards

Proof and integrity

Sending and signing

Building with it

Where to go next

For longer reads, see the guides. To try the API, start with test mode. If you are connecting an agent, read agents. For n8n, Clay, Zapier or Make, see workflows. To offer signing inside your own product, see platforms.

These definitions are general information, not legal advice.

• Access code

  An access code is a short code the sender gives the signer by a separate channel, such as a phone call, that the signer must enter before the document opens.

• Audit trail

  An audit trail is the time-ordered record of every event in a document's life: who created it, who it was sent to, and what each person did, with times.

• Bulk send

  Bulk send is a feature that sends the same document to a list of recipients in one step, with each person getting and signing their own separate copy.

• Certificate of completion

  A certificate of completion is a summary, usually a page added to or sent with a signed document, that lists the signers, the key events and the times.

• Consumer disclosure

  A consumer disclosure is the statement a consumer must see, and agree to, before electronic records can replace paper ones that another law says must be given in writing.

• Digital signature

  A digital signature is a cryptographic value computed over a file with a private key, so anyone with the matching public key can check that the file hasn't changed since it was signed.

• eIDAS

  eIDAS is the EU regulation on electronic identification and trust services, and it sorts electronic signatures into three levels: simple, advanced and qualified.

• Electronic signature

  An electronic signature is an electronic sound, symbol or process that a person attaches to a record, or links to it, with the intent to sign.

• Embedded signing

  Embedded signing shows the signing page inside your own website or app, usually in an iframe, so the signer signs without leaving your product.

• Envelope

  In e-signature, an envelope is one send: the document or documents, the list of signers and their fields, packaged and tracked as a single unit.

• ESIGN Act

  The ESIGN Act is the US federal law, passed in 2000, that says a signature, contract or record in interstate or foreign commerce can't be denied legal effect just because it is electronic.

• Hash

  A hash is a short, fixed-length fingerprint computed from a file, where any change to the file, even one character, produces a completely different value.

• Human-in-the-loop

  Human-in-the-loop means an automated system stops at a set point and waits for a person to approve before an action with real effects goes ahead.

• Idempotency

  An operation is idempotent when doing it twice has the same effect as doing it once, so a retry can't create a second contract or send a second email.

• MCP (Model Context Protocol)

  MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard for connecting AI agents to outside tools, so an assistant can call a service the same way whichever client it runs in.

• Notarization

  Notarization is the act of a commissioned notary public confirming who a signer is and witnessing their signature, then adding the notary's own signature and seal.

• PAdES

  PAdES, short for PDF Advanced Electronic Signatures, is a standard from ETSI for putting digital signatures inside a PDF so that any reader can check the file is unchanged.

• RFC 3161 timestamp

  An RFC 3161 timestamp is a signed token from an outside time stamping authority that proves a given hash existed at a given moment.

• Signing order

  Signing order is the rule for who signs when: either one at a time in a fixed sequence, or everyone at once in any order.

• Tamper-evident

  Tamper-evident describes a record built so that any change to it shows, even though nothing can stop someone from trying.

• Template

  An e-signature template is a reusable document with its signature fields and signer roles already set, so each new send only needs names and emails.

• UETA

  UETA, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, is a model state law that says a record or signature can't be denied effect just because it is electronic, once the parties agree to deal electronically.

• Webhook

  A webhook is an HTTP request that a service sends to a URL you choose when an event happens, so your system hears about it without asking over and over.

• Wet signature

  A wet signature is a person's handwritten signature, made in ink on paper.

• White-label

  White-label means a product made by one company is shown to end users under another company's brand, so signers see the platform they know rather than the provider behind it.

Common questions

Who writes these definitions?

The docuinked team at Rook Industries. Legal points cite the statute or a named secondary source, with the date we checked it.

Is something missing from the glossary?

Write to support@docuinked.com with the term. We add terms that people building or using signing actually run into.

Why does each definition say how docuinked handles it?

A definition is more useful next to a real case. We also note what docuinked doesn't do, such as notarization, so you don't have to guess.