opbox

Generate and send a document

Draft a document (with the agent's help), get it approved, and send it for signature.

This guide walks you through the whole life of a document on a matter: drafting it from a template, reviewing it, getting a colleague to sign it off, and finally sending it out for e-signature. You do not need to be technical. Each step is something you ask the agent to do in chat, or click in the matter screens, and Opbox does the rest.

Everything below happens on the matter the document belongs to, and every action is permission-checked and written to the audit trail, so nothing happens off the record.

Before you start

  • Open the matter the document belongs to. A document always lives on a matter.
  • Know which template you want to start from (for example a client engagement letter or an authority form). If you are not sure, ask the agent “what templates do we have for this?” and it will list them.
  • Have the people who need to sign in mind, with their email addresses.

Step 1: Generate a draft from a template

You do not write the document from a blank page. Opbox fills a template with the matter’s own details.

  1. In the matter chat, tell the agent what you need, for example: “Draft the engagement letter for this matter.”
  2. The agent picks the right template and generates a first draft, filling in the merge fields (client name, matter reference, dates) from what is already on the matter.
  3. The new document appears on the matter as version 1. It is a real, saved document, not a preview.

Behind the scenes this is doc.generate, which merges a template with the matter’s facts. If you want to start a document by hand instead of from a template, the agent uses doc.create. You can list everything that has been generated on the matter with doc.gen.list.

If the agent is unsure of a value, it will ask you rather than guess.

Step 2: Review and edit it (every version is kept)

Read the draft and change anything that needs changing.

  1. Open the document and read it through.
  2. To make a change, either edit it directly or ask the agent, for example: “Change the fee in clause 4 to £2,500.”
  3. Each edit is saved. Opbox keeps every version, so you can always see what changed and go back if you need to.

Editing goes through doc.edit, and a new pinned version is captured with doc.version. You can read the document and its history at any time with doc.get. Nothing you edit is ever lost: older versions stay attached to the matter.

Take your time here. The version you send for signature should be the version you are happy with.

Step 3: Route it for human approval (if needed)

Some documents need a second pair of eyes before they go out, for example a partner signing off a letter that commits the firm. Opbox handles this with a gate: a checkpoint that holds the document until the right person approves it.

  1. Ask the agent to send the document for approval, for example: “Send this to Sarah for sign-off before it goes out.”
  2. This raises a proposal. The document is now waiting on the approver.
  3. The approver reviews it and either approves it (the document is cleared to send) or rejects it (it comes back to you with their reason). You make the changes and propose again.

Raising the checkpoint is gate.propose; approving it is gate.apply and rejecting it is gate.reject. You can see what is waiting for approval with gate.list. If your document does not need sign-off, skip this step entirely.

Only go to Step 4 once any approval has cleared.

Step 4: Create an envelope, add signers, and send

When the document is final, turn it into a signing envelope. There is nothing to install and no account to connect: signing works natively out of the box. For the full picture see E-signature & envelopes.

  1. Open an envelope over the document. Ask the agent: “Send this for signature.” Opbox opens a draft envelope that points at the exact document version you reviewed, by id and checksum, so what gets signed is exactly what you approved, never a reconstructed copy.
  2. Add the signers and choose the order. Tell the agent who signs and their email, for example: “The client signs first, then our partner countersigns.” You choose whether they sign one after another (sequential) or all at once (parallel). Someone set to go second is not asked until the first person is done.
  3. Place the signature fields. Drop a signature, initials, date, or text field onto the right page and spot for each signer, so they know exactly where to sign.
  4. Send it. Ask the agent to send, and Opbox dispatches the envelope to every recipient by email. The envelope moves from draft to sent.

The verbs here are envelope.create (open the draft over the document), envelope.recipient.set (the signer roster and sequential-or-parallel order), envelope.field.place (where each person signs), and envelope.send (dispatch it). When a recipient signs, that is envelope.sign.

Step 5: Track signatures and verify the signing log

Once the envelope is out, you can watch it land in real time.

  1. See who has done what. Ask the agent “Where is the signature envelope up to?” to see who has viewed, who has signed, who has declined, and who is still pending, with a live count for the whole envelope.
  2. Chase anyone who is slow. Ask the agent to send a reminder. Only the people who have not signed yet are nudged, never the ones who already have.
  3. Handle the outcomes you do not control. If a signer declines, or the envelope passes its expiry date, you see it immediately. If you no longer want the document signed, you can void the envelope, which is final.
  4. Keep the proof. When everyone has signed, the envelope completes with the signed document and a full signing log attached to the matter. Every event (sent, viewed, signed, reminded, declined, voided) is written to a tamper-evident, hash-chained log. You can verify it whenever a client or a regulator needs proof the record is genuine and untouched.

Tracking uses envelope.get for one envelope and envelope.list for all of a matter’s envelopes with per-signer progress. Reminders are envelope.remind; a recipient declining is envelope.decline; cancelling is envelope.void. To check the signing log has not been altered, the agent runs signing.chain.verify, which an independent third party can also check.

A completed envelope is not just a green tick: it is the signed document plus a verifiable chain of who did what and when, sitting on the matter where you will look for it later.

What you end up with

  • A document drafted from a template and tailored to the matter, with every version kept.
  • A clear record of any approval it went through before it was sent.
  • A signed document and a tamper-evident signing log, both attached to the matter as part of its permanent record.