FAQ

Short answers to the questions developers ask most, then the glossary. Questions about billing, the law and what signers see are on the main FAQ.

Using the API

Which plans include the API?

Calling the REST API or the MCP server needs the Pro or Business plan. Any account can create keys on the API page, so you can set things up before upgrading. See pricing.

REST or MCP?

They do the same things under the same rules and answer with the same JSON. Use the REST API from your own code, and the MCP server when an AI assistant should create and send pacts for you.

How do I authenticate?

Send your key as Authorization: Bearer sgk_… or X-Api-Key: sgk_…. See Authentication.

What does sending a pact cost?

One document for every three signers, rounded up; CCs are free. It is charged once, when the pact is sent, and not returned if the pact is later voided, declined or lapses. A draft's documents_cost shows what sending it will use. See Documents and plans.

Can I send a document without saving it as a template?

Yes. Create a pact as a multipart request with a file instead of a template_uid. The file needs glyphs just like a template.

Why was my upload refused?

Usually because the file has no selectable text (a scan or a photo) or no glyphs. The error message says which; Errors lists them all.

Following a pact

What do the statuses mean?

Pact lifecycle has the details.

How do I know when a pact is sealed?

There are no webhooks yet. Poll Get a pact, or list pacts with status=sent, every few minutes, and stop when status is no longer sent. Once it is sealed, download the signed PDF and its sigil.

Can signers sign on my own domain?

Yes. Pass a verified domain as domain_host when you create the pact, and its signing page and emails carry your domain, name and logo. List domains shows which you can use.

Glossary

A sigil is a seal: the word is Latin sigillum, "little sign", and it is where English seal comes from. Sigil's other words follow from it, and each shows up in the API under the same name.

Pact

A document sent out for signature, with its signers, their fields and its whole history. Other e-signature services call it an envelope. In the API: /v1/pacts, the pact object, and the *_pact MCP tools.

From Latin pactum, "something agreed", from pacisci, "to make an agreement", a relative of pax, "peace". The legal maxim pacta sunt servanda, "agreements must be kept", still underpins contract law and the law of treaties. In fantasy a pact is the bargain a warlock strikes with a patron for power; ours only ask for a signature.

Glyph

A short code typed into the document, such as \s1\, that marks where a field goes and which signer fills it in. Each glyph becomes one entry in a template's or pact's fields. See Glyphs.

From Greek glyphē, "carving", as in hieroglyph, "sacred carving". In type design a glyph is the drawn shape of a character, which fits: Sigil finds yours by reading the letters on the page. Players will remember the glyph of warding, a mark that waits on a surface until someone sets it off.

Sigil

The certificate of completion built when a pact is sealed: each signer, when they viewed and signed, from which IP address, the consent they gave, both document hashes and the full event log. In the API: links.sigil and GET /v1/pacts/{uid}/sigil.pdf. The PDF itself is titled Certificate of Completion and downloads as … - certificate.pdf, because it travels to people who do not know our words.

From Latin sigillum, "little sign", a diminutive of signum, "sign, mark". The same word passed through Old French to become English seal. In medieval and Renaissance magic a sigil was a symbol standing for a spirit or a power; the Lesser Key of Solomon draws one for each of its 72 spirits. In The Book of Pleasure (1913) the artist Austin Osman Spare made sigils out of written intentions, folding a sentence into a single mark, an idea chaos magic later took up. Tabletop players know Sigil as the City of Doors, the hub of the 1994 Dungeons & Dragons setting Planescape.

Sealed

A pact is sealed when the last signer finishes: every field is stamped into the PDF, the sigil is built, and everyone gets the copy. In the API: "status": "sealed", date_sealed, and the sealed event.

Seal comes from Old French seel, from the same Latin sigillum as sigil. Wax seals closed letters and proved who sent them, and for centuries a deed took effect only once it was "signed, sealed and delivered".

Lapsed

A pact lapses when its deadline passes before everyone has signed; its links stop working. In the API: "status": "lapsed", date_lapses, and lapse_days to set the deadline.

From Latin lapsus, "a slip", from labi, "to slip". In law an offer lapses when its time runs out unanswered, and so does an insurance policy left unpaid.

Void

A pact you withdrew after sending it; every link stops working at once. In the API: POST /v1/pacts/{uid}/void, void_pact, and "status": "voided".

From Old French voide, "empty", from the family of Latin vacuus. A contract that is void has no legal effect at all: it is as if it were empty.