Recipient view without clientUserId, opening envelopes for viewing

Question

The docs of the DocuSign API's createRecipientView method says the following about the clientUserId parameter:

If provided, the recipient is treated as an embedded (captive) recipient or signer.

It's not clear to me what happens when the parameter is not provided.

I noticed if I omit the clientUserId from the recipientViewRequest, I can open the envelope for viewing without the "sign here" field present.

The docs mentions the following:

This method is only used with envelopes in the sent status.

I managed open envelopes that were in a completed status. Was that because I used the same DocuSign user with the API that sent the envelope?

Is it possible to allow users to view the envelope even if they are not signers?

*Edit: as far as I can see it is possible, if I use the same user with the API that sent the envelope? Is this correct?

When I tried to open a completed envelope by omitting the clientUserId and providing the email/userName of a recipient, I got a ACCOUNT_NOT_AUTHORIZED_FOR_ENVELOPE error. That envelope was sent by another user, not the one I send the API requests with.

I'm confused - what are the rules of not providing a clientUserId? Can I use this method to open envelopes for viewing?

Answer 1

The ClientUserId specifies a recipient as captive. This does two things:

1. The captive recipient does not get tied to an official DocuSign account
2. There are no email notifications that are sent to recipients that are captive.

In regards to viewing the envelopes, if you are able to reissue a recipientView token for a recipient that's already completed their portion of the contract, it does still open the envelope in its current form.

If they've finished acting on it, they should only be able to view the envelope.

Think of it the same way as when you, as the sender, send a contract out to someone else to act upon. If you open the envelope up yourself after the fact, as the sender, you'll see the envelope in its current form but be unable to act on it without initiating a correction. That doesn't mean it's still not your recipients turn to take sign, it's just the current form of the envelope that's visible to you.