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Choose a Third-Party Paper Flow

Goal​

Choose the right public API flow for externally drafted paper before you start implementation.

Overview​

This page is intentionally a routing guide, not the canonical implementation doc. Use it to decide which detailed recipe you need.

Endpoints used​

  • POST /api/v2.1/public/contracts/upload_review_contracts/
  • POST /api/v2.1/public/contracts/upload_sign_contracts/

Prerequisites​

  • a valid public API key
  • a contract type that supports the selected upload path in the current workspace
  • a valid PDF payload

There are two supported public API variants for third-party paper:

  • review-first, using POST /api/v2.1/public/contracts/upload_review_contracts/
  • direct-signature, using POST /api/v2.1/public/contracts/upload_sign_contracts/

Choose the right path​

Use review first when:

  • legal or procurement must inspect or negotiate the paper
  • a reviewer or reviewer role needs to be assigned immediately
  • the contract should not move into signature until SpotDraft-side review completes

Use direct signature when:

  • the paper is already approved outside SpotDraft
  • the main value is centralized signing and repository tracking
  • your integration already has the right signatory and intake data ready

Canonical implementation guides​

Use the intake-form update route when:

  • the contract is already created and your system receives corrected or delayed intake-form answers later
  • you need to patch only a few intake-form fields without recreating the contract

Common mistakes​

  • starting with the signature flow when legal review is still required
  • assuming the same contract_type_id supports both upload paths in every workspace
  • treating this choice as cosmetic when it determines downstream ownership and contract state

Production notes​

  • Use this page only as a chooser. The linked recipe pages carry the operational request details.
  • Intake-form updates are a supported follow-up path after either upload variant when the workflow exposes a contract-level editable response.

Common failure points​

  • assuming the same contract type supports both upload modes Review-first and direct-signature paths can diverge by workspace and workflow configuration.