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Documents & e-signature

Google Sheets row → Google Docs contract → PDF → DocuSign envelope

One new row in a sheet becomes a filled contract, a PDF and a DocuSign envelope.

Engagement letters, service agreements and NDAs mostly differ by a dozen fields. Add a row to a Google Sheet and the workflow copies your Google Docs template into the client's Drive folder, fills every placeholder from the row, exports a PDF and sends it through DocuSign to the signer named in the row. The envelope ID and the PDF link are written back to the sheet. For anyone who sends the same contract to different names every week.

How it works

  1. GS

    Trigger

    Row added or updated in the Contracts sheet (Google Sheets Trigger, polled every minute); only rows with an empty Status cell are processed

    Google Sheets

  2. if

    Step 1

    Check the row has what the template needs

    Rows with anything in Status are skipped, so a write-back never restarts a run. Client, signer name, signer email, start date, fee and term are required; a row missing one gets Status set to Needs review and stops before a document exists.

  3. Dr

    Step 2

    Copy the template into the client folder

    Your master Google Doc is copied, never edited, into a Drive folder named for the client (created on first use), and the copy is named by document type, client and date.

  4. GD

    Step 3

    Fill the placeholders from the row

    Each {{placeholder}} in the copy is replaced with its column through the Docs API replace-all-text request: names, dates, fee, term and any extra columns you add to the mapping.

  5. Dr

    Step 4

    Export the filled document as a PDF

    Drive exports the copy as a PDF through its files.export call and saves it beside the Doc in the same client folder, so the editable version and the sent version sit together.

  6. DS

    Step 5

    Create and send the envelope

    The PDF goes into a new envelope with the signer's name and email from the row, a signature tab anchored to a marker in the template, and your email subject; DocuSign sends it the moment the envelope is created.

  7. GS

    Step 6

    Write the result back to the row

    Status becomes Sent, with the envelope ID, the Doc link and the PDF link in their own columns. A DocuSign error writes Send failed and the error text instead, and nothing is retried on its own.

What changes once it runs

  • A contract is filled, exported and out for signature about two minutes after the row appears, with no copy-and-paste in between.
  • Every document carries the same wording, because the only thing that changes is what is in the row.
  • The editable Doc and the sent PDF sit together in the client's Drive folder under one naming pattern.
  • Your sheet becomes the register: who was sent what, when, and the envelope ID to look it up in DocuSign.
  • Incomplete rows never produce a half-filled contract; they are flagged in the sheet instead.

What you get

  • n8n workflow export covering the Sheets trigger, Drive copy, Docs fill, PDF export, DocuSign envelope and the write-back
  • A sample Google Docs template with placeholders and the signature anchor already placed
  • The Google Sheet with headers, a dropdown for document type and one worked example row
  • Field-mapping sheet listing each placeholder against its column, so you can add your own
  • Setup guide for the DocuSign integration key and JWT consent, with screenshots of each admin screen
  • Recorded walkthrough of one row going from sheet to sent envelope in a DocuSign sandbox

Before you start

  • Google Workspace or a Google account with Drive, Docs and Sheets
  • A Google Docs template with {{placeholders}} and a signature anchor string (a sample template is included)
  • DocuSign account on an API plan (Developer Starter or above), with an integration key and JWT consent; standard seats do not list API access
  • A Google Sheet with the package's column headers, one row per contract to send
  • n8n Cloud or self-hosted n8n

Built for

Questions before you buy

Can I use more than one template?
Every template you keep as a Doc. A Document type column picks the template: engagement letter, NDA, service agreement. Each type maps to its own template ID and its own placeholders in the mapping sheet. Adding a type is a new row in that mapping, not a change to the workflow.
Where does the signature go on the page?
Wherever you type the anchor string in the template, for example /sig1/, in white text so it does not print. DocuSign places the signature tab on that anchor. Date-signed and initials anchors work the same way and are covered in the guide.
What if DocuSign is down or rejects the envelope?
Nothing is lost: the Doc and the PDF are already in Drive by then. Status on the row becomes Send failed with DocuSign's error text, and clearing the status makes the workflow pick the row up again on its next poll.
Can it email the PDF instead of sending it through DocuSign?
Swap the DocuSign node for a Gmail node with the PDF attached. The guide shows the change, and it leaves you on Google apps alone: Sheets, Drive, Docs and Gmail. Filing the signed copy when it comes back is a separate package, DocuSign envelope completed → SharePoint or Drive.
Does it run on Make or Zapier?
Make, yes. Google Sheets Watch New Rows, Google Docs Create a Document from a Template, Google Drive Download a File with PDF conversion and the DocuSign modules cover it, and a blueprint is included. That version only sees new rows, so a failed send is re-run from the scenario history rather than by clearing Status. Zapier can fill a Docs template, but we have not tested a full Zap through the PDF export and the DocuSign send, so it is not in the package.

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