DocuSign api webhooks not firing

Question

I recently switched from using embedded signing to "send by email" signing -- this is because I want DocuSign to manage the order of the signers and send them emails when each person has signed.

However now my Connect subscription does not work any more i.e. I don't get any notification messages to my listener's URL.

I decided to explicitly add the webhook by adding the eventNotification block to the envelope creation request but alas still nothing is coming in on my webhook.

When I used embedded signing I got XML feedback all the time so I can discount certificates I assume.

Does anyone know if non embedded signing and webhook feedback are mutually exclusive?

this is an example of my eventNotification block

"eventNotification": {
        "url": "https://*******/connect/docusign",
        "loggingEnabled": "true",
        "requireAcknowledgment": "true",
        "envelopeEvents": [
            {
                "envelopeEventStatusCode": "Sent",
                "includeDocuments": "true"
            },
            {
                "envelopeEventStatusCode": "Delivered",
                "includeDocuments": "false"
            },
            {
                "envelopeEventStatusCode": "Completed",
                "includeDocuments": "true"
            },
            {
                "envelopeEventStatusCode": "Declined",
                "includeDocuments": "false"
            },
            {
                "envelopeEventStatusCode": "Voided",
                "includeDocuments": "false"
            }
        ],
        "recipientEvents": [
            {
                "recipientEventStatusCode": "Sent",
                "includeDocuments": "false"
            },
            {
                "recipientEventStatusCode": "Delivered",
                "includeDocuments": "false"
            },
            {
                "recipientEventStatusCode": "Completed",
                "includeDocuments": "true"
            },
            {
                "recipientEventStatusCode": "Declined",
                "includeDocuments": "false"
            },
            {
                "recipientEventStatusCode": "AuthenticationFailed",
                "includeDocuments": "false"
            },
            {
                "recipientEventStatusCode": "AutoResponded",
                "includeDocuments": "false"
            }
        ],
        "useSoapInterface": "false",
        "includeCertificateWithSoap": "false",
        "signMessageWithX509Cert": "false",
        "includeDocuments": "true",
        "includeEnvelopeVoidReason": "true",
        "includeTimeZone": "true",
        "includeSenderAccountAsCustomField": "true",
        "includeDocumentFields": "true",
        "includeCertificateOfCompletion": "true"
    }

Answer 1

Oops: the messages were sent but my server was blocking them.

I found all the info I needed in the DocuSign admin console.

My server was not accepting large enough body posts.

It is important to know that when one message fails subsequent messages are also held back and therefore you can be un-aware of the issue for some time. I don't know if this happens with one failure or if you have to have several in a short period for the queue to "pause" like this - that would be good to know. I also did not find an alerting option, something like "email me if there are failures"

You should periodically log into the admin interface and look at the failure queue. If (like me) you have an issue that you can solve at the server end you can also resend all the failed messages.

Answer 2

Re: Does anyone know if non embedded signing and webhook feedback are mutually exclusive?

Answer: the Connect webhook system is independent of any other Envelope setting. If you create a webhook subscription, either via the account-wide Connect system, or via an envelope-specific eventNotification object, your listener (your server) will be notified.

If you can use the account-wide Connect system, that is usually better. But either way, account-wide or envelope-specific, is fine.

Notes:

1. If you have an account-wide Connect subscription, and an envelope-specific subscription, you've created two subscriptions for the envelope. You will get two sets of notification messages. This is all fine, if it is what you intended. You could use the same or different URLs for the two subscriptions.

2. You can create account-wide Connect subscriptions programmatically. This is recommended, especially for ISVs. Why: the result will be more deterministic vs giving a system administrator instructions on how to set up the account-wide subscription.

3. The account-wide feature is not included with all account pricing plans. Envelope-specific subscriptions are included with all pricing plans.