Skip to main content

Integrate the Document Viewer

The Document Viewer is a web component that lets users edit templates and prepare documents for signing — directly inside your application. This guide shows how to connect it to the GraphQL API to build a complete signing workflow.

Overview​

A typical integration follows these steps:

  1. Authenticate — get a token for the viewer
  2. Upload a template — via the GraphQL API
  3. Render the viewer — pass the template ID and token
  4. Capture events — the viewer emits update and validate events as the user works
  5. Send the document — call the send mutation with the recipient and role data from the viewer

Authentication​

The viewer needs a valid token passed to its token attribute. See Authenticate with the API before wiring the viewer into your application.

Compose Mode — Send a Pre-built Document​

Compose mode is for workflows where your system already knows the recipients. The user just places signature fields and sends.

1. Render the viewer​

<ls-document-viewer
  id="viewer"
  templateid="dHBsYjQ5YTg5NWQtYWRhMy0xMWYwLWIxZGMtMDY5NzZlZmU0MzIx"
  token="YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
  mode="compose"
  recipients='[
    {"email": "jane@example.com", "firstname": "Jane", "lastname": "Smith", "signerIndex": 1},
    {"email": "john@example.com", "firstname": "John", "lastname": "Doe", "signerIndex": 2}
  ]'
  filtertoolbox="signature|initials|date|text"
>
  <span slot="right-button">
    <button id="send-btn" disabled>Send</button>
  </span>
</ls-document-viewer>

2. Track validation and role IDs​

As the user adds fields, the viewer emits events. You need two things from these events:

  • validate — tells you whether the template has all required fields (at minimum, one signature per recipient)
  • update — provides the current template state, including roleId for each participant when you need template role mapping
const viewer = document.getElementById('viewer');
const sendBtn = document.getElementById('send-btn');

let isValid = false;
const recipientRoles = {};

viewer.addEventListener('validate', (e) => {
  isValid = e.detail.valid;
  sendBtn.disabled = !isValid;
});

viewer.addEventListener('update', (e) => {
  const roles = e.detail.template.roles;
  roles.forEach((role) => {
    recipientRoles[role.signerIndex] = role.id;
  });
});

The roleId from the update event maps each recipient to their fields on the template. Include it when your send flow needs that mapping.

3. Send the document​

When the user clicks send, call the send mutation with the recipient data and role IDs captured from the viewer:

sendBtn.addEventListener('click', async () => {
  const token = '<token-from-authentication-guide>';

  const recipients = [
    {
      firstName: 'Jane',
      lastName: 'Smith',
      email: 'jane@example.com',
      role: 'Signer',
      roleId: recipientRoles[1],
      signerIndex: 1,
      order: 1,
    },
    {
      firstName: 'John',
      lastName: 'Doe',
      email: 'john@example.com',
      role: 'Signer',
      roleId: recipientRoles[2],
      signerIndex: 2,
      order: 2,
    },
  ];

  const response = await fetch('https://graphql.uk.legalesign.com/graphql', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      query: `mutation SendDocument {
        send(input: {
          groupId: "YOUR_GROUP_ID"
          templateId: "dHBsYjQ5YTg5NWQtYWRhMy0xMWYwLWIxZGMtMDY5NzZlZmU0MzIx"
          title: "Contract - Jane Smith & John Doe"
          recipients: ${JSON.stringify(recipients).replace(/"(\w+)":/g, '$1:')}
          sequentialSigning: true
        })
      }`,
    }),
  });

  const result = await response.json();
  const taskId = result.data.send;

  // Poll for completion
  console.log('Task started:', taskId);
});

The send mutation returns a task ID. Poll the task query and monitor task.report.status until it reaches COMPLETED or FAILED to confirm document creation has finished.

Editor Mode — Template Creation​

Editor mode gives users the full template editing experience — adding roles, placing fields, configuring options. Use this when you want users to build reusable templates.

<ls-document-viewer
  id="editor"
  templateid="dHBsYjQ5YTg5NWQtYWRhMy0xMWYwLWIxZGMtMDY5NzZlZmU0MzIx"
  token="YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
  mode="editor"
></ls-document-viewer>

In editor mode, the update event fires whenever the template changes. You can use this to track the template state or show a save indicator:

const editor = document.getElementById('editor');

editor.addEventListener('update', (e) => {
  console.log('Template updated:', e.detail);
});

editor.addEventListener('validate', (e) => {
  console.log('Template valid:', e.detail.valid);
});

Template changes are saved automatically by the viewer — you don't need to call any GraphQL mutation to persist edits.

React Integration​

The React wrapper provides the same functionality with React-style event handling:

import { useState } from 'react';
import { LsDocumentViewer } from 'legalesign-document-viewer-react';

const DocumentCompose = ({ templateId, recipients, token }) => {
  const [isValid, setIsValid] = useState(false);
  const [roleMap, setRoleMap] = useState({});

  const handleValidate = (e) => {
    setIsValid(e.detail.valid);
  };

  const handleUpdate = (e) => {
    const roles = e.detail.template.roles;
    const map = {};
    roles.forEach((role) => {
      map[role.signerIndex] = role.id;
    });
    setRoleMap(map);
  };

  const handleSend = async () => {
    const mappedRecipients = recipients.map((r, i) => ({
      ...r,
      roleId: roleMap[r.signerIndex],
      order: i + 1,
    }));

    const response = await fetch('https://graphql.uk.legalesign.com/graphql', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        query: `mutation SendDocument {
          send(input: {
            groupId: "YOUR_GROUP_ID"
            templateId: "${templateId}"
            title: "Document"
            recipients: ${JSON.stringify(mappedRecipients).replace(/"(\w+)":/g, '$1:')}
          })
        }`,
      }),
    });

    const result = await response.json();
    console.log('Task ID:', result.data.send);
  };

  if (!token) return null;

  return (
    <LsDocumentViewer
      templateid={templateId}
      token={token}
      mode="compose"
      recipients={JSON.stringify(recipients)}
      onValidate={handleValidate}
      onUpdate={handleUpdate}
    >
      <div slot="right-button">
        <button onClick={handleSend} disabled={!isValid}>
          Send
        </button>
      </div>
    </LsDocumentViewer>
  );
};

Witnesses​

To add a witness for a signer, set roleType: "WITNESS" and use a signerIndex of the parent signer's index + 100. For example, a witness for signer 2 has signerIndex: 102:

<ls-document-viewer
  mode="compose"
  recipients='[
    {"email": "signer@example.com", "firstname": "Alice", "lastname": "Jones", "signerIndex": 1},
    {"email": "signer2@example.com", "firstname": "Bob", "lastname": "Brown", "signerIndex": 2},
    {"email": "witness@example.com", "firstname": "Carol", "lastname": "White", "signerIndex": 102, "roleType": "WITNESS"}
  ]'
  ...
></ls-document-viewer>

Key Concepts​

Viewer conceptGraphQL typeDescription
templateid attributeTemplateThe template being edited or composed
recipients attributeRecipientInputRecipients passed to compose mode
roleId from update eventRoleLinks a recipient to their fields on the template
validate event—Whether the template has all required fields
send mutationsendSends the document after composition
token attribute—Token from authentication
mode="compose"—Streamlined mode for placing fields and sending
mode="editor"—Full template editing mode
experience in send inputExperienceControls branding, emails, and signing page — see Experiences explained

Export This Article

Save a copy of this page as PDF or plain text.