Contracts Guide

Everything you need to know about creating and managing multi-party contracts via the API.

Contract Types

Draftory supports the following contract types. Pass the contractType value when creating a contract.

Creating a Contract

Send a POST request to /contracts to create a new multi-party contract. Draftory automatically sends signing emails to all parties.

Required Fields

Optional Fields

Party Object

Example Request

curl -X POST https://api.draftory.ca/api/external/v2/contracts \
  -H "x-api-key: dft_live_your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "parties": [
      { "role": "seller", "legalName": "Acme Corp", "email": "acme@example.com" },
      { "role": "buyer", "legalName": "Jane Smith", "email": "jane@example.com" }
    ],
    "contractType": "nda",
    "content": "MUTUAL NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT\n\n1. PARTIES\nSeller: Acme Corp (acme@example.com)\nBuyer: Jane Smith (jane@example.com)\n\n2. TERMS\nBoth parties agree not to disclose confidential information.\nThis agreement remains in effect for 2 years.\n\n3. GOVERNING LAW\nProvince of Ontario, Canada.",
    "senderName": "Acme Corp",
    "metadata": {
      "internalRef": "DEAL-2026-042",
      "department": "partnerships"
    }
  }'

const res = await fetch("https://api.draftory.ca/api/external/v2/contracts", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "x-api-key": "dft_live_your_key",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    parties: [
      { role: "seller", legalName: "Acme Corp", email: "acme@example.com" },
      { role: "buyer", legalName: "Jane Smith", email: "jane@example.com" }
    ],
    contractType: "nda",
    content: "MUTUAL NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT\n\n1. PARTIES\nSeller: Acme Corp\nBuyer: Jane Smith\n\n2. TERMS\nBoth parties agree not to disclose confidential information.",
    senderName: "Acme Corp",
    metadata: {
      internalRef: "DEAL-2026-042",
      department: "partnerships"
    }
  })
});
const contract = await res.json();
console.log(contract);

import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.draftory.ca/api/external/v2/contracts",
    headers={
        "x-api-key": "dft_live_your_key",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    json={
        "parties": [
            {"role": "seller", "legalName": "Acme Corp", "email": "acme@example.com"},
            {"role": "buyer", "legalName": "Jane Smith", "email": "jane@example.com"}
        ],
        "contractType": "nda",
        "content": "MUTUAL NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT\n\n1. PARTIES\nSeller: Acme Corp\nBuyer: Jane Smith\n\n2. TERMS\nBoth parties agree not to disclose confidential information.",
        "senderName": "Acme Corp",
        "metadata": {
            "internalRef": "DEAL-2026-042",
            "department": "partnerships"
        }
    }
)
print(res.json())

Response 201 Created

{
  "success": true,
  "contract": {
    "id": "contract-1711234567890-AbCdEfGh",
    "contractNumber": "EXT-20260321-ABCDEFGH",
    "shareToken": "abc123token",
    "shareUrl": "https://draftory.ca/contract/abc123token",
    "status": "pending_signature",
    "contractType": "nda",
    "parties": [
      { "role": "seller", "legalName": "Acme Corp", "email": "acme@example.com" },
      { "role": "buyer", "legalName": "Jane Smith", "email": "jane@example.com" }
    ],
    "signingProgress": {
      "signed": 0,
      "total": 2,
      "pending": 2,
      "percentage": 0
    },
    "createdAt": "2026-03-21T12:00:00.000Z",
    "expiresAt": "2026-04-04T12:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Contract Lifecycle

Every contract moves through a series of statuses from creation to completion:

pending_signature → partially_signed → signed
                                        → expired   (after 14 days)
                                        → cancelled (manual)

Getting Contract Details

Send a GET request to /contracts/{id} to retrieve the full details of a contract, including per-party signing status and a signatures array.

curl https://api.draftory.ca/api/external/v2/contracts/contract-1711234567890-AbCdEfGh \
  -H "x-api-key: dft_live_your_key"

const contractId = "contract-1711234567890-AbCdEfGh";

const res = await fetch(
  `https://api.draftory.ca/api/external/v2/contracts/${contractId}`,
  { headers: { "x-api-key": "dft_live_your_key" } }
);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

import requests

contract_id = "contract-1711234567890-AbCdEfGh"

res = requests.get(
    f"https://api.draftory.ca/api/external/v2/contracts/{contract_id}",
    headers={"x-api-key": "dft_live_your_key"}
)
print(res.json())

Response 200 OK

{
  "success": true,
  "contract": {
    "id": "contract-1711234567890-AbCdEfGh",
    "status": "partially_signed",
    "parties": [
      { "role": "seller", "legalName": "Acme Corp", "email": "acme@example.com", "hasSigned": true },
      { "role": "buyer", "legalName": "Jane Smith", "email": "jane@example.com", "hasSigned": false }
    ],
    "signingProgress": {
      "signed": 1,
      "total": 2,
      "pending": 1,
      "percentage": 50
    },
    "signatures": [
      {
        "signerEmail": "acme@example.com",
        "signerName": "Acme Corp",
        "signerRole": "seller",
        "signedAt": "2026-03-21T14:30:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Share URLs

When you create a contract, the response includes a shareUrl field. All parties use this same URL to view and sign the contract.

When a party opens the share URL, they are prompted to verify their email address by entering a one-time code sent to their email on file. Once verified, they can review the full contract and provide their signature.

Share URLs expire along with the contract — 14 days after creation by default.

Content Structure

The content field accepts a plain text string up to 50 KB in size. Use section headers (numbered + ALL CAPS) and blank-line spacing for formatting.

Here is an example content string for an NDA:

"MUTUAL NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT\n\n1. PARTIES\nDiscloser: Acme Corp (acme@example.com)\nRecipient: Jane Smith (jane@example.com)\n\n2. TERMS\nBoth parties agree not to disclose confidential information.\nThis agreement remains in effect for 2 years.\n\n3. GOVERNING LAW\nThis agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada."

And an example for a service agreement:

"WEB DEVELOPMENT SERVICE AGREEMENT\n\n1. PARTIES\nProvider: DevStudio Inc (dev@example.com)\nClient: Acme Corp (acme@example.com)\n\n2. SCOPE\nDesign and development of a marketing website.\n\nDeliverables:\n- Wireframes\n- UI Design\n- Frontend build\n- CMS integration\n\n3. PAYMENT\n50% upfront, 50% on delivery.\n\n4. TIMELINE\nStart: May 1, 2026\nEnd: July 31, 2026"