# Recipients and roles

Add the people on an envelope, choose what each one does, and set the order they act in.

You add recipients in the **Recipients** stage of the envelope editor.

## Add recipients

- Type in **Add by name or email**. eSignStack suggests people you've sent to before.
- Click **Add recipient** for an empty row, then type a name and email.
- Click **Add me** to add yourself as a signer.
- Click **Add in-person signer** for someone who signs on your device. See [Sign in person](/docs/sign-in-person).

Every recipient except in-person signers needs an email address. Everyone except people who get a copy also needs a name. Each person gets a color in the editor so their fields are easy to spot.

To remove someone, open the row's **⋯** menu and click **Remove**.

## Roles

Click the role on a recipient's row to change it.

| Role | What they do |
| --- | --- |
| **Signer** | Fills in their fields and signs. |
| **In-person signer** | Fills in their fields and signs on your device, with you there. No email needed. |
| **Approver** | Reviews the documents and approves or rejects them. Doesn't sign. |
| **Needs to acknowledge** | Confirms they've read the documents. |
| **Gets a copy** | Receives the completed documents. No action needed. |

An envelope needs at least one signer, approver or person who needs to acknowledge. Every signer needs at least one field. Only signers and in-person signers can have fields. See [Fields](/docs/fields).

In the API, **In-person signer** is `in_person_signer`, **Needs to acknowledge** is `viewer` and **Gets a copy** is `cc`.

### Signers

Signers get a link, complete their fields, and click **Finish**. They can also decline, which ends the envelope for everyone.

### In-person signers

In-person signers aren't emailed a link. When it's their turn, their host opens the envelope and clicks **Start in-person signing**, then hands over the device. See [Sign in person](/docs/sign-in-person).

### Approvers

Approvers open the documents and click **Approve** or **Reject**. A rejection needs a reason, which the sender sees, and ends the envelope with the status **Declined**.

The approval is recorded in the envelope's audit trail and on the signing certificate. Nothing is added to the PDF pages.

### Needs to acknowledge

These recipients read the documents and click **I've read these documents**. The acknowledgment is recorded in the audit trail and on the certificate.

### Gets a copy

People who get a copy don't receive a link when you send. They're emailed the completed documents when everyone has finished.

Other recipients aren't emailed the completed documents unless you turn on **Email them the signed copy** in their row's **⋯** menu. Recipients who have finished can also download their copy from the signing page once the envelope is complete.

## Signing order

With more than one person who acts, a **Sign in order** switch appears.

- **Off:** everyone receives their link when you send and can act in any order.
- **On:** recipients act in numbered steps. Each step starts when the one before is done. Drag rows to reorder them.

To have two people act at the same time within an ordered envelope, open the second person's **⋯** menu and choose **Same step as the one above**. Everyone in a step gets their link together, and the next step starts when they've all finished.

People who get a copy have no step. They receive the documents at the end.

Reminders only go to people whose step is active. See [Send and track](/docs/sending-for-signature).

## Let a recipient reassign their part

If someone might not be the right person, open their row's **⋯** menu and turn on **Allow them to reassign their part**.

On the signing page, they can then choose **Reassign to someone else** from the **⋯** menu and enter the new person's name and email (and mobile number, if text message verification is on). The new person gets their own link with the same fields and verification, and the original link stops working.

A recipient can only reassign before they've signed, approved or acknowledged. The hand-off is recorded in the audit trail.

## Choose who sees each document

By default, every recipient sees every document in the envelope. To limit a document:

1. Open **Documents**
2. Open the document's **⋯** menu and click **Who can see it**
3. Clear **Everyone** and select the recipients who should see it
4. Click **Save**

Only those recipients see the document, can download it, and can have fields on it. Every signer, approver and person who needs to acknowledge must be able to see at least one document. Add recipients before you set visibility.

## Verify a recipient's identity

> [!NOTE]
> Available on Platform. See [Plans and billing](/docs/plans-and-billing).

You can ask a recipient to confirm who they are before they open the documents. Open their row's **⋯** menu, click **Signer verification…**, and choose:

- **A code sent to their email**
- **An access code you give them.** At least 4 characters. eSignStack doesn't send it, so share it yourself.
- **A code sent by text message.** Enter their mobile number. Not available in test mode.

A shield icon marks recipients with a check. After too many wrong codes, verification pauses for a while. Each attempt is recorded in the audit trail.

## Change recipients after sending

You can fix a name or email, or remove someone who hasn't acted yet, from the envelope's page. See [Send and track](/docs/sending-for-signature#correct-a-sent-envelope).

## Roles on templates

On a template, the **Recipients** stage is called **Roles**. You name each role, such as Tenant or Landlord, and fill in the actual people when you use the template. See [Templates](/docs/templates).