Create a document
What this page is — turning a published document type into a new draft: the drawer that does it, what it pre-fills, and the four other ways a document comes into being.
What it is for — so every agreement starts from the approved template, with the right fields, lifecycle and branding attached, rather than from last year's copy with this year's names typed over.
The problem it solves — starting from last year's copy carries over last year's names, numbers and mistakes.
Route: /org/papers/documents → New Document · Permission:
Create documents from a type..
1. What it is
A document is an instance of a document type. The split is the whole model:
| The type | The document | |
|---|---|---|
| Holds | Template wording, field schema, lifecycle, branding, behaviour | The values, parties, versions, attachments and audit trail |
| Built by | An administrator, once, in the Type Designer | Anyone with create rights, many times |
| Changes | Through a new published version | Through its own lifecycle |
| Example | "Mutual NDA (India)" | "NDA with Acme Corp" |
The drawer asks only what cannot be guessed or changed later: which type, and what to call it. Everything else happens in the workspace, where there is room for it.
The type supplies the template, the fields and the lifecycle, so changing it would discard everything entered. And there is currently no way to delete a document — the Delete drafts permission appears in the role editor, but has no delete action behind it. A document created from the wrong type stays in the list. Pick carefully.
2. Why you would use it
Documents written from scratch, or from a previous copy, drift. Clauses negotiated away come back, numbering is invented, and nobody can tell which wording was the approved one.
- The approved wording is the only wording on offer. A draft starts from the type's current published template, so an unapproved clause has nowhere to come from.
- Known facts arrive pre-filled. Field defaults and merge sources fill themselves on creation — a
field marked
auto: customer.namealready holds the CRM value. - The lifecycle is attached from the first second. Approvals, signature and numbering rules apply because the type says so, not because someone remembered.
- It is safe. Creating a draft sends nothing, numbers nothing and makes nothing live.
3. How a document comes into being
The drawer is one of five routes, and they all produce the same thing: a draft of a type.
| Route | Starts from | See |
|---|---|---|
| New Document | A type you pick | This page |
| Capture Inbox | A scan, emailed PDF, photo or recording, classified and converted | Capture inbox |
| Intake forms | A form submission | Intake forms |
| Generation triggers | A platform event, such as an order being placed | Generation triggers |
| Amend, renew, addendum | An existing document | Amend, renew, supersede |
Every route fires the paper.created webhook. Amendments, renewals and addenda carry origin and
parent_document_id on it, so an integration can link parent and child. The one exception is Renew on
the Obligations page, which does not fire it.
4. Step by step
- New Document — top right, or the bottom action bar on a phone.
- Document type — pick from the list.
- Title — name it so a colleague can find it: counterparty and subject.
- Create Document. You land in the workspace.
What exists the moment you press it:
| Exists | Does not exist yet |
|---|---|
A document in the type's initial state — draft | A document number |
| Field defaults and merge-source values | A sealed PDF or verification code |
An audit trail with a created event | Any email, share link or portal invitation |
| A row in the list | Obligations |
5. Field reference
| Field | Control | Required | Offered values | Refusal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document type | Picker | Yes | Types whose status is active and which have a current published version. Draft and retired types are not offered | type has no published version |
| Title | Text | Yes | Free text; renameable later while the document is editable | title is required — spaces alone count as empty |
Empty state — "No published types available — publish one in the Type Designer first." appears under the picker when the project has no active type.
Buttons — Create Document is disabled while saving; Cancel is disabled mid-save so a half-finished create cannot be abandoned.
What pre-fills
| Source | Shown as | Editable |
|---|---|---|
| A field's default value in the schema | The value in the field | Yes |
| A merge source mapped to a platform record | An auto: … tag on the label | Yes — the value can be overridden |
| The parent document, for an amendment or renewal | Every field value copied | Yes |
6. Worked example
A sales operations lead needs a mutual NDA for a new prospect, Contoso Ltd, before a demo on Friday.
- New Document → type Mutual NDA (India). The picker shows seven types; the Mutual NDA (UK) type is missing because its owner retired it last month.
- Title: "NDA — Contoso Ltd — Product demo 2026", rather than "NDA 3", because in six months someone will search for "Contoso".
- Create Document.
The workspace opens in draft. Disclosing party already reads the lead's own company, from the
merge source. Term (months) reads 24, the type's default. Nothing else is filled. The list shows the
new row with — in the Number column.
The lead fills the counterparty, the effective date and the purpose, then submits. Had they picked the UK type by mistake, there would be no way to delete the draft — they would rename it "VOID — created in error" so nobody picks it up.
7. The admin contract
| Must be true | Where | What breaks without it |
|---|---|---|
| The role holds Create documents from a type. | Role editor | No New Document button at all |
| At least one type is active with a published version | Type designer | The picker is empty |
| The type has a field schema | Field schema | The workspace opens with nothing to fill |
| The type's template has content | Template builder | The preview is blank |
| Merge sources are mapped to real records | Field schema | auto: fields arrive empty |
| A numbering sequence is set, if the type uses one | Behaviour settings | Nothing fails now — documents finalize without a number later |
8. Downstream
| After creation… | Happens |
|---|---|
| The type publishes a new version | This document keeps the version it was created from |
| The type is retired | This document keeps working; new documents cannot be made from it |
| The document is finalized | A number and seal are allocated then, not now |
9. Don't confuse this with…
| Creating a document type | Building the template, in the Type Designer. This creates one document from a type |
| Uploading an attachment | A file riding alongside. A document is generated from a template and has a lifecycle |
| Capture inbox | For content that already exists as a file |
10. Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| The type picker is empty | No type is active with a published version |
| The type I want is missing | It is still a draft, or has been retired |
| title is required | The title is empty or only spaces |
| type has no published version | The type was retired or unpublished between opening the drawer and pressing Create |
| I created it from the wrong type | It cannot be changed or deleted. Rename it clearly and start again |
An auto: field is empty | The merge source had no value for this context |
| New Document is missing | Your role lacks Create documents from a type. |