Laravel Document Generation & E-Signatures (mrnewport/laravel-docsign)

A config-driven, expandable package for document generation (multiple PDF and template engines) and e-signatures (multiple providers). Ideal for any use case—from real estate lease agreements, NDAs, or HR forms, to finance, legal, and more.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Requirements
• Installation
• Configuration
  • PDF Renderer
  • Template Engine
  • Signature Providers
  • Storage Disk
• Usage
  • Creating a Document
  • Generating a PDF
  • Requesting E-Signatures
  • Handling Callbacks
  • Example Multi-Signer Flow
• Advanced & Unusual Use Cases
  • Versioning Documents
  • Security & Encryption
  • Docker Environments
  • Notifications & Webhooks
• Expandability
  • Custom PDF Engines
  • Custom Template Engines
  • Custom Signature Providers
• Testing
• License

Features

1. Multi-Engine PDFs: DomPDF or wkhtmltopdf (plus custom).
2. Multi-Engine Templates: Blade or Twig (plus custom).
3. Pluggable E-Sign: Local (demo), DocuSign, HelloSign.
4. Config-Driven: Swap engines and providers in docsign.php without editing package code.
5. Storage Disk support for PDF files.
6. Facade-based usage: DocSign::generate(...), DocSign::requestSignature(...), etc.

Requirements

• PHP >=8.1
• Laravel ^11.0
• If using wkhtmltopdf, install the binary on your server/CI environment.

Installation

1. Require the package:

   composer require mrnewport/laravel-docsign
   

2. Publish config (optional):

   php artisan vendor:publish --provider="MrNewport\LaravelDocSign\Providers\DocSignServiceProvider" --tag=docsign-config
   

3. Migrate:

   php artisan migrate
   

Done—you can now generate docs, request signatures, handle callbacks.

Configuration

All config is in src/config/docsign.php (published to config/docsign.php if you run the above publish command). No direct package edits required—just tweak config to your needs.

PDF Renderer

'pdf_renderer' => 'dompdf', // or 'wkhtml' or a custom key
'pdf_options' => [
  'paper' => 'A4',
  'orientation' => 'portrait'
],

• 'dompdf' uses a pure-PHP library.
• 'wkhtml' uses wkhtmltopdf (system binary).
• For custom, see Custom PDF Engines.

Template Engine

'template_engine' => 'blade', // or 'twig' or a custom key

• 'blade' integrates standard Laravel Blade.
• 'twig' uses Twig.
• For your own engine, see Custom Template Engines.

Signature Providers

'signature' => [
  'default' => 'local',
  'providers' => [
    'local' => [...],
    'docusign' => [...],
    'hellosign' => [...]
  ],
],

• 'local' is a demo.
• 'docusign', 'hellosign' are stubs for real external e-sign flows.
• Provide 'api_key' or 'callback_url' as needed.

Storage Disk

'storage_disk' => 'local'

Defines which disk (from config/filesystems.php) to store final PDFs. E.g., 's3' or 'local'.

Usage

Creating a Document

use MrNewport\LaravelDocSign\Models\Document;

$document = Document::create([
    'title' => 'NDA Example',
    'data' => [
      '_template' => 'docsign::nda', 
      'partyA' => 'Company X',
      'partyB' => 'John Doe'
    ]
]);

• title is used for naming the PDF.
• data merges into the template, storing placeholders like 'partyA'.

Generating a PDF

use MrNewport\LaravelDocSign\Facades\DocSign;

$path = DocSign::generate($document);
// merges template -> renders PDF -> saves to disk -> sets doc.status='draft'

Requesting E-Signatures

$signers = [
  ['name'=>'John','email'=>'john@example.com'],
  ['name'=>'Jane','email'=>'jane@example.com']
];

$result = DocSign::requestSignature($document, $signers);
// sets doc.status='signing', returns array e.g. ['url'=>'...']

You might redirect the user to $result['url'] if it’s an external signature page.

Handling Callbacks

1. In config, each provider has a 'callback_url'.
2. The package routes POST /docsign/callback/{provider} to RouteCallbacks@signatureCallback.
3. That calls DocSign::handleCallback($provider, $request).
4. The provider then sets doc.status='completed' (or similar).

Example Multi-Signer Flow

If you need signers in a specific order or multiple separate sign events:

• Your own application logic can track each signer’s completion.
• Possibly re-call requestSignature(...) with the next signer or pass an array with 'order' keys.
• The package’s built-in providers are minimal stubs; advanced signers with multi-step flows are possible if you create a custom provider (or expand the existing ones).

Advanced & Unusual Use Cases

Versioning Documents

If you want doc versioning:

1. Add a version column to documents.
2. Before re-generating, increment doc.version in your application logic.
3. Store old PDFs under a versioned filename.

Security & Encryption

For truly sensitive docs:

• You can implement encryption at rest using a custom disk driver (e.g., S3’s server-side encryption).
• If you need password-protected PDFs, certain renderers or PDF post-processing can do that.

Docker Environments

If using wkhtmltopdf in Docker:

1. Add RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y wkhtmltopdf (or a specialized image).
2. Possibly store the path in .env as WKHTMLTOPDF_PATH=/usr/bin/wkhtmltopdf.
3. The package’s test can skip if wkhtmltopdf isn’t found.

Notifications & Webhooks

Your application can:

• Listen for 'docsign.callback' route and then send emails or Slack messages.
• Fire your own events upon doc creation, signature requested, or completion.

Expandability

Custom PDF Engines

1. Create a class implementing MrNewport\LaravelDocSign\Services\Pdf\PdfRendererInterface.
2. Bind it in your app:

   $this->app->bind('docsign.pdf_renderer.mycustom', function($app){
       return new \App\Pdf\MyCustomRenderer();
   });
   

3. Set 'pdf_renderer' => 'mycustom' in docsign.php.

Custom Template Engines

1. Implement MrNewport\LaravelDocSign\Services\Template\TemplateEngineInterface.
2. Bind in your AppServiceProvider:

   $this->app->bind('docsign.template_engine.markdown', function($app){
       return new \App\Template\MarkdownEngine();
   });
   

3. 'template_engine' => 'markdown'.

Custom Signature Providers

1. Implement SignatureProviderInterface.
2. Add it to config('docsign.signature.providers').
3. No package edits. If 'key' => 'mysigner', then 'class' => \App\Signing\MySignerProvider::class.

Testing

composer test

• DocumentTest: verifies doc creation & PDF generation.
• SignatureTest: checks requestSignature + local callback.
• PdfTest: tests DomPDF or Wkhtml if installed.
• TemplateTest: tests Blade & Twig.

In CI or local dev, ensure you have wkhtmltopdf installed if you want that test to pass. DomPDF-based tests do not require extra binaries.

License

This package is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license. Expand it solely via config or custom classes—never by editing the package’s internal files. Enjoy your dynamic documents and e-sign workflows!