Genie Snap® Documentation
What Genie Snap Does
Genie Snap builds intake processes from a description or a Word or PDF document. People fill out a web form, and each submission fills in your original document, ready for signature. Every submission is tracked and routed from one dashboard and available to your other systems through the form's API, with nothing else to buy or build. You install it on your own servers: on-premises, in your cloud, or fully air-gapped.
The web form, its REST API, and the document template are generated together, so they always match. Each form is served at its own link by the platform itself. Throughout this documentation, a workflow means a generated form together with its API and document template. It is built for organizations that need to keep control of their data, including defense, healthcare, financial services, government, utilities, and industrial environments.
Building the form, API, and document uses fixed rules, not an AI model, so the same text always produces the same result. A language model can optionally draft the text from a short description; it never builds the outputs. Workflows are built and run on your own servers, with no GPU required. The only outbound connections are email, which can go through your own mail server, plus Stripe, single sign-on, and a hosted language model if you use them. Single sign-on and the language model can also stay inside your network.
Whether you start from a document, a block of text, or a description, every generated workflow opens in the editor for your team to review before it goes live. From there, clients and teammates submit, sign, pay, and respond, and your team reviews, assigns, approves, rejects, requests more information, or reopens each submission.
New here? Start with Quickstart and generate your first workflow.
Guides: this page covers getting started, the dashboard, forms, submissions, tasks, todos, notifications, and portals. These topics have their own guides:
- Form Editor Guide: layout, element types, rules and lists, and the integration button
- eSignature Guide: signer fields, saved signer lists, signing order, reminders and expiration, the audit log, and the certificate seal
- Teams and Permissions Guide: teams, members, the seven permissions, and transferring ownership
- Integrations Guide: the integration button, lookup lists, chained submissions, push email, and webhooks
- Records Retention and Legal Holds: retention rules, legal holds, and Retention Review
- API Reference: API keys, submissions, document generation, and the eSignature API
Quickstart
- First, use one of the workflow generation services.
- Second, the form opens with an editor to customize the document template, elements, appearance, lists, rules, and other parts.
- Third, when finished editing, select 'Save' and the form will appear in your Dashboard Forms list.
- Fourth, open the Form from Dashboard Forms, fill and submit to create a record in your Dashboard Submission list.
Guidance: The forms can also be opened from the Dashboard Submission list, links sent through email, links placed on sites, and a portal.
Signing In
Sign-in starts with your email address. Enter it, accept the Cookie Policy and Terms of Service, and select Continue. Genie Snap then shows the sign-in method for your account:
- Single sign-on (SSO): If your organization has connected its identity provider (for example Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Auth0, Keycloak, or AD FS), select Continue with SSO and sign in with your organization account. If you're already signed in to your organization, this usually completes without asking for your password again.
- Email code: For every other account, and whenever you select Use an email code instead, validate the captcha, select Login, and enter the one-time access code sent to your email.
Select Change at any point to go back and use a different email address.
Languages
Sign-in, the access-code and profile panels, Document Setup, the signing page, and the emails Genie Snap sends are shown in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, or Portuguese, following your browser's language. If your browser asks for a language the site doesn't have, the site's default language is used. Your administrator can add more languages.
- Your forms and documents stay in the language you wrote them in. Only Genie Snap's own text is translated.
- On a generated form, the sign-in, access-code, and profile panels follow the person's browser language. Forms saved before this was added show English panels until they are saved again.
- Email text your team writes, such as a Welcome Member email or a renewal message, is sent as written.
- For eSignature, you choose each signer's email language. See eSignature Languages.
Signing In While You Work
Document Setup, the form editor, and forms opened from a link ask you to sign in only when they need to know who you are, for example when you save a form, use a saved signer list, or send a signature request. On these pages, single sign-on opens in a small separate window so everything you've entered stays in place. When sign-in finishes, the window closes and you continue where you left off. If your browser blocks the window, allow pop-ups for this site and try again, or use an email code instead.
Guidance: People signing an eSignature request sign in again every time they open a signing link, with single sign-on or an email code, and the email address they sign in with must match the one the request was sent to. See Signer Authentication & Signing Experience.
Generate and Use Workflows
Generate Workflow
Guidance: When each workflow generates, the editor opens to allow the requestor to customize the form and document template. The form and the editor is always accessible from the Dashboard Forms list.
1. Build From a File (File-to-Workflow)
Guidance: Each 'File-to-Workflow' is a standard docx, doc, rtf, or pdf file that has been tagged.
- Select the menu from the right-side of the drop zone for a list of predefined files.
- Select the file to generate, and the editor opens in a separate browser tab.
- Or, download the file to examine how variables are applied to generate the workflows.
- Follow these examples creating a new file, or use a file you already have. Tag, and then drop the file into the zone to generate a form.
2. Build From Text (Text-to-Workflow)
Guidance: Use 'Text-to-Workflow' to write text directly into the input area, or type into notepad and then copy and paste into the input area.
- Select the example menu to insert into the Text-to-Workflow input area.
- Write tagged text, or write text and let the Genie automatically tag the text.
- Select 'Generate', and the editor opens in a separate browser tab.
- Use the examples to learn how text is tagged.
- Use predefined, edit predefined, or provide custom instructions. Do what works for you.
- Form access is granted to any authenticated user and may be limited by the deployment option.
Form Deployment and Opening Options
Option 1: Open from Dashboard Forms by selecting the form's name whether active or inactive.
Option 2: Open from Dashboard New Submission Dropdown by selecting the form's name. Forms only appear in New Submission list when activated from Dashboard Forms.
Option 3: Open from Portals that have been configured from Dashboard Portals.
Option 4: Open from Email Link, or Site Link by sending the link through email or placing the link on a site for clients to select.
Form Submission Persona Modes
Persona 1: Edit Mode generates a document with edit mode watermark and will not submit a Submission to the Dashboard. This is useful for testing form interaction.
Persona 2: Unverified Email Address generates a document with unverified email watermark and will submit a Submission to the Dashboard. This lets the user know that they need to verify their email address.
Persona 3: Normal Mode and Verified Email Address generates a document without watermark and will submit a Submission to the Dashboard.
Online Sandbox
Enter and confirm your email address to start using the online sandbox immediately, for free. It is for evaluation, not production use. Workflow generation, the editor, document generation, eSignature, the API, tasks, and portals are all included. Single sign-on is available in self-hosted installations. The sandbox holds up to 50 Forms and 2,000 stored Submissions.
- Everything you build in the sandbox moves with you. Select Download Form in Dashboard Forms to save a form complete with its rules, document, and API contract, then select HTML File Upload in any other Genie Snap installation to add it there. Event integrations are not included, and lists that come from integrations may need to be rebound after uploading.
- Form and Submission limits are assessed independently. Reaching the Form limit stops additional Forms from being added, and reaching the Submission limit stops additional submissions from being saved. You can still view and work with everything already in the sandbox.
- When you're ready to go further, download Genie Snap and receive a free 1-month trial license to evaluate it on your own servers, with higher limits for testing, including load testing.
Dedicated License
To use Genie Snap in production, install it on your premises or in your own cloud environment with an annual license. Licensing is per database cluster, and a free 1-month trial license is available for evaluation. Partners use the free Partner Demo license for demos and proofs of concept. See License Terms.
Annual License: Requires software download and license to install on your premises or cloud environment.
Dashboard
The Dashboard is the initial landing area for team members. When a user lands in the Dashboard, information is collated for that user. The user is then provided with a view of all related submissions, tasks, todos, and notifications. User access to the Dashboard is controlled by team membership. End-user access to the forms does not require team membership, and any authenticated user can use the forms.
Menu Items down the left-side of the page allows the user to work in each of those areas.
Snapshots provide top 10 items. The remainder of the information is available by selecting that section from the menu item.
New Submission is available at the top of each page, and allows team members to submit same as clients. Forms will display in this list when activated from Dashboard Forms.
Filter Submissions is available from the top of each page. Members enter search parameters and are then navigated to the submission list.
Profile is opened from the icon in the top right corner. First name, last name, phone number, and role / title are required; address and company are optional. An eSignature request can't be sent until the sender's profile is complete. When you sign in with single sign-on, details your organization's directory provides are filled in and shown read-only. Please communicate this with your team members as this will include the user's name in the lists instead of just the user's email address.
Workflows
Workflows are initially generated using 'Workflow Request', 'Ready Made Forms', 'Generate Workflow From File' or 'Generate Workflow from Text' generation services. These services are available from the site's home page and the Build From Text or a File page, or by selecting 'Generate' link that is located immediately above the Forms list on the Dashboard Forms page. Select the Save button from the form that was opened with the generation service to place it in Forms list. The form is then available to open and fill by using any of the following:
From the Forms list by selecting the name, whether active or inactive.
From the Submission List when the form is active.
From Link send through email or setup on a web page. Get the form's link by going to the Dashboard Forms list record, then select and get the 'Form URL'.
From Genie Snap Portal see portals section for more details. Portals can be arranged with related forms making it easy for clients to select the form that is needed.
Need More Workflows
Select Generate Workflow and then select from 'Workflow Request', 'Ready Made Forms', 'Generate Workflow from File' or 'Generate Workflow from Text' generation services. When saved, the form is added to form's list.
Need to Import a Form
Select HTML File Upload to import a form that originated from Download Form.
Form Record
Record Select Checkbox is used only for 'Bulk Delete'.
Name was entered when the form was saved or was updated from the editor by selecting . Selecting the name opens the form allowing submission whether the Form is active or inactive.
Description was applied when the form was saved or was updated from the editor by selecting Description. Use the description to provide clear meaning to your form.
Record Owner and Team is initially set to the user that generated and saved the form to their default team. The team can be changed from the editor by selecting .
Note: A Default Team, '_Default Team' is created when a user is created. The Default Team's name and description cannot be edited nor deleted, and your username cannot be deleted from the Default Team's Team Members. You can add, edit and delete additional Default Team's Team Members on your Default Team. However, you may only edit your Name and Role on the Default Team or any Team that you own.
Guidance: A Team is assigned to each Form. One Team can go across all Forms, or there could be specific Teams for one or more Forms. For example, a Finance Team may be assigned to financial type Forms. There could be departments or other groupings that are needed to associate Teams to Form types. You can always delete Teams, create other Teams, and reassign Teams to Forms. Fewer teams generally make more sense. Each user can create up to 100 Teams in total, counted across every Team they have created.
Active controls whether this form displays in 'New Submission'. Selecting active from the list will activate / deactivate as well as setting to active from within the editor .
Operations
Copy Form is used to make a copy of the form/workflow and add it to the list. The copy can then be edited to meet the new requirements.
Delete Form will remove the form from the list but does not delete submissions created from this form. A form can't be deleted while any of its submissions is on legal hold.
Download Form can be used in any Dashboard by selecting 'HTML File Upload' and upload into the form list.
Download Integration Contract is used to integrate and create submissions from other sources.
Edit Form opens the editor.
Edit Record is used to make changes to the Name, Description, Active status, change Team, and get the Form's link.
Records Retention sets how long the form's submissions are kept after they are closed, and what happens then. It is shown only to the team owner. See Records Retention.
Records Retention
A retention rule sets how long a form's submissions are kept after they close, and whether they are then listed for review or deleted automatically. See the Records Retention and Legal Holds guide.
In-App Payments
Guidance: Any form can be setup to collect in-app payments from your clients. All that is required is for Team Owners to setup a Stripe Connected Account from their Teams Dashboard. Then set any Team connected Form to collect specific or variable amount payments. When clients submit, they are routed to Stripe Checkout to make payment. When client payments succeed, funds are deposited into the Team Owner's Stripe connected account.
First, setup Stripe Connected Account - This is to be used by the Team Owner. The user must select the Wallet icon from any Team of which they are the Team Owner. The user is then routed to Stripe's Connected Account setup - see Stripe's documentation for further instructions. Once completed, the user is routed back to the Team Dashboard to confirm.
Second, set Forms to Collect Payments - Forms are connected to Teams and therefore any Forms connected to any Team Owner's Teams are eligible to collect payment. Navigate to Forms and select Form Edit. Then go to the 2nd icon on the Form Editor's menu and select 'In App' payment:
- Select 'Collect Payments From Clients'.
- Enter specific amount or {{elementId}} for 'Form Charge Amount'.
- Enter specific description or {{elementId}} for 'Charge Description'.
- Open 'Save Edits' menu and select checkbox 'Replace existing file and make new version of file being replaced.', and then select 'Save'.
Collect Form Payment:
- Client selects submit.
- Stripe's payment checkout page is displayed with the 'Form Charge Amount' and 'Charge Description' displayed on Stripe checkout.
- On Successful Payment funds are deposited in the Team Owner's account and the client is routed back to the HTML Form.
- On Cancel or Failure the payment is cancelled or abandoned depending on whether client selects back which navigates back to form, or closes the browser before completing payment.
Submissions
Submissions are generated when clients submit from a form or API - see Download Integration Contract in the Forms section.
When a submission is created, it is automatically set to open, and a task is created.
The submission will display with 'new' in the list until that submission is selected.
The submissions are assigned to the team that the form specifies.
This allows any Team Members that open the Submission List to work with the records in their view.
Submission Record
Record Select Checkbox is used for 'Bulk Download', 'Bulk Delete', and placing Legal Holds.
Legal hold A red Legal hold badge after the form name means the submission is on legal hold and can't be deleted.
Form is the form from which the form submission originated.
Team is the team that the submission is assigned and this was set by the form's team membership.
Requestor the client that submitted the form.
Date Columns Open occurs when the submission is created, or when the submission is reopened. Once a submission is set to Completed, the Opened date will be empty. Pending will remove the date from In Progress. In Progress date is set for any task that is started.
Description Use to describe the submission. Select to update description.
Comments Comments are cumulative. The submission displays the last comment, and selecting from the status displays the status and comment history. Select Comment to add a comment.
Status Status is cumulative. The submission displays the last status and selecting displays the status and comment history. Status is automatically updated as actions occur.
Operations
Submission Details Work with document, attachments, and other information submitted by requestor and team members with all versions.
Open Shortcut opens the form with the most recent submission and allows updates. A version history is stored for form input data, and generated documents are stored for each submission.
Create and Manage Tasks allows team members to assign task, approval, request information, pend, close, and reopen submissions.
Reassign to Different Team allows team members to reassign the submission to a different team.
Delete Submission removes all the submission data from the system. A submission on legal hold can't be deleted; 'Bulk Delete' skips held submissions and says how many were kept.
Renewals
A submission can have up to two renewals, shown as links on the Submission record under Renewals: a Submission Renewal and a Signature Renewal. The Scope field on the renewal dialog identifies which one is being edited — submission or signature — and is read‑only. Selecting either link opens the renewal for that scope, where the due date, frequency, and notification settings are configured.
Name and Description label the renewal for your own reference and do not affect notifications.
Frequency Unit is fixed to month and is read‑only. Frequency Units is the number of months between each renewal — up to 240 (20 years) — and is used together with Renewal Due Date to calculate the next due date.
Renew advances the Renewal Due Date forward by the configured Frequency Units from the current due date, without saving any other changes. Submit saves the renewal, including any updated due date.
Name the Email Is From, Renewal Notify Email Address, Renewal Email Subject, and Renewal Email Message configure the notification that is sent as the due date approaches. Multiple notify addresses can be entered.
Notification Schedule The system monitors renewal due dates and automatically emails the configured recipients, with a link back to the submission, on the following schedule relative to the Renewal Due Date:
- 30 days before due
- 14 days before due
- 2 days before due
- On the due date
- 1 day after due (late)
- 2 days after due (late)
Legal Holds and Retention Review
A legal hold keeps a submission from being deleted. Retention Review lists submissions that have reached the end of their retention period. Both are covered in the Records Retention and Legal Holds guide.
Tasks
Tasks are used to assign work to submissions. Tasks also display in the calendar.
- Assign a submission to a team member.
- Request approval from team member or client.
- Request additional information from a team member or client.
- Pend, open, or close a submission.
- Send for signature.
Task Record
Form the type of form that the submission was created.
Description is the submission description.
Team is the team that was assigned to the submission which either defaulted to the form team or submission reassigned team.
Requestor the client that submitted or updated submission.
Created is the date the task was created.
Due is the date a user sets when creating the task.
Statement is text that is either system generated or manually entered by the person that created the task.
Assigned is the user the task is assigned.
Completed is the date that is automatically recorded when the task is completed.
Response is a user's response that is applied using .
Operations
Submission Details Work with document, attachments, and other information submitted by requestor and team members with all versions.
Edit Task allows user to review task and update with a response.
eSignature
Route one document, or several as one envelope, to signers in order, from any submission or from a document you drop into Document Setup. Each signer signs in, consents to electronic records, and completes only their own fields; signers who haven't signed are reminded automatically, and a request can be set to expire. Every step is recorded in an audit log, and the finished PDF is sealed with your organization's certificate.
The full guide has its own page: Genie Snap eSignature Guide. It covers PDF text tags, Document Setup, signing from a form submission, signing order, the signer experience, tracking, reminders and expiration, the status lifecycle, the audit trail, and the certificate seal.
Todo List
Todo list is used to set personal tasks. Todos also display in the calendar
Todo Record
Form the type of form that submission was created.
Description is the submission description.
Team is the team that was assigned to the submission which either defaulted to the form's team or submission reassigned team.
Requestor the client that submitted or updated submission.
Created is the date the task was created.
Due is the date a user sets when creating the task.
Statement is text that is either system generated or manually entered by the person that created the task.
Assigned is the user the task is assigned.
Completed is the date that is automatically recorded when the task is completed.
Response is a user's response that is applied using .
Operations
Submission Details Work with document, attachments, and other information submitted by requestor and team members with all versions.
Edit Task allows user to review task and update with a response. Not available for Todo.
Open Details Work with document, attachments, and other information submitted by requestor and team members with all versions. Not available for Todo.
Notifications
Notifications are automatically set by the system when a task or todo is due or near due.
Notification Record
Created is the date the notification was created.
Due is the task or todo due date.
Status is either Due or Late.
Type is either Task or Todo.
Title is displayed for those items having a title.
Description for the Task is what is set on the response and for the Todo is the Todo's description.
Note is applied by selecting .
Operations
Delete Notification delete the notification, but if the Task or Todo is still due, the notification will generate on next cycle.
Edit Notification review the notification and apply notes.
Edit Task go to the Task related to this notification.
Calendar
The calendar displays tasks that are assigned to you and your team, and displays the todos you have set for yourself. The calendar is accessible by selecting from the main menu, or by selecting the date located near the top right corner.
Teams
Each form belongs to a Team, and Team Members' permissions decide who can manage its forms, submissions, and tasks. Creating teams, adding members, setting permissions, and transferring ownership are covered in the Teams and Permissions guide.
Portals
A portal is a link that Genie Snap generates for a set of forms you choose. Opening the link shows those forms, and the person selects the one they need, so you share one link instead of a separate link for each form. Portals are served by Genie Snap itself; there is no website to build or host.
- Create portals from Dashboard Portals and choose the forms each one offers.
- A team can have several portals, with the same forms or different ones, for whatever purposes the team needs, such as one per client, service area, or audience.
- Share a portal's link by email or place it on your website.
- Clients sign in with single sign-on or an emailed one-time code, then select a form to fill out and submit. They don't need Team membership.
- Each submission goes to the Team assigned to that form, the same as a submission made from the form's own link. See Form Deployment and Opening Options.
Guidance: Use a portal whenever one link should lead to several forms. Team members work the resulting submissions from the Dashboard as usual.
Integrations and API
The API Reference covers API keys, submissions, document generation, and the eSignature API with webhooks. Integrations set up in the dashboard without code, such as the form's integration button, external lookup lists, internal submission generators, push emails, and push integrations, are covered in the Integrations guide.
Account Delete
ACCOUNT DELETE IS UNRECOVERABLE.
Select 'Account Delete' to delete 'All' Forms, Submissions, Tasks, Notifications, Portals and Team Members for all Teams where you are the 'Team Owner'. This action also deletes all your Todo. Once this action completes, you will also be immediately signed out.
** Account Delete does not delete any data from where you are not the 'Team Owner'.
Account Delete is refused while any submission in a team you own is on legal hold. Release the holds, or transfer ownership of those teams, first.