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Migrate from BoldSign to Anvil

BoldSign sends from flat PDF templates with fields placed by absolute bounds. Those map cleanly onto Anvil Casts, so the migration is mostly mechanical.

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Install in Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add anvilco/anvil-plugins
/plugin install boldsign-anvil-migration@anvil-plugins

Type both into Claude Code: the first adds Anvil's plugin catalog, the second installs the BoldSign plugin. Then ask Claude to migrate.

The mental model

A BoldSign document sent from a template becomes an Anvil Etch packet built from a Cast, and BoldSign’s roles, positioned form fields, embedded sign links, and webhook events become Anvil signer IDs, field aliases, embedded signers, and webhook actions.

Cast is Anvil's word for a template: a reusable document with named fields your code fills through the API.

Two BoldSign specifics the plugin handles outright

Regional hosts drop out: one global Anvil endpoint replaces eu-api.boldsign.com in your config. Webhooks change shape too, from dashboard setup to programmatic createWebhookAction.

export-boldsign-templates.ts

Downloads your templates as PDFs with a role and field metadata manifest. Standalone, with no BoldSign SDK required.

BoldSign to Anvil, term by term

Most of a migration is vocabulary. Here is the map the plugin works from – it keeps these names straight so you do not have to.

BoldSign	Anvil	What it is
Document (signature request)	Etch packet	The signing transaction. createEtchPacket returns an etchPacketEid.
Template (templateId)	Cast (castEid)	A reusable PDF with positioned form fields.
Role (roleIndex)	Signer id	A named signing slot; in Anvil an arbitrary signer id you map to fields.
signerType (Signer / InPersonSigner)	signerType ('email' / 'embedded')	Whether the signer signs by email or in your app.
Form field (fieldType + bounds)	Field	A signable box positioned by bounds and page number.
Form field id / name	Field alias (aliasId)	Your data key for a field.
existingFormFields	Fill data (data.payloads)	Prefilled field values.
signerOrder	routingOrder	Signing order; equal values sign in parallel.
getEmbeddedSignLink	generateEtchSignURL	The per-signer embedded signing URL.
Completed event	etchPacketComplete	All signers done; documents downloadable.
Sandbox mode	isTest	Watermarked, non-billed test documents.
X-API-KEY	ANVIL_API_KEY	Auth. One key per org, no account discovery. OAuth or child orgs act for a client.

What the rewrite looks like

BoldSign attaches prefill values to roles by field id. Anvil separates the two: signers carry their fields, and prefill data is a keyed payload.

Before – BoldSign

// Fields on a template are attached to ROLES (by roleIndex), not to people.
const body = {
  title: 'NDA for Acme Corp',
  message: 'Hi, please review and sign the attached NDA.',
  enableSigningOrder: true,
  roles: [
    {
      roleIndex: 1,
      signerName: 'Jane Smith',
      signerEmail: 'jane@example.com',
      signerType: 'Signer',
      signerOrder: 1,
      existingFormFields: [{ id: 'CompanyName', value: 'Acme Corp' }],
    },
  ],
  cc: [{ emailAddress: 'records@acme.com' }],
}

const res = await fetch(
  'https://api.boldsign.com/v1/template/send?templateId=tmpl_abc123',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'X-API-KEY': process.env.BOLDSIGN_API_KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  }
)
const { documentId } = await res.json()

After – Anvil

const {
  data,
  errors,
} = await anvilClient.createEtchPacket({
  variables: {
    files: [ ... ],
    data: { ... },
    signers: [ ... ],
  },
})

How the migration runs

The plugin works through six steps, showing you what it found and what it plans to change before it touches your BoldSign integration.

Step 1 of 6

Discovery

Scans your codebase for every integration point – SDK imports, API calls, environment variables, webhook handlers, and database columns holding provider IDs.

Where BoldSign and Anvil differ

No migration is a pure find-and-replace. These are the gaps the plugin raises during mapping – each tagged with what it will cost you to close, from a straight swap to a decision worth making up front.

Works the same – A direct equivalent – nothing to decide.

Minor change – The same capability, reached a different way in the API call.

Plan for rework – Supported, but you will write code for it.

Signing order

Works the same

routingOrder is a direct equivalent; equal values sign in parallel.

Embedded signing

Works the same

getEmbeddedSignLink becomes generateEtchSignURL in AnvilEmbedFrame.

Roles and prefill

Minor change

Roles become signer ids, and existingFormFields becomes a data payload keyed by field alias.

Revoke and void

Minor change

Handled as an app-level state change or a packet void.

White labeling and branding

Minor change

Anvil uses CSS themes: more powerful, but you supply a CSS file.

Document metadata and labels

Minor change

Moves to your own database; you likely track this data already.

CC recipients

Minor change

Becomes a non-signing recipient or an app-level notification.

Embedded request and sending

Plan for rework

createEmbeddedRequestUrl is a sender-side UI for composing documents in-app, a different surface from the sign URL. Low impact if your sending is programmatic, real work if users compose in your app.

Decline to sign

Plan for rework

A straightforward UI addition with custom state at the app level.

Expiration and reminders

Plan for rework

Handled as app-level scheduling if hard deadlines matter.

Bulk send

Plan for rework

A loop over createEtchPacket instead of a batch call; the client handles rate limiting.

Signer authentication (access code, SMS, email OTP, ID)

Plan for rework

Build an auth wall in front of the sign URL if verification is compliance-critical.

OAuth multi-tenant and on-behalf sending

Plan for rework

BoldSign supports acting for another account. Anvil supports this: register an Anvil OAuth app for each tenant to authorize, or give each tenant a child organization with its own API key. Both are Enterprise features.