Read the QCDS Audit Trail

Request/document identity, signer identities/status, invitation history, viewed/signed timing, signing events/hashes, attachment evidence, Identity Verification labels/results, integrity/chain-of-custody information, and schema/version context.

This guide applies to All plans; sender and follows the accepted QC Digital Signature 2.0.7 implementation. Where older walkthrough language differs from the current interface or source behavior, use the current QCDS state as the authority.

Before You Begin

  • Confirm all required signers are complete before troubleshooting finalization; a completion failure is not a request to collect signatures again.
  • Preserve any already-valid Completed PDF while attempting recovery or regeneration.
  • Keep protected Completed Packages and attachment originals in authorized storage rather than exposing them through ordinary public URLs.

Step-by-Step Workflow

  1. Open the completed or completion-recovery Request.
  2. Confirm signer completion and the current artifact/delivery state.
  3. Use the supported recovery, regeneration, download, or evidence-review action.
  4. Verify the resulting artifact and Audit Trail.
  5. Preserve prior valid artifacts and protected attachment originals according to records policy.

Audit Trail Information to Review

  • Request and document identity/reference information.
  • Signer identities, ordering, and completion/status information.
  • Invitation and delivery history, including corrections/retries where recorded.
  • Viewed and signing timestamps that were actually collected.
  • Signing actions and integrity/evidence hashes.
  • Document Attachment records, privacy-presentation state, and attachment hashes.
  • Identity Verification provider/result evidence when Level 2 verification was used.
  • Chain-of-custody/integrity context plus audit schema/version information.

Request/document identity, signer identities/status, invitation history,

A Document Attachment field accepts one PNG or JPEG image from the signer. QCDS preserves the protected original and can append a readable presentation page to the Completed PDF. When “Display attachment in completed PDF” is disabled, the attachment page remains in the evidence flow but its PDF presentation is heavily pixelated/obscured and marked privacy-protected; the original protected attachment is still retained for authorized Completed Package access.

For Read the QCDS Audit Trail, verify this behavior using the actual object involved rather than a generic assumption. A global administrator setting, a sender-workspace preference, a reusable Template, and a sent Request have different ownership and history rules. QCDS is intentionally designed so changes for future work do not silently rewrite the evidence of an already-sent transaction.

The current QCDS workflow preserves the intended result

A Document Attachment field accepts one PNG or JPEG image from the signer. QCDS preserves the protected original and can append a readable presentation page to the Completed PDF. When “Display attachment in completed PDF” is disabled, the attachment page remains in the evidence flow but its PDF presentation is heavily pixelated/obscured and marked privacy-protected; the original protected attachment is still retained for authorized Completed Package access.

For Read the QCDS Audit Trail, verify this behavior using the actual object involved rather than a generic assumption. A global administrator setting, a sender-workspace preference, a reusable Template, and a sent Request have different ownership and history rules. QCDS is intentionally designed so changes for future work do not silently rewrite the evidence of an already-sent transaction.

To verify before relying on this behavior in production

A Document Attachment field accepts one PNG or JPEG image from the signer. QCDS preserves the protected original and can append a readable presentation page to the Completed PDF. When “Display attachment in completed PDF” is disabled, the attachment page remains in the evidence flow but its PDF presentation is heavily pixelated/obscured and marked privacy-protected; the original protected attachment is still retained for authorized Completed Package access.

How This Fits into the QCDS Workflow

QCDS treats completion artifacts as evidence-bearing outputs. Recovery and regeneration rebuild presentation from stored transaction/signing evidence and preserve prior valid artifacts rather than rewriting history.

A completed artifact is not just a visual PDF. It is the presentation of a frozen transaction plus stored evidence; recovery should reconstruct from that evidence instead of creating a new signing event.

Verify the Result

  • Request Details shows the expected lifecycle, participant, Timeline, and delivery state after the action.
  • Provider Test Connection succeeds and a representative Level 2 test follows the expected provider flow.
  • The Completed PDF/Package opens, preserves the signed source and evidence, and the Audit Trail remains readable.
  • A direct follow-up test confirms the change affects future/current workflow behavior without rewriting historical sent Request evidence.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Cancelling/recreating an otherwise valid Request just to repair one failed email address.
  • Leaving transient unsent work and expecting it to appear later as a persistent draft Request.
  • Treating provider-backed Identity Verification as required for every ordinary secure-link signing workflow.
  • Posting provider credentials, webhook secrets, or identity evidence in public diagnostics.
  • Asking signers to sign again when only final PDF generation or completion delivery failed.

Troubleshooting

  • If Level 2 verification fails, use the provider Test Connection and inspect provider/profile/callback configuration; ordinary Level 1 signing and historical evidence should not be reset.
  • If the Request is partly successful, preserve it and repair the failed participant/delivery step. Successful links and recorded history should remain usable.

Operational Best Practice

Test meaningful changes with controlled data before relying on them in production. Keep QCDS, Joomla mail, Scheduled Tasks, and entitlement health observable; preserve successful Requests and completed evidence; and make the smallest change that solves the actual problem. For handoff or support, record the QCDS version, relevant Request/Template reference, the exact action taken, and the visible result without including secrets.

Community Discussion

Want to compare workflows, share practical tips, or discuss how you use this QCDS feature? Visit the QC Digital Signature Community. For private support, bug reports, account-specific issues, or feature requests, use the QuantaCade support system.