Is Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) supported for Public and Private DocuSign Web Forms?

Hello ​@Suba123,  

Thank you for reaching out here in the Docusign Community. We’re glad to have you here! I understand that you wanted to clarify if Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) can be used on both Public and Private Web forms. 

To clarify, Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) is partially supported for both Public and Private Web Forms.

Because a user's identity is initially anonymous, they can open and fill out the web form without restrictions. However, once they submit their details and move to the signing step, that is when Docusign will prompt them with KBA security questions. KBA is enforced at the signing stage, and they must pass this check before signing the document.

1. Public Web Forms: Form entry is open to anyone, but KBA is required during the subsequent signing step.

2. Private Web Forms: Form entry is restricted to invited recipients, and KBA is required during the subsequent signing step.

Authentication always occurs after the data entry phase.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions. 

Best regards,
Luke | Docusign Community Moderator
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Hi,

Thank you for the clarification.

I have one follow-up question. When you mention that KBA is required during the subsequent signing step, what exactly does the subsequent signing step refer to in the context of Web Forms?

After a user submits a Web Form, how is the signing ceremony initiated? Is it automatically started as part of the Web Form flow, or does it require additional configuration?

Also, how do we configure the signing step for a Web Form? Is there any specific setting or template configuration required to enable the signing ceremony where KBA is applied?

Thank you!

Hello ​@Suba123, 

Thank you for reaching out with these excellent follow-up questions.

To clarify: this means that users can initially access and fill out the Web Form, but they must pass a strict Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) identity check right before they can sign. 

Here are the direct answers to your questions:

Public Web Forms: After a user clicks "Submit" on the form, Docusign seamlessly and automatically redirects them to the KBA verification screen before they can sign.
Workflow: User fills out the form ➔ Pass KBA Verification ➔ Signature Placed on the Envelope

Private Web Forms: Users cannot access the form via a generic URL. Instead, they access it through a secure email invitation, which then directs them to the KBA verification screen before signing.
Workflow: User accesses the envelope through email notification ➔ Pass KBA Verification ➔ Signature placed on the Envelope

To answer your question, Web Forms inherit settings from your eSignature templates. To apply  Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA), go to your Docusign template, apply your Document, find the recipient row, click Customize, select Add identity verification, and choose KBA, configure the fields on your document. Then follow the steps here in the article to create a web form: https://support.docusign.com/s/document-item?language=en_US&bundleId=gmi1660583110357&topicId=euk1665093155272.html&_LANG=enus

I hope this clarifies your concern! Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m here to help! 

Best Regards, 
Luke | Docusign Community Moderator
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Hi,

Thank you for your explanation. It clarified the KBA workflow for Web Forms.

I have one additional question regarding retrieving the submitted data.

After a user completes and submits the Web Form, an envelope is created. I would like to retrieve the values that the user entered into the Web Form programmatically.

I do not want to manually download the submitted data from the Docusign UI or export it as a CSV or Excel file. My goal is to retrieve the submitted field values automatically using the API in my application.

Could you please clarify the following?

• Is there an API that returns all the submitted Web Form field values?

• Is the recommended approach to first obtain the Envelope ID (for example, using Docusign Connect) and then retrieve the form data from the created envelope?

• Or is there a dedicated Web Forms API that returns the submitted data directly without requiring a manual download from the Docusign UI?

Any recommended workflow or C# sample code would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Hi ​@Suba123,

Yes, there is are separate endpoint to fetch all the instances (listInstances) for a particular Web Form, then a getInstance endpoint to get the details of each Web Form submission including data.  Note that the APIs (and instance IDs) are only available with Advanced Web Forms and the instance must be created via the API, not the public URL.  

Within the response of the getInstance call, you will receive all the formValues as well as an array for “envelopes”, that will list the resulting envelope ID.  Furthermore, there is a ECF automatically created on the envelope with the name “ADM.Form.formSubmissionId” which will include the Web Form Instance ID, making it easy to see the linked Envelope back to the Web Form Instance and vice versa.  Lastly, note that any data changes made within the signing session do synchronize back to the Web Form data to ensure consistent data.

You have several options to get the data for template-linked Web Forms without using the UI:

• Connect via the Envelope Completion - This is likely your easiest option especially if you are already receiving data via Connect.
• Agreement Actions based on the envelope results
• • Note You cannot create the rule based on the underlying template since it’s not accessible via the UI, however you can include a default ECF or hidden read-only field to base the rule on to ensure you only capture the Web Form data.
• The eSign or Web Form API
   

Our example launcher include C# code if you want to test further.  
 

Let us know if you have any additional questions!

-Tim

Hi ​@Suba123, 

I hope you are doing well! I’m checking to see if you still need assistance with this post. 

Please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you. We’re here to help.

Have a great day ahead! 

Best Regards, 

Luke | Docusign Community Moderator
If this helped, mark it as "Best Answer" so others can find it too!