# Fix DocuSign "This envelope has expired" when the envelope still shows sent

## TL;DR
The envelope passed its expiration date, so DocuSign blocks signers even though the sender-side status can lag and still read "sent". Pull the envelope through the API and check for an expiration timestamp to confirm, then create a fresh envelope with a longer expiration window. There is no way to un-expire the old one, so reissuing is the fix.

```text
This envelope has expired
```

## Steps
1. Read the envelope from the DocuSign REST API: GET /restapi/v2.1/accounts/[ACCOUNT_ID]/envelopes/[ENVELOPE_ID].
   Expected: the response shows the envelope's true status; if expiredDateTime is populated, the envelope is past expiry no matter what the UI badge said.
2. Check which expiration applied: the envelope's notification envelopeExpiration settings, and the account default under Settings > Notifications.
   Expected: you find a short expireAfter value, or the default 120 days with a send date older than that.
3. Create a new envelope from the same documents and recipients, this time setting a longer envelope expiration on the send.
   Expected: the new envelope comes back with status "sent" and the signer can open the signing link.
4. If your envelopes routinely run long, raise the account default expiration under Settings > Notifications.
   Expected: future envelopes inherit the longer window automatically.

## Use this when
- A signer reports the "This envelope has expired" page on an envelope you still see as sent
- An envelope sat unsigned for weeks or months and now nobody can sign it
- You corrected or resent an envelope and an old signing link stopped working

## Not for this skill when
- The signer never received the email at all (that's a delivery problem, not expiry)
- The envelope shows as completed, voided, or declined (different terminal states with different fixes)
- You're hitting API errors like authentication failures while sending (that's an auth problem, not expiry)

## Variant phrasings
### docusign envelope expired but status says sent
Same underlying issue: the sender-side status lags the nightly expiration sweep, so "sent" is stale.
### docusign signer link says expired
Usually an old link after a correction superseded the original envelope, or the envelope genuinely aged out.
### how to resend an expired docusign envelope
You can't revive it; create a new envelope from the same documents and recipients.

## Why it happens
DocuSign envelopes carry an expiration date (default 120 days from send, configurable per account and per envelope). A scheduled sweep flips expired envelopes to the expired state, and the sender's list view can show the pre-sweep status for a while. Separately, correcting an envelope creates a new version and invalidates old signing links, which shows signers the same expired page.

## Edge cases
- Corrected envelopes supersede the original: always share the newest signing link, never one from an earlier email.
- Expiration is date-based, not activity-based: a signer opening the link doesn't extend it.
- Completed envelopes are unaffected by expiration; only in-flight ones die.
- If the envelope expired yesterday and everyone is ready to sign, reissuing with the same recipients takes minutes; don't wait on support.

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_xyJRNEbhdPdJWSK-GiuBCQ