Form Actions

A form that only collects data is just a survey. The real value is what happens next. When a requester clicks Submit, form actions determine the outcome: generate a contract from a template, create a contract for playbook review, import an external agreement into the repository, or redirect to another form.

Each form can have multiple actions, and each action can have its own conditions. This means a single form can produce different outcomes depending on how the requester answers.

Pactly supports six action types. Each action is configured in the Actions tab of the form builder.

Generates a contract from a Pactly template. The template’s variables are populated with form field values through field mappings. The generated contract enters the repository in Draft status.

Configuration:

• Template - Select which template to generate from
• Send to user - Email the generated document to the form submitter
• Send to emails - Send to additional email addresses
• Assign contract to - Set the contract owner (a specific Pactly user)
• Condition - Only generate when the condition passes (see Conditional Logic)

This is the most common action type. It powers the full intake-to-contract automation: requester fills form, Pactly generates the contract, and it’s ready for review.

Creates a contract for playbook review from a document the requester uploads. The form includes a file upload field (automatically added when you create this action type), and the uploaded document becomes the contract. The contract enters the repository in a status determined by the workflow.

Configuration:

• Initialize playbook review - Automatically start a playbook review round on the created contract
• Assign contract to - Set the contract owner
• Condition - Only create when the condition passes

Use this when the counterparty provides the contract (third-party paper) and your team needs to review it against your playbook.

Imports a document the requester uploads as an external contract. This is for agreements that are already finalized or need to be tracked in the repository without going through the template/playbook flow.

Configuration:

• Status - Set the imported contract’s initial status:
  • Pending (status 3) - The contract requires approval before it’s considered active
  • Executed (status 5) - The contract is already fully executed
• Execution date - For executed contracts, the date of execution
• Assign to user - Set the contract owner
• Condition - Only import when the condition passes

Use this for intake forms that collect already-signed agreements (e.g., “Upload your executed vendor agreement for our records”).

Generates a document from a template and attaches it to the contract created by another action on the same form. This does not create a standalone contract.

Configuration:

• Template - The template to generate
• File name - The attachment file name
• Send to user - Email the generated attachment to the form submitter
• Send to emails - Send to additional email addresses
• Condition - Only generate when the condition passes

Use this when a form submission should produce both a primary contract and supplementary documents (e.g., a cover letter, a schedule, or a compliance checklist).

Redirects the requester to another URL or another Pactly form after submission.

Configuration:

• Redirect to URL - An external URL to redirect to
• Redirect to form - Another Pactly form to redirect to (the requester fills the next form immediately)
• Condition - Only redirect when the condition passes

Use this for routing: if the requester’s answers indicate they need a different process (e.g., procurement instead of legal), redirect them to the appropriate form.

Allows the requester to search and select existing contracts from the repository. The selected contracts are linked to the form entry.

Configuration:

• Category IDs - Restrict which contract categories are available for selection
• Property IDs - Which contract properties to show as context in the picker
• Condition - Only show when the condition passes

Use this when the form is about an existing contract rather than creating a new one (e.g., “Select the contract you’d like to amend”).

A form can have multiple actions of different types. When the form is submitted:

1. Pactly evaluates each action’s condition against the form answers
2. All actions whose conditions pass will execute (not just the first match)
3. Actions without conditions always execute

Execution order: Base document actions run first, then attachment generation, then remaining actions. This ensures attachments can be linked to the contract created by the primary action.

A single “New Agreement” form with four actions:

1. Generate “Mutual NDA” template, condition: Agreement Type = Mutual NDA
2. Generate “One-way NDA” template, condition: Agreement Type = One-way NDA
3. Generate “MSA” template, condition: Agreement Type = MSA
4. Redirect to procurement form, condition: Agreement Type = Procurement

The requester selects their agreement type, fills in the details, and submits. Pactly generates the correct contract or redirects to the right form. Only one action fires because the conditions are mutually exclusive.

Each action (except Create, Request, and External types) has an active/inactive toggle. Deactivating an action keeps its configuration but prevents it from executing on submission. This is useful for temporarily disabling an action without deleting it.

When a form is submitted and actions execute, Pactly also:

1. Maps field values to contract properties (see Field Mappings)
2. Creates or links parties from party fields, with their assigned roles
3. Triggers workflows (e.g., approval workflows, notification rules, assignment rules)
4. Sends notification emails to configured recipients (unless auto-archive/auto-delete is enabled)
5. Auto-archives or auto-deletes the entry if enabled in form settings

The specific workflow events triggered depend on the action type:

• Generate/Create actions trigger contract-created workflow events
• External actions trigger external-contract-created events (with or without approval, depending on the status setting)
• All submissions trigger a general form-submitted event

• Conditional Logic
• Field Mappings and Naming
• Creating a Form
• Forms Overview