Basic plan

Read receipts

Ask readers to explicitly confirm they received your document.

Read receipts capture an explicit confirmation from your reader that they received a document. Unlike the passive observation of readership analytics, a receipt is an action the reader has to take. It is not legally binding and it is not identity-verified: it records only that someone with access to the link clicked the confirmation button, plus whatever name they chose to type.

Enable receipts for a file

To turn on read receipts, open the file's Configure & Share page and enable "Ask Readers to Confirm Receipt" (askReceipt). Once enabled, your viewers see a "Mark as received" button in the document viewer. When they click it, they may optionally enter their name (up to 80 characters) and submit the confirmation. Confirmations are listed on the Readership page for that document.

Read receipts require your account to be on a paid plan—Basic or higher. If you downgrade to free, the confirmation button stops being served and no new receipts are collected, but existing receipts are preserved. Upgrading restores the button.

How confirmation works

When a reader confirms receipt, they are making an explicit choice. The confirmation form prompts for an optional name; if provided, that name is recorded alongside the receipt timestamp. The reader can dismiss the confirmation panel without confirming—no automatic tracking is involved.

Each reader can confirm receipt only once per document. Receipts are stored one per (document, viewer key), so a repeat confirmation is absorbed: no second row, no second notification, no second webhook. The viewer key is minted per reader per document and stored in the reader's browsing session, so it holds across repeat visits from the same browser for as long as that session lasts. It is not shared between browsers or devices, so the same person confirming from a second device produces a second receipt.

Owner notifications

You are notified by email when a reader confirms receipt of your document. The notification includes the reader's name (if they provided one) and a link to the Readership page for that file. These notifications are throttled—at most one email per document per hour, even if several readers confirm within that window. Only fresh confirmations notify, and confirming from your own signed-in session never does. There is no separate notification switch: turning off "Ask Readers to Confirm Receipt" is what stops the emails.

Webhook events

A fresh confirmation fires a receipt.confirmed webhook event; the payload carries the reader's name (empty when they did not provide one). Repeat confirmations from the same viewer key are absorbed and do not re-emit, and confirmations made from your own signed-in session never emit. See the webhooks documentation for configuring endpoints.