DocuSign template fields not populating when creating draft envelope via Zapier (textTabs sent but document stays empty)

Post / Question

Hi everyone,

I’m having an issue with Zapier + DocuSign where everything appears to work correctly from an API/Zapier perspective, but the document fields inside the template are not being populated.

What I’m trying to do

• Use Zapier to create a Draft Signature Request in DocuSign

• Pull data from Productive

• Insert that data into a DocuSign template (Engagement Letter)

• Save the envelope as Draft

What works

• The envelope is successfully created

• The template is correctly attached

• The envelope status is created

• In Zapier Data In, I can clearly see textTabs being sent, for example:

  textTabs::true::Contact / Client Lead::Client::1 textTabs::true::Budget date::Client::1 textTabs::false::Engagement Date::Client::1

• No errors from DocuSign or Zapier

The problem

• The document fields remain empty in the generated draft

• Even though:

  • Fields are Text fields

  • Read Only = OFF

  • Assigned to the correct Recipient Role (Client)

  • Data Label names match exactly what Zapier sends

  • Mapping is done via Text Tabs, not recipient metadata

What I already checked / tried

• Removed Read Only from all fields

• Verified Data Label names (case-sensitive, exact match)

• Confirmed Zapier is sending textTabs (visible in Data In)

• Refreshed fields and reselected the template in Zapier

• Confirmed DocuSign account settings do not restrict prefill

• Confirmed recipient role is correct

• Envelope is created without errors
   

Question

Has anyone experienced a case where:

• textTabs are sent correctly

• Envelope is created successfully

• But template fields stay empty?

Is this a known DocuSign template/editor bug, and is the only real fix to recreate the template from scratch?

Any insight or confirmation would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!