IN THIS ARTICLE
- Create a Document Template
- Create a Service Request Item and Link a Document Template
- Generate and Share Documents From the Agent Portal
- Others
Employees often require official documents, such as salary certificates or proof of employment, for purposes like loan applications, rental agreements, or visa processing. Freshservice streamlines this process by automating document generation. You can create reusable templates and link them to service request items, allowing employees to submit document requests with ease.
What You Learn
This article guides you through the complete setup and usage of the Document Generation feature in Freshservice. You'll learn how to:
Create a document template – Upload a .docx file, configure the template, and add e-signature fields as needed.
Link a document template to a service item – Link templates to service request items to enable employees to request documents.
Generate and share documents from the Agent Portal – Agents can fulfill employee-submitted document requests directly from the portal.
Explore additional capabilities – Review template requirements, use preloaded templates, regenerate documents, and resend them for e-signature if required.
You can use out-of-the-box templates are provided at the end of this article.Create a Document Template
Document templates are workspace-specific. This means templates uploaded in one workspace are only available for use within that workspace and cannot be accessed from others.Perform the following steps to create a new document template:
In your Freshservice instance, navigate to Admin > Service Request Management > Document Templates and eSignatures.
Click New Template.
Enter a template name and a short description.
Upload your .docx file by either:
Dragging it into the designated upload area, or
Click to select the file from your system.
Note: For more information about the template requirements, see Understand Template Requirements.
Once uploaded, a preview of the document is displayed as shown in the image below. Note that all identified placeholders are highlighted for review.
Add e-signature placeholders to the document to collect signatures from the intended recipients. To learn more about adding e-signatures, see Embed e-signatures in documents.
After uploading and reviewing your template, perform the following steps to save and publish the template:
Click Save. The template is stored in draft mode.
To make the template available for service requests, toggle it on from the template list.
Once activated, the template can be linked to a service request item and used in document generation workflows.
Create a Service Request Item and Link a Document Template
Perform the following steps to configure a service request item that employees can use to request official documents:
1. Create a Service Request Item
- Navigate to Admin > Service Request Management > Service Catalog in your Freshservice instance.
- Based on the selected workspace, a list of service categories and service items is displayed. You can either use an existing service item or click Add New to create one. For example, a service item titled Employment Verification Letter allows employees to request a formal letter confirming their employment status.
Once you have finalized the service item, configure its details by providing a suitable name and description under the General Details section as shown in the image below.
2. Add Custom Fields to the Form
- After Drag and drop custom fields onto the service form to collect the data required for document generation.
Configure the field behavior as needed (For example, mandatory, hidden, or conditional). Example custom fields:
Bank Name – The name of the bank requesting verification.
Purpose of Request – Reason for the document, such as a loan application, rental agreement, or visa.
Recipient Email – Email address where the document should be delivered.
3. Configure Fulfillment Settings
This step links the service request form to a document template, enabling automatic document generation when a request is submitted.
In the Settings tab for the service item.
Under Fulfillment Options, select Document.
From the Select or create template drop-down, choose an existing document template or click Add new template to create one.
4. Map Placeholders to Freshservice Fields
After linking your document template to the service request item, the next step is to map each placeholder in the template to the corresponding fields in Freshservice. To begin mapping, click the Edit icon as shown below.
Map each placeholder in the template to a corresponding Freshservice system field. To do this, click the + icon next to each placeholder and select the appropriate field from the list of available options.
Use default fields such as Requester name or Ticket ID.
Include custom fields added to the form, like employment start date or bank name.
You can leave certain placeholders unmapped if the data is unavailable or requires manual verification. Agents can enter these values manually while generating the document, which is useful for fields like salary or other sensitive data.
After mapping the placeholders, click Save to apply your changes.
5. Save and Publish the Service Request Item
- Click Save as Draft to save the service item without publishing it. This allows you to review and finalize configurations, such as field mapping to the document template, before making it available to employees.
- Click Save & Publish to make the service item live on the support portal. Employees can then access the service item and submit document requests. When a request is submitted, it appears as a ticket in the agent’s queue. Agents can generate and share the completed document directly from the ticket.
Generate and Share Documents From the Agent Portal
Open the relevant ticket from the ticket list.
Click Generate document to start the fulfillment process.
The system displays a preview of the document and automatically maps all relevant Freshservice fields to the placeholders in the template, based on service item settings.
Agents review the preview and enter any missing values manually. For example, fields like Job Title or Employment Start Date—which might not be available in Freshservice—can be filled in at this stage, often using information from external systems such as the HR application.
All placeholder fields must have values before proceeding.
Agents can click Update preview to see an updated version of the document with the newly entered information.
Optionally, agents can mark the ticket or request as fulfilled before generating the final document, aligning with other fulfillment workflows.
Click Generate and send to finalize the document. The system will display a default reply message that agents can customize. To modify the reply, click the dropdown arrow next to the Generate and send button.
The generated document is attached to the ticket and is ready to be sent to the requester. Agents can send the document directly from the ticket by clicking Send.
Note:
Agents can regenerate the document from the ticket if any updates or corrections are needed.
When a document is regenerated, the previous version is automatically removed and replaced with the new one on the ticket, ensuring only the latest document is available to both the requester and agent.
Others
Regenerate Documents
In many real-world scenarios, you may need to have a document re-signed by an employee or stakeholder. For example, revised offer letter, employee name or address correction, contract amendment and so on.
In any scenarios where you need to regenerate a document and collect signatures again from the stakeholder, perform the following steps:
On the Service Request Details screen, click the More options icon (three dots).
Select Regenerate Document from the dropdown menu.
On the confirmation window, click Regenerate. Note that this action will consume a new e-sign credit. To learn more about how e-sign credits work across different plans, see Embed e-signatures in documents.
Automate Document Generation
You can configure documents to be generated and sent automatically, if required:
To send documents automatically after generation using pre-mapped fields, enable the Auto-generate document and send it to the requester toggle in the service item settings, as shown in the image below.
To generate documents as part of a workflow, add the Generate document action to your workflow. For step-by-step guidance, see Automate Document Generation Using Workflows.
Understand Template Requirements
Document templates are specific to a workspace. Templates created in one workspace cannot be accessed from another. Ensure you upload and manage templates in the correct workspace, especially if your organization uses multiple workspaces for different departments or business units.
A document template in Freshservice must meet the following requirements:
The file must be in .docx format.
It must include at least one placeholder.
If edits are required, you can remove and re-upload the file.
Understanding Placeholders
- Placeholders are dynamic fields enclosed in double curly braces (for example, {{Requester Name}}) and are later mapped to Freshservice fields or filled in manually. For example,
Dear {{Recipient Name}},
This letter is to confirm that {{Requester Name}} has been employed with us since {{Employment Start Date}} as a {{Job Title}}.
Sincerely,
{{Agent Name}} - Placeholders within the document identify the dynamic fields, such as the requester's forename and surname, that can be replaced with fields directly from the application. For example,
Dear {{Recipient Name}},
I am writing to notify you that {{Requesters Name}} is seeking a visitors visa to the United States and that we are his employer. Ms {{Requester surname}} is a permanent member of staff here since {{Employment Start Date}}.
If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me at {{Phone number}}.
Yours Sincerely,
{{Agent Name}}
Access the Template Library and Linked Service Items
Perform the following steps to manage document templates:
In your Freshservice instance, go to Admin settings in your workspace.
Navigate to Service Management > Document Templates and eSignatures.
In the new screen that appears, all existing templates configured in the workspace are displayed as shown in the image below.
This screen also allows you to view the service items linked to a particular template. If there is more than one service item, click the service items link to view the complete list of linked service items, along with their statuses.
Pre-seeded Templates
Freshservice includes default templates for commonly requested documents based on the workspace type (for example, HR, IT, Finance, Legal, Facilities). These templates are:
Automatically created when a workspace is set up.
Disabled by default—you must customize and activate them before use.
Useful starting points for common scenarios like employment verification or asset requests.
Support Portal Template Library
Through the support portal, you can also access a shared document templates library containing reusable templates from other departments.
Look for the Recommended use cases panel on the right side of the support portal to explore and download templates by department.
Fields Available for Mapping
The following is a list of available fields for mapping.
