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Making Requests

Fire Arrow Server exposes both a GraphQL API and a standard FHIR REST API. This guide shows you how to interact with each, starting with the simplest requests and building up to common patterns.

All examples below assume the server is running at http://localhost:8080 and that you have a valid Bearer token. If you haven't enabled authentication yet, you can omit the Authorization header for unauthenticated access.

The $me Operation​

The $me endpoint returns the FHIR resource linked to the currently authenticated user. It's the quickest way to verify that your token is working and that identity resolution is configured correctly:

curl http://localhost:8080/fhir/\$me \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>"

The response will be a Patient, Practitioner, or other resource type depending on how the user's identity was resolved.

GraphQL​

Fire Arrow Server's GraphQL API is available at POST /fhir/$graphql. GraphQL is ideal for mobile and web clients that need to fetch exactly the data they want in a single round trip.

Query Example​

Fetch a list of patients with their names:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/fhir/\$graphql \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>" \
  -d '{"query": "{ PatientList { id name { family given } } }"}'

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "PatientList": [
      {
        "id": "123",
        "name": [{ "family": "Smith", "given": ["Jane"] }]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Read a Single Resource​

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/fhir/\$graphql \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>" \
  -d '{"query": "{ Patient(id: \"123\") { id name { family given } birthDate } }"}'

Nested References​

One of GraphQL's strengths is resolving references in a single query. Fetch observations with their linked patient:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/fhir/\$graphql \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>" \
  -d '{"query": "{ ObservationList { id code { text } subject { resource { ... on Patient { name { family given } } } } } }"}'

FHIR REST API​

The FHIR REST API follows the HL7 FHIR RESTful API specification. Use it for standard CRUD operations, or when your tooling expects a FHIR-compliant interface.

Search Patients​

curl http://localhost:8080/fhir/Patient \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>"

Add search parameters to narrow results:

curl "http://localhost:8080/fhir/Patient?family=Smith&birthdate=1990-01-01" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>"

Read a Single Patient​

curl http://localhost:8080/fhir/Patient/123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>"

Create a Patient​

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/fhir/Patient \
  -H "Content-Type: application/fhir+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>" \
  -d '{
    "resourceType": "Patient",
    "name": [{ "family": "Smith", "given": ["Jane"] }],
    "birthDate": "1990-01-01",
    "gender": "female"
  }'

A successful create returns 201 Created with a Location header pointing to the new resource.

Update a Patient​

curl -X PUT http://localhost:8080/fhir/Patient/123 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/fhir+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-token>" \
  -d '{
    "resourceType": "Patient",
    "id": "123",
    "name": [{ "family": "Smith", "given": ["Jane", "Marie"] }],
    "birthDate": "1990-01-01",
    "gender": "female"
  }'

Built-In Tools​

GraphQL Explorer​

If the admin web UI is enabled, you can explore the GraphQL API interactively at:

http://localhost:8080/admin/graphql

The explorer provides schema documentation, auto-complete, and query history -- great for prototyping queries before integrating them into your application.

Swagger UI​

The Swagger UI lets you browse every FHIR REST endpoint, inspect request/response schemas, and execute requests directly from the browser:

http://localhost:8080/fhir/swagger-ui/index.html

Generating Client Code​

Fire Arrow Server exposes both a GraphQL schema and an OpenAPI specification, so you can generate type-safe client code for your application's language of choice.

From the GraphQL Schema​

Use any GraphQL code generator (e.g., GraphQL Code Generator for TypeScript, Apollo Codegen for Swift/Kotlin). Point your generator at the introspection endpoint:

POST http://localhost:8080/fhir/$graphql

From the OpenAPI Spec​

The OpenAPI specification is available at the Swagger UI URL. Use tools like openapi-generator to generate REST clients in dozens of languages:

openapi-generator generate \
  -i http://localhost:8080/fhir/api-docs \
  -g typescript-axios \
  -o ./generated-client

Next Steps​

You now know how to talk to Fire Arrow Server over both GraphQL and FHIR REST. From here, explore: