A throwaway endpoint for FHIR rest-hook notifications

fhir-candle is a small in-memory FHIR server with a built-in Subscriptions reference implementation, which makes it the quickest way to see real notifications land here.

No interest in running anything locally? subscriptions.argo.run hosts the same fhir-candle software, with SubscriptionTopic/encounter-complete already loaded at /fhir/r4b — skip straight to step 2 below with that base URL. It's shared, third-party infrastructure Notifyr doesn't control, so the local walkthrough is the one that's always reproducible and gives you server-side logs when something doesn't arrive.

Create an endpoint first — the sample in step 2 then arrives pre-filled with its own URL, on its dashboard.

1. 1

   Start fhir-candle with the subscriptions reference implementation

   fhir-candle --reference-implementation subscriptions -o

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   It serves R4B at http://localhost:5826/fhir/r4b and -o opens its UI in a browser.

2. 2

   Create a Subscription pointing at your webhook URL

   PUT http://localhost:5826/fhir/r4b/Subscription/notifyr-test

   {
     "resourceType": "Subscription",
     "id": "notifyr-test",
     "status": "active",
     "end": "2027-01-01T00:00:00Z",
     "reason": "Testing rest-hook notifications with Notifyr",
     "criteria": "http://example.org/FHIR/SubscriptionTopic/encounter-complete",
     "_criteria": {
       "extension": [
         {
           "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/uv/subscriptions-backport/StructureDefinition/backport-filter-criteria",
           "valueString": "Encounter?patient=Patient/example"
         }
       ]
     },
     "channel": {
       "extension": [
         {
           "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/uv/subscriptions-backport/StructureDefinition/backport-heartbeat-period",
           "valueInteger": 120
         }
       ],
       "type": "rest-hook",
       "endpoint": "https://your-notifyr-host/hook/your-hook-id",
       "payload": "application/fhir+json",
       "_payload": {
         "extension": [
           {
             "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/uv/subscriptions-backport/StructureDefinition/backport-payload-content",
             "valueCode": "id-only"
           }
         ]
       }
     }
   }

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   Replace channel.endpoint with your own hook URL. The heartbeat extension is set to 120 seconds, so a heartbeat arrives every two minutes. Keep end in the future or the subscription expires.

3. 3

   Watch the handshake arrive

   As soon as the Subscription becomes active, fhir-candle sends a handshake. It should appear here within a couple of seconds, and the Handshake counter should read 1. If it does not, the server could not reach your URL.

4. 4

   Create an Encounter with status active

   PUT http://localhost:5826/fhir/r4b/Encounter/example

   {
     "resourceType": "Encounter",
     "id": "example",
     "text": {
       "status": "generated",
       "div": "<div xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml\">Encounter with patient @example</div>"
     },
     "status": "active",
     "class": {
       "system": "http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-ActCode",
       "code": "IMP",
       "display": "inpatient encounter"
     },
     "subject": {
       "reference": "Patient/example"
     }
   }

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   Nothing is notified yet — the topic fires on completion, not creation.

5. 5

   Update the Encounter to status finished

   PUT the same Encounter again with "status": "finished". That satisfies the encounter-complete topic and triggers an event-notification.

You should end up with a handshake, an event-notification, and a heartbeat every two minutes for as long as the subscription stays active. Click any row to see its raw body and validation results.

Every request runs through three tiers. Each one gates the next, so a message is only judged on rules it could plausibly satisfy.

1. 1. Does the body parse as JSON?

   If not, the message is invalid and answered 400. The raw body is still stored exactly as sent — an unparseable payload is usually the one you most need to look at.

2. 2. Is it a JSON object with a resourceType?

   An array, a scalar, or an object without resourceType cannot be a FHIR resource. Invalid, answered 422.

3. 3. Does it pass FHIR structural and value-set validation?

   Run through the fhir package against R4. Unknown elements, missing required properties and codes outside their value set are reported with the exact path, e.g. Patient.gender. Invalid, answered 422.

Warnings never make a message invalid, and only valid notifications are counted by type — a Bundle that failed validation has not established what kind of notification it was.