OpenEvidence Install & Auth

Overview

Set up OpenEvidence API access and configure authentication for clinical decision support queries.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ or Python 3.10+
• Package manager (npm, pnpm, or pip)
• OpenEvidence Enterprise API access (contact sales@openevidence.com)
• Signed BAA (Business Associate Agreement) for PHI handling
• API credentials from OpenEvidence dashboard

Instructions

Step 1: Install SDK

# Node.js
npm install @openevidence/sdk

# Python
pip install openevidence

Step 2: Configure Authentication

# Set environment variables (NEVER commit to git)
export OPENEVIDENCE_API_KEY="oe_live_***"
export OPENEVIDENCE_ORG_ID="org_***"

# Or create .env file
cat >> .env << 'EOF'
OPENEVIDENCE_API_KEY=oe_live_***
OPENEVIDENCE_ORG_ID=org_***
OPENEVIDENCE_ENVIRONMENT=production
EOF

Step 3: Add to .gitignore

# Prevent credential exposure
echo '.env' >> .gitignore
echo '.env.local' >> .gitignore
echo '.env.*.local' >> .gitignore

Step 4: Verify Connection

import { OpenEvidenceClient } from '@openevidence/sdk';

const client = new OpenEvidenceClient({
  apiKey: process.env.OPENEVIDENCE_API_KEY,
  orgId: process.env.OPENEVIDENCE_ORG_ID,
});

// Test connection with a simple query
async function verifyConnection() {
  try {
    const health = await client.health.check();
    console.log('OpenEvidence connection verified:', health.status);
    return true;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Connection failed:', error.message);
    return false;
  }
}

verifyConnection();

Output

• Installed SDK package in node_modules or site-packages
• Environment variables configured with API credentials
• .gitignore updated to prevent credential exposure
• Successful connection verification output

Error Handling

Examples

TypeScript Setup

import { OpenEvidenceClient } from '@openevidence/sdk';

const client = new OpenEvidenceClient({
  apiKey: process.env.OPENEVIDENCE_API_KEY,
  orgId: process.env.OPENEVIDENCE_ORG_ID,
  timeout: 30000, // 30 second timeout for clinical queries
  retries: 3,
});

export default client;

Python Setup

import os
from openevidence import OpenEvidenceClient

client = OpenEvidenceClient(
    api_key=os.environ.get('OPENEVIDENCE_API_KEY'),
    org_id=os.environ.get('OPENEVIDENCE_ORG_ID'),
    timeout=30,
    max_retries=3
)

Environment-Based Configuration

const environments = {
  development: {
    baseUrl: 'https://api.sandbox.openevidence.com',
    timeout: 60000,
  },
  staging: {
    baseUrl: 'https://api.staging.openevidence.com',
    timeout: 45000,
  },
  production: {
    baseUrl: 'https://api.openevidence.com',
    timeout: 30000,
  },
};

const env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';
const client = new OpenEvidenceClient({
  apiKey: process.env.OPENEVIDENCE_API_KEY,
  ...environments[env],
});

Resources

• OpenEvidence
• OpenEvidence API Terms
• OpenEvidence Security

Next Steps

After successful auth, proceed to openevidence-hello-world for your first clinical query.