Create Resource

curl --request POST \
  --url http://localhost:8080/fhir/{resourceType} \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/fhir+json' \
  --data '
{
  "resourceType": "<string>"
}
'

{
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "meta": {
    "versionId": "1",
    "lastUpdated": "2026-01-12T10:30:00.000Z"
  },
  "name": [
    {
      "family": "Doe",
      "given": ["John"]
    }
  ],
  "gender": "male",
  "birthDate": "1990-01-01",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://hospital.example/mrn",
      "value": "12345"
    }
  ]
}

POST

{resourceType}

Create Resource

curl --request POST \
  --url http://localhost:8080/fhir/{resourceType} \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/fhir+json' \
  --data '
{
  "resourceType": "<string>"
}
'

{
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "meta": {
    "versionId": "1",
    "lastUpdated": "2026-01-12T10:30:00.000Z"
  },
  "name": [
    {
      "family": "Doe",
      "given": ["John"]
    }
  ],
  "gender": "male",
  "birthDate": "1990-01-01",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://hospital.example/mrn",
      "value": "12345"
    }
  ]
}

Creates a new FHIR resource. The server assigns a unique ID and returns the created resource with metadata.

Endpoint

POST /fhir/{resourceType}

resourceType

string

required

The FHIR resource type (e.g., Patient, Observation, Encounter)

Headers

Content-Type

string

required

Must be application/fhir+json or application/fhir+xml

string

Response format: application/fhir+json (default) or application/fhir+xml

Prefer

string

Response style:

return=representation (default) - Return full resource
return=minimal - Return headers only
return=OperationOutcome - Return OperationOutcome

If-None-Exist

string

Conditional create. Search parameters to check for existing resource.Example: identifier=http://hospital.example/mrn|12345

Request Body

{
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "name": [
    {
      "family": "Doe",
      "given": ["John"]
    }
  ],
  "gender": "male",
  "birthDate": "1990-01-01",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://hospital.example/mrn",
      "value": "12345"
    }
  ]
}

ID in Body: Any id field in the request body is ignored. The server always assigns IDs for POST requests. Use PUT if you need to specify the ID.

Response

201 Created

Resource created successfully. Returns the new resource with server-assigned metadata.

string

required

Server-assigned unique identifier (typically UUID)

meta.versionId

string

required

Version number (starts at “1”)

meta.lastUpdated

string

required

ISO 8601 timestamp of creation

{
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "meta": {
    "versionId": "1",
    "lastUpdated": "2026-01-12T10:30:00.000Z"
  },
  "name": [
    {
      "family": "Doe",
      "given": ["John"]
    }
  ],
  "gender": "male",
  "birthDate": "1990-01-01",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://hospital.example/mrn",
      "value": "12345"
    }
  ]
}

200 OK (Conditional Create - Existing Resource)

When using If-None-Exist and a matching resource already exists.

{
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "id": "existing-patient-id",
  "meta": {
    "versionId": "3",
    "lastUpdated": "2026-01-10T08:15:00.000Z"
  },
  "name": [
    {
      "family": "Doe",
      "given": ["John"]
    }
  ],
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://hospital.example/mrn",
      "value": "12345"
    }
  ]
}

400 Bad Request

Validation failed or malformed request.

{
  "resourceType": "OperationOutcome",
  "issue": [
    {
      "severity": "error",
      "code": "required",
      "expression": ["Patient.name"],
      "diagnostics": "Patient.name is required (minimum cardinality: 1)"
    },
    {
      "severity": "error",
      "code": "invalid",
      "expression": ["Patient.birthDate"],
      "diagnostics": "Invalid date format: expected YYYY-MM-DD"
    }
  ]
}

412 Precondition Failed

Conditional create found multiple matching resources (ambiguous).

{
  "resourceType": "OperationOutcome",
  "issue": [
    {
      "severity": "error",
      "code": "multiple-matches",
      "diagnostics": "Multiple resources match the If-None-Exist criteria. Cannot determine which to return."
    }
  ]
}

422 Unprocessable Entity

Resource violates business rules or profile constraints.

{
  "resourceType": "OperationOutcome",
  "issue": [
    {
      "severity": "error",
      "code": "business-rule",
      "diagnostics": "Patient must have at least one identifier in this profile"
    }
  ]
}

Examples

curl -X POST "https://your-server.com/fhir/Patient" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/fhir+json" \
  -H "Accept: application/fhir+json" \
  -d '{
    "resourceType": "Patient",
    "name": [{"family": "Doe", "given": ["John"]}],
    "gender": "male",
    "birthDate": "1990-01-01"
  }'

Update Resource

Update with PUT (can create with custom ID)

Read Resource

Retrieve created resource

Batch Create

Create multiple resources in one request

Learn FHIR CRUD

Understand FHIR’s create operation

Authorizations

Authorization

string

header

required

Bearer token authentication

Path Parameters

resourceType

string

required

The FHIR resource type (e.g., Patient, Observation, Encounter)

Body

The FHIR resource to create

A FHIR resource. All resources have resourceType, id, and meta fields.

resourceType

string

required

The type of resource

string

Logical id of this artifact

Response

Resource already exists (conditional create)

A FHIR resource. All resources have resourceType, id, and meta fields.

resourceType

string

required

The type of resource

string

Logical id of this artifact

​Endpoint

​Headers

​Request Body

​Response

​201 Created

​200 OK (Conditional Create - Existing Resource)

​400 Bad Request

​412 Precondition Failed

​422 Unprocessable Entity

​Examples

​See Also

Update Resource

Read Resource

Batch Create

Learn FHIR CRUD

Authorizations

Path Parameters

Body

Response

Endpoint

Headers

Request Body

Response

201 Created

200 OK (Conditional Create - Existing Resource)

400 Bad Request

412 Precondition Failed

422 Unprocessable Entity

Examples

See Also