Read Resource

curl --request GET \
  --url http://localhost:8080/fhir/{resourceType}/{id} \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'

{
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "id": "123",
  "meta": {
    "versionId": "5",
    "lastUpdated": "2026-01-12T10:30:00.000Z"
  },
  "name": [
    {
      "use": "official",
      "family": "Doe",
      "given": ["John", "Michael"]
    }
  ],
  "gender": "male",
  "birthDate": "1990-01-01",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://hospital.example/mrn",
      "value": "12345"
    }
  ],
  "telecom": [
    {
      "system": "phone",
      "value": "555-0100",
      "use": "home"
    }
  ]
}

GET

{resourceType}

{id}

Read Resource

curl --request GET \
  --url http://localhost:8080/fhir/{resourceType}/{id} \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'

{
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "id": "123",
  "meta": {
    "versionId": "5",
    "lastUpdated": "2026-01-12T10:30:00.000Z"
  },
  "name": [
    {
      "use": "official",
      "family": "Doe",
      "given": ["John", "Michael"]
    }
  ],
  "gender": "male",
  "birthDate": "1990-01-01",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://hospital.example/mrn",
      "value": "12345"
    }
  ],
  "telecom": [
    {
      "system": "phone",
      "value": "555-0100",
      "use": "home"
    }
  ]
}

Retrieves the current version of a specific resource by its logical ID.

Endpoint

GET /fhir/{resourceType}/{id}

resourceType

string

required

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

string

required

The logical ID of the resource

Headers

string

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

If-None-Match

string

Conditional read. Only return resource if version differs from provided ETag.Example: W/"5" - Returns 304 Not Modified if current version is still “5”

If-Modified-Since

string

Conditional read. Only return resource if modified after this timestamp.Example: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Response

200 OK

Resource found and returned.

string

required

The logical ID of the resource

meta.versionId

string

required

Current version number

meta.lastUpdated

string

required

ISO 8601 timestamp of last modification

{
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "id": "123",
  "meta": {
    "versionId": "5",
    "lastUpdated": "2026-01-12T10:30:00.000Z"
  },
  "name": [
    {
      "use": "official",
      "family": "Doe",
      "given": ["John", "Michael"]
    }
  ],
  "gender": "male",
  "birthDate": "1990-01-01",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://hospital.example/mrn",
      "value": "12345"
    }
  ],
  "telecom": [
    {
      "system": "phone",
      "value": "555-0100",
      "use": "home"
    }
  ]
}

304 Not Modified

Conditional read succeeded, resource hasn’t changed (when using If-None-Match or If-Modified-Since).

No body returned

404 Not Found

Resource does not exist.

{
  "resourceType": "OperationOutcome",
  "issue": [
    {
      "severity": "error",
      "code": "not-found",
      "diagnostics": "Resource Patient/123 not found"
    }
  ]
}

410 Gone

Resource was deleted (soft delete).

{
  "resourceType": "OperationOutcome",
  "issue": [
    {
      "severity": "error",
      "code": "deleted",
      "diagnostics": "Resource Patient/123 was deleted"
    }
  ]
}

Accessing Deleted Resources: Use the history endpoint to read deleted resources: GET /fhir/Patient/123/_history/5

HEAD Request

Check if a resource exists without retrieving its content.

HEAD /fhir/{resourceType}/{id}

Exists:

Examples

curl -H "Accept: application/fhir+json" \
  "https://your-server.com/fhir/Patient/123"

Notes

Case Sensitivity: Resource IDs are case-sensitive. Patient/abc and Patient/ABC are different resources.

Performance: Use If-None-Match to avoid transferring unchanged resources. Cache the ETag from previous reads and send it with subsequent requests.

Versioning: This endpoint always returns the current version. To read a specific historical version, use the versioned read endpoint: GET /fhir/Patient/123/_history/5

Versioned Read

Read a specific historical version

Search

Find resources by criteria

Update

Modify a resource

Resource History

View all versions of a resource

Authorizations

Authorization

string

header

required

Bearer token authentication

Headers

If-None-Match

string

For conditional reads (304 Not Modified)

If-Modified-Since

string<date-time>

For conditional reads (304 Not Modified)

Path Parameters

resourceType

string

required

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

string

required

The logical ID of the resource

Response

Resource found

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

​Response

​200 OK

​304 Not Modified

​404 Not Found

​410 Gone

​HEAD Request

​Examples

​Notes

​See Also

Versioned Read

Search

Update

Resource History

Authorizations

Headers

Path Parameters

Response

Endpoint

Headers

Response

200 OK

304 Not Modified

404 Not Found

410 Gone

HEAD Request

Examples

Notes

See Also