OpenEvidence Hello World

OpenEvidence Hello World

Overview

Minimal working example demonstrating core OpenEvidence clinical query functionality.

Prerequisites

• Completed openevidence-install-auth setup
• Valid API credentials configured
• Development environment ready

Instructions

Step 1: Create Entry File

// src/​openevidence-demo.ts
import { OpenEvidenceClient } from '@openevidence/​sdk';

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

Step 2: Make Your First Clinical Query

async function firstClinicalQuery() {
  // Simple clinical question
  const response = await client.query({
    question: "What are the first-line treatments for type 2 diabetes in adults?",
    context: {
      specialty: "internal-medicine",
      urgency: "routine",
    },
  });

  console.log('Answer:', response.answer);
  console.log('Sources:', response.citations.map(c => c.source));
  console.log('Confidence:', response.confidence);
}

firstClinicalQuery().catch(console.error);

Step 3: Run the Example

# With TypeScript
npx ts-node src/​openevidence-demo.ts

# With Node.js (after compilation)
node dist/​openevidence-demo.js

Output

• Working code file with OpenEvidence client initialization
• Successful API response with evidence-based answer
• Console output showing:

Answer: First-line treatment for type 2 diabetes in adults typically includes...
Sources: ["NEJM 2024", "ADA Standards of Care 2025", "JAMA Internal Medicine"]
Confidence: 0.95

Response Structure

interface ClinicalQueryResponse {
  answer: string;              // Evidence-based clinical answer
  citations: Citation[];       // Peer-reviewed sources
  confidence: number;          // 0-1 confidence score
  lastUpdated: string;         // When evidence was last reviewed
  disclaimer: string;          // Clinical use disclaimer
  deepConsultAvailable: boolean; // Whether DeepConsult can provide more detail
}

interface Citation {
  source: string;              // Journal/​guideline name
  title: string;               // Article title
  authors: string[];           // Author list
  year: number;                // Publication year
  doi?: string;                // DOI if available
  url?: string;                // Link to source
}

Error Handling

Examples

TypeScript Example with Error Handling

import { OpenEvidenceClient, OpenEvidenceError } from '@openevidence/​sdk';

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

async function queryClinicalEvidence(question: string) {
  try {
    const response = await client.query({
      question,
      context: {
        specialty: "family-medicine",
        urgency: "routine",
      },
      options: {
        maxCitations: 5,
        includeGuidelines: true,
      },
    });

    return {
      answer: response.answer,
      sources: response.citations,
      confidence: response.confidence,
    };
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof OpenEvidenceError) {
      console.error(`OpenEvidence Error [${error.code}]:`, error.message);
    }
    throw error;
  }
}

// Example usage
queryClinicalEvidence(
  "What is the recommended antibiotic for community-acquired pneumonia?"
).then(result => {
  console.log('Clinical Answer:', result.answer);
  console.log('Evidence Sources:', result.sources.length);
});

Python Example

from openevidence import OpenEvidenceClient, OpenEvidenceError

client = OpenEvidenceClient()

def query_clinical_evidence(question: str) -> dict:
    try:
        response = client.query(
            question=question,
            context={
                "specialty": "emergency-medicine",
                "urgency": "urgent"
            }
        )

        return {
            "answer": response.answer,
            "sources": [c.source for c in response.citations],
            "confidence": response.confidence
        }
    except OpenEvidenceError as e:
        print(f"Error [{e.code}]: {e.message}")
        raise

# Example usage
result = query_clinical_evidence(
    "What are the contraindications for tPA in acute ischemic stroke?"
)
print(f"Answer: {result['answer']}")

Resources

• OpenEvidence
• OpenEvidence API Terms

Next Steps

Proceed to openevidence-local-dev-loop for development workflow setup.