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"]  # 2024: 2025 year
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

Error	Cause	Solution
Import Error	SDK not installed	Verify with npm list @openevidence/sdk
Auth Error	Invalid credentials	Check environment variables are set
Timeout	Complex query or network issues	Increase timeout or retry
Rate Limit	Too many requests	Wait and retry with exponential backoff
Invalid Query	Question not clinical	Ensure query is medically relevant

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.