---
updatedAt: 2026-10-01T06:58:11.000Z
agentTools:
  projectIndex: https://docs.nexhealth.com/v2.2.2/llms.txt
---

# Getting started

Developers use NexHealth to integrate with dozens of health record systems using a single universal API.

[Explore applications](https://docs.nexhealth.com/v2.2.2/docs/whats-possible-with-the-nexhealth-api) you can build with our API, or read on to start building.

## Available Resources

* [API reference docs](https://docs.nexhealth.com/v2.2.2/reference/introduction)
* [NexHealth postman collection](https://docs.nexhealth.com/v2.2.2/docs/working-with-postman).

## Getting access

Create your [NexHealth Developer Portal Account](https://developers.nexhealth.com/signup)  and generate your [test API key](https://developers.nexhealth.com/test/api-key).

Once onboarded, you can start building by making requests to `https://nexhealth.info`in our test environment.

## Getting authenticated

After creating your [test API key](https://developers.nexhealth.com/test/api-key) , make a POST request to /authenticates, passing your key in the Authorization header. The response will include a bearer token valid for 24 hours in sandbox and 1 hour in production. Use this token to access all other API routes. All unauthenticated requests will return a 401 status code.

```curl
curl --request POST \
     --url https://nexhealth.info/authenticates \
     --header 'Accept: application/vnd.Nexhealth+json;version=2' \
     --header 'Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY'
```

Successful authentication will result in a response containing a bearer token provided in the response body:

```json
{
    "code": true,
    "data": {
        "token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxIiwic2NwIjoiYXBpX3VzZXIiLCJpYXQiOjE2Mjg3NDMyNzksImV4cCI6MTYyODc0Njg3OSwianRpIjoiNjYxNjY4YWYtMTZkYS00OWFhLTljM2ItNmI0MDNiOTQxZWExIn0.hzbAv-Bx8vhEMXM1sGmAa9tO3WzUyvgBN8aw4tdOrG0"
    },
    "description": "Authenticated",
    "error": []
}
```

> 📘 Using bearer tokens
>
> Once you've received your bearer token make sure you add the string "Bearer" to your authentication headers, as shown below.

```text
--header 'Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxIiwic2NwIjoiYXBpX3VzZXIiLCJpYXQiOjE2Mjg3NDMyNzksImV4cCI6MTYyODc0Njg3OSwianRpIjoiNjYxNjY4YWYtMTZkYS00OWFhLTljM2ItNmI0MDNiOTQxZWExIn0.hzbAv-Bx8vhEMXM1sGmAa9tO3WzUyvgBN8aw4tdOrG0'
```

## Making a request

Your Developer Portal account comes with a [demo institution and location](https://developers.nexhealth.com/test/institutions) already set up for you. An institution is a group of practices operating under the same brand, while a location refers to a single office where treatment is provided.

Below is a sample request with versioning and authorization code.

```curl
curl --request GET \
     --url 'https://nexhealth.info/patients?subdomain=YOUR_SUBDOMAIN&location_id=YOUR_LOCATION&new_patient=false&include_upcoming_appts=false&location_strict=false&page=1&per_page=1' \
     --header 'Accept: application/vnd.Nexhealth+json;version=2' \
     --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_BEARER_TOKEN'
```

This is the JSON response to the above request.

```json
{
    "code": true,
    "data": {
        "patients": [{
            "id": 143776,
            "email": null,
            "first_name": "John",
            "last_name": "Smith",
            "created_at": "2020-08-12T19:17:22.575Z",
            "updated_at": "2020-08-12T19:25:17.591Z",
            "account_activated": false,
            "middle_name": null,
            "foreign_id": "19",
            "foreign_id_type": "msg-opendental-DataSource-35",
            "requested_access": false,
            "waitlisted_at": {},
            "inst_ids": [],
            "prov_ids": [],
            "config": {},
            "unsubscribe_emails": false,
            "last_import_id": "e872caee-8e2a-40dd-a403-ca7099040b8d",
            "invalid_email": [],
            "inactive": true,
            "last_sync": null,
            "last_sync_time": "2020-08-12T19:25:17.591Z",
            "unsubscribe_sms": false,
        }]
    },
    "description": [],
    "count": 35,
    "error": []
}
```

## Start building

Now that you've made your first request you can jump right into our [reference documentation](https://docs.nexhealth.com/v2.2.2/reference/introduction), or check out more guides below.

* [Book an appointment](https://docs.nexhealth.com/v2.2.2/docs/book-an-appointment) will show you how to create appointments and start driving revenue for practices.
* [Access procedure codes](https://docs.nexhealth.com/v2.2.2/docs/access-procedure-codes) will describe how to get deeper insight into the procedures a practice is providing.