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What is a CapabilityStatement?

A CapabilityStatement is a machine-readable document that describes what a FHIR server supports. It lists every supported Resource type, interaction (read, write, search, delete), search parameter, and operation. It is the first thing to read when integrating with an unknown FHIR server.

Retrieve a CapabilityStatement

GET /fhir/metadata

Returns: CapabilityStatement resource (JSON or XML)

Key fields

fhirVersion — FHIR version the server implements (e.g. 4.0.1)
format — supported MIME types (application/fhir+json, application/fhir+xml)
rest[].resource[] — list of supported resource types
rest[].resource[].interaction[] — what operations are supported per resource (read, create, update, delete, search-type)
rest[].resource[].searchParam[] — supported search parameters per resource
rest[].operation[] — named operations (e.g. $validate, $everything)
implementationGuide[] — IGs the server claims conformance to

kind values

instance — describes an actual running server
capability — describes what a product can do (not yet deployed)
requirements — describes what a client needs from a server