Guide · Kipu API
The Kipu API, for the people who run treatment centers.
What the API is, how access works, what you can read from it, and what to decide before anyone connects a report to your EMR.
Written for owners and operations leaders, not developers. Where a fact comes from Kipu, it is cited. Where it comes from our own work connecting a client's Kipu instances, it is labelled as observed, with the date.
- A Super Admin requests accessIn the EMR: Settings, Integrations, API Management.Source: Kipu
- Kipu reviews the requestAn outside developer may need a signed API agreement first.Source: Kipu
- Credentials arrive, one set per instanceEach Kipu instance is its own connection, even inside one group.Observed, September 2026
- The integration reads what it needsCensus, admissions, locations, filtered to each center.Observed, September 2026
- Reports rebuild on a scheduleThe manual export stays as the fallback.Observed, September 2026
What the Kipu API is.
Kipu describes its API as a bridge that lets the Kipu EMR exchange data with other software. Kipu says 41 APIs are currently available, with more added over time. They do two different things:
Pull census, admissions and other data out to build a report. Nothing in the chart changes.
On some endpoints, mostly around patient information, a connection can write back to the chart.
Source: Kipu. Whether an integration may only read is the first of six decisions below.
Kipu's help center lists the kinds of data the API covers. The ones operators ask about most:
The developer reference lives at api-hq.kipuworks.com/docs. Your developer works from that; this page is about the decisions around it.
How access works.
Who asks
Only Super Admins can open API Management, under Settings, then Integrations, and submit the request. Kipu advises keeping that role to a few people, because it can change settings and records.
Source: KipuWhat it costs
Kipu describes API use as a paid service. Ask your Kipu contact for current pricing before planning a project around it. We do not know your contract's terms, and they can differ.
Source: KipuOutside developers
If a third party will use the keys, Kipu may require an API agreement, typically sent for signature within three to five business days.
Source: KipuWho holds the keys
Kipu delivers credentials to a named owner by encrypted email. Decide who that owner is before you request, and where the keys will be stored.
Source: KipuWhere to get help
Kipu runs API support at [email protected].
Source: KipuWhat we saw connecting four Kipu instances.
In September 2026 we connected a five-center network's four Kipu instances, read-only, to replace a weekly manual export. These notes are our experience, confirmed with Kipu support at the time. Check them against Kipu's current documentation; details change.
- One login per instanceA group running several Kipu instances needs credentials for each. One instance can also hold several locations, so every pull has to be filtered to the right center.
- The current sign-inThe current gateway exchanged the Access ID and Secret Key for a token that lasted about a day. The separate "App ID" was a legacy site code and played no part. Older code samples online use an earlier host and request-signing method; mixing the two produced access errors until we moved fully to the current gateway.
- Versioned requestsRequests named the API version they expected. Pin it, so a later version cannot quietly change your reports.
- Pages, not one fileThe census came back in pages. A report that reads only the first page will look complete and be wrong.
- Ask for lessThe census endpoint let the request choose how much patient detail came back. Ask for the least that the report needs.
- Not every field in one placeSome fields from the familiar export, such as the assigned clinician, lived on a different endpoint. Map each column of the old export to its source before switching.
No client names, credentials or patient data appear in these notes. The endpoints and parameters are Kipu's to change.
Kipu's own reports, exports, or the API.
The API is not always the answer. Kipu has its own analytics and reports, and you should use them where they fit.
| Route | Good for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Kipu's reports | Views inside one instance, with no extra build | Combining several instances, or joining Kipu to a billing workbook kept outside it |
| Exports | Starting now, with no API request; a fallback when the API is down | Someone has to download them on time, every time |
| The API | Scheduled reports across several instances and locations | Access requests, cost, credential care and maintenance when endpoints change |
At the network above, the census is now read from the API every morning for daily boards, and the export route still works on any day the API does not. The work started from exports, before any API request.
Six decisions before anyone connects.
- Read only, or write tooSome endpoints accept changes to the chart. Decide whether this integration may only read.
Ours: read only - The least patient detailRequest only the fields the report needs, and keep identifiable data out of anything that travels.
- Where the data landsInside your environment, under your control, or somewhere you have approved in writing.
- Agreements firstA BAA before any patient data is touched, plus a qualified service organization agreement where 42 CFR Part 2 applies. Your privacy lead decides. This is not legal advice.
Ours: signed before any patient data - Who owns the keysA named person, a stored location, and what happens when that person leaves.
- The day it breaksKeep the export route working, and decide who notices when a scheduled pull fails.
Ours: the export still works
What operators ask about the Kipu API.
Does Kipu have an API?
Yes. Kipu describes its API as a bridge that lets the Kipu EMR exchange data with other systems, for reading data and, on some endpoints, writing it. Kipu says 41 APIs are currently available.
Does the Kipu API cost extra?
Kipu describes API use as a paid service. Ask your Kipu account contact for current pricing before you plan a project around it.
Who can request Kipu API access?
According to Kipu, only Super Admins can open API Management in the EMR settings and submit an API request. If an outside developer will use the keys, Kipu may require an API agreement first.
Can one integration read several Kipu instances?
Yes, but each Kipu instance needs its own API credentials, and one instance can hold several locations. A multi-site report has to request access for every instance and filter each one by location.
Does reading from the Kipu API change the chart?
Reading does not. Some Kipu endpoints accept writes, so decide up front whether an integration may only read. Ours only reads.
Is Elevate AI Systems affiliated with Kipu?
No. Elevate AI Systems is an independent agency. Kipu is a trademark of Kipu Health. This guide describes Kipu's published material and our own experience as a client's developer.
Sources
- Kipu Health, API (41 APIs, how to request a key)
- Kipu Health help center, Kipu API FAQ (what the API does, data covered, API support)
- Kipu Health help center, Users Management Disclaimer (keeping the Super Admin role to a few people)
- Kipu Health help center, API Requests (Super Admins, paid service, API agreements, credential delivery)
- Kipu, API developer reference
- Elevate AI Systems field notes, September 2026, from a read-only connection to four Kipu instances
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