Optional Integration Configuration¶

MedTracker can call external services for medication search, public guidance, AI-assisted form suggestions, and browser identity. Each integration is optional. An absent credential must disable or limit that feature without blocking normal medication records.

Review the provider's terms, data location, retention, and access controls before enabling a service. Store every API key in the deployment secret store.

NHS dm+d terminology search¶

Live UK terminology search requires both values:

Variable	Purpose
`NHS_DMD_CLIENT_ID`	NHS England Terminology Server client ID.
`NHS_DMD_CLIENT_SECRET`	NHS England Terminology Server client secret.

When either value is absent, live NHS terminology search is unavailable. Local catalogues, imported dm+d data, curated results, and eligible Open Food Facts lookups can still work.

See NHS dm+d and medication lookup for account and import setup.

NHS website medicine guidance¶

Medication detail pages can load public NHS medicine guidance.

Variable	Purpose
`NHS_WEBSITE_CONTENT_API_KEY`	Subscription key for the NHS Website Content API.

Without the key, MedTracker records a not_configured lookup outcome and shows no remote guidance. Successful responses are cached for twelve hours.

The lookup sends a normalized medication name to the NHS service. Confirm that this use matches the deployment's privacy and external-service policy.

Open Food Facts¶

Open Food Facts does not require an API key. MedTracker identifies its client through these optional values:

Variable	Default	Purpose
`OPEN_FOOD_FACTS_APP_NAME`	`MedTracker`	Application name in the HTTP user agent.
`OPEN_FOOD_FACTS_APP_VERSION`	`1.0`	Deployed application version in the HTTP user agent.
`OPEN_FOOD_FACTS_CONTACT_EMAIL`	`support@medtracker.app`	Operator contact in the HTTP user agent.

Self-hosters should replace the contact email with a monitored address. Barcode and supplement searches can send the entered query to Open Food Facts even when NHS dm+d credentials are absent.

AI medication suggestions¶

AI medication help is disabled when no supported provider key is present. MedTracker's initializer supports these provider settings:

Variable	Provider
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Anthropic
`GEMINI_API_KEY`	Google Gemini
`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`	OpenRouter

Set one provider key and choose a compatible model:

Variable	Default	Purpose
`MEDTRACKER_AI_MEDICATION_HELP_MODEL`	locked RubyLLM default	Model identifier passed to `RubyLLM.chat`.

Set the model explicitly in production so a RubyLLM default change cannot move the workload to another model. The chosen model must belong to the configured provider.

Azure is not supported by this integration. An AZURE_API_KEY alone leaves medication help disabled; configure one of the supported providers above.

Data sent to the model¶

The assistant receives the medication identity entered for the suggestion. It can also receive text fetched from URLs in config/ai_medication_sources.yml. Those URLs are restricted to configured HTTPS domains and paths.

The request contract supplies medication identity rather than person, household, account, or dose-history data. Treat user-entered text as potentially sensitive. Do not enable the feature until the selected provider is approved to process the medication identity and public source text.

MedTracker stores a hash of the requested medication identity with bounded result counts for audit. It does not store the prompt or model response in that audit record.

OpenID Connect¶

Browser OIDC settings are documented in OpenID Connect setup. The mobile PKCE contract is incomplete and tracked by issue #1889.

Verification¶

Verify one integration at a time with synthetic medication data.

Add the credential through the deployment secret store.
Restart the processes that use it.
Exercise one bounded request from a test household.
Confirm the response source and expected fallback behavior.
Review logs and audit evidence for secret or health-data leakage.
Remove test records and rotate any temporary credential.