Technology Reference Update Distribution API

Use this API to automate the download of Technology Reference Update Distribution (TRUD) release files.

These include:

• classification products, including NHS Information Standards ICD and OPCS-4 in the UK, as well as other products to support the implementation of these clinical classifications and derivative products
• the NHS Data Model and Dictionary, which provides a reference point for approved Information Standards and Collections (including Extractions) (ISCEs) to support health care activities within the NHS in England
• terminology products such as SNOMED CT, the Read Codes and other products to support the implementation of terminology, including tools and derivative products

You can:

• request release information for an item
• request a release file once you have its release information

You must have a TRUD account before you can use this API.

This API is for TRUD account holders wanting to automate the download of release files.

It's synchronised with your TRUD account subscriptions – anything an account holder can download from the website can also be downloaded through the API.

Any restrictions on access are set per item. The content provider accepts or rejects each subscription request, based on the account details and subscription request data.

In practice, most of the content is configured for auto-acceptance of subscriptions.

The following APIs are related to this API:

• Data Registers Service - REST API - access a wide range of live lists of reference data with our Data Registers Service, especially if you have a use case which needs historical data snapshots, and you have not subscribed to and kept historic releases from TRUD

• Terminology Server - FHIR API - use this  if you need richer functionality from a data source, such as being able to test data validity, extract a subset or map data across different schemas. This provides a richer view of the SNOMED data set only

This API is in production.

This API is a silver service, meaning it is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year but only supported during business hours (8am to 6pm), Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays.

For more details, see service levels.

This API is a REST API.

For more details, see Basic REST.

This API is available on the internet and, indirectly, on the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN).

For more details see Network access for APIs.

Each account has a unique API key based on the account’s primary email address and password. If either of these changes, a new key is generated and the old key is disabled.

API access is synchronised with your account subscriptions – anything an account holder can download from the website can also be downloaded through the API.

There are no testing environments.

Once you have a TRUD account, you can use the production endpoints.

For example, for details of all releases of an item:

https://isd.digital.nhs.uk/trud/api/v1/keys/deadc0de/items/nnn/releases

where deadc0de is the API key and nnn is the item number

To onboard with this API you must first create a TRUD account.

See https://isd.digital.nhs.uk/trud/users/guest/filters/0/account/form. 

For a full list of interactions for this API, see the endpoint details.