1. If you don't already have one, create a developer account.
2. Navigate to my developer account and sign in.
3. Select 'My applications'.
4. Select '+ NEW APP'.
5. Enter details for your application.
6. In the 'APIs' section, find the testing APIs you want to test with and activate them by clicking the slider.
7. If you are using user-restricted APIs, specify your application's OAuth 2.0 Callback URL.
8. Select 'CREATE' to create the application.
9. Make a note of the API key and secret.

If you are using signed JWT authentication, you need to generate a private/public key pair for testing and register your public key with us.

For details, see Application-restricted RESTful APIs - signed JWT authentication.

To get your software working with our integration test environment, configure the following:

1. Base URL for APIs: https://int.api.service.nhs.uk
2. OAuth client ID and client secret (if needed): use the API key and secret from the previous step
3. Base URL path for our authorisation server (if needed) as follows:

If your software is using smartcards for user authentication, do the following:

1. get an ODS code - you’ll need one before you can access the Health and Social Care Network
2. get access to the Health and Social Care Network
3. get physical smartcards for testing
4. download client software, including the Identity Agent (IA) and the NHS Identity Hub

You must use a Windows platform with your software, including the .NET framework.

The following Windows operating systems are supported:

• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1

The NHS Identity Hub does NOT work with Internet Explorer, you will need to use a non-IE internet browser.  The following browsers are supported:

• Edge version 79 or above
• Chrome version 72 or above
• Firefox version 62 or above

For more details, contact us.

Some of our APIs include standard test data packs.

In some cases you might need to set up your own test data, for example:

• to test specific cases that the standard test pack doesn't cover
• to test data updates, for example patient data in PDS

To set up your own test data, you can either:

• use our Test Data Self-Service Portal (TDSSP) test data tool - but you need an HSCN connection - or
• contact us to set up test data for you

To request access to our Test Data Self-Service Portal (TDSSP):

• contact us at testdata@nhs.net for the URL, username and password you’ll need to access the tool

• tell us if you need access to a specific test pack for update testing, for example, for PDS update testing we recommend the PDS Compliance Pack

For more details, contact us.

During testing, for user-restricted APIs you need to sign in as an end user, as follows:

• if your test environment is set up for smartcard access, use the smartcard you set up in step 3 above
• if your test environment is set up for simulated sign-in, simply click the 'sign in' button - you don't need any credentials