Abridge SDK Patterns

Overview

Production-ready patterns for Abridge clinical AI integration. Since Abridge operates via partner APIs (not a public SDK), these patterns wrap the REST API with type-safe clients, HIPAA-compliant logging, and healthcare-specific error handling.

Prerequisites

• Completed

  abridge-install-auth

  setup
• TypeScript project with strict mode enabled
• Understanding of HIPAA audit logging requirements

Instructions

Step 1: Type-Safe API Client Singleton

// src/abridge/client.ts
import axios, { AxiosInstance, AxiosError } from 'axios';

interface AbridgeConfig {
  baseUrl: string;
  clientSecret: string;
  orgId: string;
  timeoutMs?: number;
  maxRetries?: number;
}

class AbridgeApiClient {
  private static instance: AbridgeApiClient | null = null;
  private api: AxiosInstance;
  private config: AbridgeConfig;

  private constructor(config: AbridgeConfig) {
    this.config = config;
    this.api = axios.create({
      baseURL: config.baseUrl,
      timeout: config.timeoutMs || 30000,
      headers: {
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${config.clientSecret}`,
        'X-Org-Id': config.orgId,
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'X-Request-Source': 'partner-integration',
      },
    });

    // Request/response interceptors for audit logging
    this.api.interceptors.request.use((req) => {
      req.headers['X-Correlation-Id'] = crypto.randomUUID();
      this.auditLog('request', req.method!, req.url!, req.headers['X-Correlation-Id']);
      return req;
    });

    this.api.interceptors.response.use(
      (res) => { this.auditLog('response', res.config.method!, res.config.url!, res.status); return res; },
      (err) => { this.auditLog('error', err.config?.method, err.config?.url, err.response?.status); throw err; }
    );
  }

  static getInstance(): AbridgeApiClient {
    if (!AbridgeApiClient.instance) {
      AbridgeApiClient.instance = new AbridgeApiClient({
        baseUrl: process.env.ABRIDGE_BASE_URL!,
        clientSecret: process.env.ABRIDGE_CLIENT_SECRET!,
        orgId: process.env.ABRIDGE_ORG_ID!,
      });
    }
    return AbridgeApiClient.instance;
  }

  // HIPAA-compliant audit log — never log PHI
  private auditLog(type: string, method: string, url: string, detail: any): void {
    const entry = {
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
      type,
      method: method?.toUpperCase(),
      endpoint: url?.replace(/\/sessions\/[^/]+/, '/sessions/{id}'), // Redact IDs
      detail: typeof detail === 'number' ? `status:${detail}` : `id:${detail}`,
    };
    console.log(JSON.stringify(entry));
  }

  get http(): AxiosInstance { return this.api; }
}

export { AbridgeApiClient };

Step 2: HIPAA-Safe Error Handler

// src/abridge/errors.ts
class AbridgeApiError extends Error {
  constructor(
    message: string,
    public readonly statusCode: number,
    public readonly errorCode: string,
    public readonly correlationId: string,
    public readonly retryable: boolean,
  ) {
    super(message);
    this.name = 'AbridgeApiError';
  }

  // Sanitized error — safe for logging (no PHI)
  toSafeLog(): Record<string, unknown> {
    return {
      name: this.name,
      statusCode: this.statusCode,
      errorCode: this.errorCode,
      correlationId: this.correlationId,
      retryable: this.retryable,
      // Never include message in logs — may contain PHI
    };
  }
}

function parseAbridgeError(err: AxiosError): AbridgeApiError {
  const data = err.response?.data as any;
  const status = err.response?.status || 500;

  const retryableCodes = [429, 502, 503, 504];

  return new AbridgeApiError(
    data?.message || err.message,
    status,
    data?.error_code || 'UNKNOWN',
    err.config?.headers?.['X-Correlation-Id'] as string || 'none',
    retryableCodes.includes(status),
  );
}

export { AbridgeApiError, parseAbridgeError };

Step 3: Retry with Exponential Backoff

// src/abridge/retry.ts
import { AbridgeApiError, parseAbridgeError } from './errors';

async function withRetry<T>(
  operation: () => Promise<T>,
  options: { maxRetries?: number; baseDelayMs?: number; maxDelayMs?: number } = {}
): Promise<T> {
  const { maxRetries = 3, baseDelayMs = 1000, maxDelayMs = 30000 } = options;

  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await operation();
    } catch (err) {
      const apiErr = err instanceof AbridgeApiError ? err : parseAbridgeError(err as any);

      if (!apiErr.retryable || attempt === maxRetries) throw apiErr;

      // Respect Retry-After header if present
      const retryAfter = (err as any).response?.headers?.['retry-after'];
      const delay = retryAfter
        ? parseInt(retryAfter) * 1000
        : Math.min(baseDelayMs * Math.pow(2, attempt - 1), maxDelayMs);

      console.log(`Retry ${attempt}/${maxRetries} after ${delay}ms (${apiErr.errorCode})`);
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, delay));
    }
  }
  throw new Error('Unreachable');
}

export { withRetry };

Step 4: Session Manager Pattern

// src/abridge/session-manager.ts
import { AbridgeApiClient } from './client';
import { withRetry } from './retry';

interface SessionState {
  sessionId: string;
  status: 'initialized' | 'recording' | 'processing' | 'completed' | 'error';
  createdAt: Date;
  segmentCount: number;
}

class EncounterSessionManager {
  private sessions = new Map<string, SessionState>();
  private api = AbridgeApiClient.getInstance().http;

  async create(patientId: string, providerId: string, specialty: string): Promise<SessionState> {
    const { data } = await withRetry(() =>
      this.api.post('/encounters/sessions', {
        patient_id: patientId,
        provider_id: providerId,
        specialty,
        encounter_type: 'outpatient',
      })
    );

    const state: SessionState = {
      sessionId: data.session_id,
      status: 'initialized',
      createdAt: new Date(),
      segmentCount: 0,
    };
    this.sessions.set(data.session_id, state);
    return state;
  }

  async addTranscript(sessionId: string, speaker: string, text: string): Promise<void> {
    await this.api.post(`/encounters/sessions/${sessionId}/transcript`, { speaker, text });
    const state = this.sessions.get(sessionId)!;
    state.segmentCount++;
    state.status = 'recording';
  }

  async finalize(sessionId: string): Promise<any> {
    await this.api.post(`/encounters/sessions/${sessionId}/finalize`);
    this.sessions.get(sessionId)!.status = 'processing';

    for (let i = 0; i < 60; i++) {
      const { data } = await this.api.get(`/encounters/sessions/${sessionId}/note`);
      if (data.status === 'completed') {
        this.sessions.get(sessionId)!.status = 'completed';
        return data.note;
      }
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 1000));
    }
    throw new Error('Note generation timed out');
  }
}

export { EncounterSessionManager };

Output

• Type-safe singleton client with audit logging
• HIPAA-safe error handling (no PHI in logs)
• Exponential backoff with Retry-After support
• Session lifecycle manager with state tracking

Error Handling

Pattern	Use Case	Benefit
Singleton client	All API calls	Single source of config, consistent headers
Safe error logging	HIPAA compliance	Prevents PHI leakage in error logs
Retry with backoff	Transient failures	Handles 429/5xx gracefully
Session manager	Encounter lifecycle	Tracks state, prevents orphaned sessions

Resources

• HIPAA Security Rule
• Abridge Platform

Next Steps

Apply these patterns in

abridge-core-workflow-a

for real encounter processing.