Validating incoming resources

Note

The features described on this page are available in all Firely Server editions.

You can have Firely Server validate all resources that are sent in for create or update. The setting to do that is like this:

"Validation": {
  "Parsing": "Permissive", // Permissive / Strict
  "Level": "Off", // Off / Core / Full
  "AllowedProfiles":
  [
      "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/daf-patient",
      "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/daf-allergyintolerance"
  ]
},

Parsing

Every incoming resource - xml or json - has to be syntactically correct. That is not configurable.

Beyond that, you can choose between Permissive or Strict parsing. Permissive allows for:

  • empty elements (not having any value, child elements or extensions)

  • the fhir_comments element

  • errors in the xhtml of the Narrative

  • json specific:

    • array with a single value instead of just a value, or vice versa (json specific)

  • xml specific:

    • repeating elements interleaved with other elements

    • elements out of order

    • mis-representation (element instead of attribute etc.)

Validation

You can choose the level of validation:

  • Off: no validation is performed.

  • Core: the resource is validated against the core definition of the resource type.

  • Full: the resource is validated against the core definition of the resource type and against any profiles in its meta.profile element.

If validation is set to Full the following validation rules will be checked:

Validation Rule

Description

BindingValidator

Validates that a coded value exists in the bound ValueSet

CanonicalValidator

Ensures a ‘canonical’ type is an absolute URI or fragment

CardinalityValidator

Verifies element occurrences match defined cardinality

ExtensionContextValidator

Ensures an extension is used in its allowed context

FhirPathValidator

Validates resource fields against FHIRPath expressions

FhirStringValidator

Checks that a FHIR ‘string’ is not empty

FhirTypeLabelValidator

Validates that instance type matches the declared label

FhirUriValidator

Ensures element value is a valid URI when serialized

FixedValidator

Checks that an element has the required fixed value

MaxLengthValidator

Enforces the maximum allowed string length

MinMaxValueValidator

Validates numeric or primitive values against min/max limits

PatternValidator

Validates element value against a defined pattern

RegExValidator

Checks element value against a regular expression

ReferencedInstanceValidator

Resolves and validates referenced resources

SchemaReferenceValidator

Validates element using its referenced schema

SliceValidator

Validates element against slice constraints

FhirEle1Validator

Requires element to have a value or children

FhirExt1Validator

Requires element to have a value or extension

FhirTxt1Validator

Validates that narrative contains valid HTML

FhirTxt2Validator

Ensures narrative is not whitespace-only

ChildrenValidator

Applies validation rules to child elements

DataTypeSchema / ResourceSchema / ExtensionSchema

Validates against data type, resource, or extension schema

Advanced Validation

Note

The features described in this section are available in the following Firely Server editions:

  • Firely Scale - 🌍 / 🇺🇸

  • Firely CMS Compliance - 🇺🇸

In the Firely Server editions mentioned above, Firely Server will execute additional advanced validation rules which are defined on top of the core FHIR specification for more quality control.

If validation is set to Full the following validation rules will be checked:

Validation Rule

Description

ElementDefinitionValidator

Validates that ElementDefinitions paths are valid

StructureDefinitionValidator

Validates slicing and invariant definitions in StructureDefinitions

QuestionnaireResponseValidator

Validates a QuestionnaireResponse against a Questionnaire (can be stored in the Firely Server admin database)

Filter validation outcome based on advisor rules

Note

This feature is currently in beta and is subject to change in future releases.

Note

The features described in this section are available in the following Firely Server editions:

  • Firely Scale - 🌍 / 🇺🇸

  • Firely CMS Compliance - 🇺🇸

Firely Server’s validator includes a powerful Advisor Rules system that enables users to dynamically customize validation behavior. Central to this system is the concept of filtering, which allows targeting specific validation issues or rule types based on precise criteria.

Filtering allows for:

  • Applying custom validation behavior (e.g., override severity, suppress issues, skip rules) only when specific conditions are met

  • Controlling the scope of your rules by narrowing them to targeted elements, structures, codes, or messages

  • Combining multiple filters for granular validation strategies

Configuration

The AdvisorRules setting in the Validation section of the appsettings allows to declaratively control how FHIR validation behaves at runtime. AdvisorRules must be provided as an escaped, JSON-encoded FHIR Parameters resource. The advisor rules are applied for all validation operations in Firely Server (i.e. $validate and pre-validation).

Rules Structure (Post-Processing)

Each rule within the Parameters resource is defined as a parameter element of a specific type, which can be further configured using nested part elements. The following rule types are used for post-processing of the validation result:

  • override – Changes the severity of specific validation issues in the final OperationOutcome

  • suppress – Removes matching issues entirely from the final OperationOutcome

These rules do not influence the core validation logic, but apply only after validation has completed.

Override Rule

The override rule allows you to change the severity level of a validation issue after it has been generated by the validator. This is a post-processing operation that rewrites the final OperationOutcome without altering the validation logic itself.

This rule is useful when you want to:

  • Downgrade known issues (e.g., from error to warning)

  • Upgrade certain messages (e.g., from information to fatal)

  • Mark ignorable issues as success

Each override rule is defined using the following structure inside a FHIR Parameters resource:

{
  "name": "override",
  "part": [
    { "name": "<filter-type>", "valueString": "<match-value>" },
    { "name": "severity", "valueString": "<new-severity>" }
  ]
}

Fields:

  • filter-type: One of the following:

    • code – Match on the validation issue code (e.g., 6007)

    • message – Match on the human-readable issue text

    • location – Match on the issue’s path found in the expression field of the validation OperationOutcome; this uses a prefix match (startswith), and you can use an asterisk (*) suffix to include child elements.

  • match-value: The value to match for the selected filter

  • severity: The new severity value to apply. Must be one of:

    • success, information, warning, error, fatal

Suppress Rule

The suppress rule allows you to remove specific validation issues from the final OperationOutcome.

This is useful when:

  • You want to silence known or accepted validation deviations

  • You want to reduce noise in the output for downstream systems

  • You need to phase in conformance requirements without breaking clients

Each suppress rule is defined using the following structure inside a FHIR Parameters resource:

{
  "name": "suppress",
  "part": [
    { "name": "<filter-type>", "valueString": "<match-value>" }
  ]
}

Fields:

  • filter-type: One of the following:

    • code – Match on the validation issue code (e.g., 8000)

    • message – Match on the issue’s text exactly

    • location – Match on the issue’s path found in the expression field of the validation OperationOutcome; uses a prefix match, and may include an asterisk (*) to match children

  • match-value: The value to compare for filtering

Element Rule

The element rule in Advisor Rules allows you to selectively apply specific types of validation checks on a given FHIR element path while skipping all other validation. This is useful when you want to fine-tune which rule types are enforced on certain parts of a resource.

Each element rule is defined using the following structure inside a FHIR Parameters resource:

{
  "name": "rules",
  "part": [
    {
      "name": "element",
      "part": [
        {
          "name": "filter",
          "part": [
            { "name": "path", "valueString": "<element-path>" }
          ]
        },
        { "name": "options", "valueString": "<rule-type>" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Fields:

  • path: The FHIR path to the element to be filtered. Note that child elements are not automatically assessed, you can use a trailing asterisk (*) to include child elements.

  • options: The types of rules to apply. You can include one or more of the following:

    • cardinality – Enforces min/max occurrence constraints

    • invariant – Evaluates invariants defined in StructureDefinition (e.g., ele-1, dom-3)

    • fixed – Validates fixed or pattern values defined on the element

Contained Rule

The contained rule allows you to skip validation for specific contained resources within a parent resource. Each contained rule is defined using the following structure inside a FHIR Parameters resource:

{
  "name": "rules",
  "part": [
    {
      "name": "contained",
      "part": [
        {
          "name": "filter",
          "part": [
            { "name": "id", "valueString": "<contained-resource-id>" },
            { "name": "kind", "valueString": "<contained-kind>" }
          ]
        },
        { "name": "options", "valueString": "<option>" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Fields:

  • id: The local ID of the contained resource (e.g., test-id for #test-id).

  • kind: The containment type. Typical values include:

    • contained – Standard contained resources (using #id references)

    • bundled – Contained-like entries that appear in a Bundle.entry context

    • parameters - Entries that appear in a Parameters.resource context

    • outcome - Subset of contained, only works on contained resources inside OperationOutcome

  • options: The action to take. Currently, the supported value is:

    • skip – Skip validation for the matching contained resource

Invariant Rule

The invariant rule allows you to selectively enable, disable, or reclassify specific invariants declared in a StructureDefinition.

This rule is useful when you want to:

  • Demote strict invariants to warnings instead of errors

  • Disable specific invariants temporarily for compatibility reasons

  • Customize validation behavior on a per-resource-type and per-invariant basis

Each invariant rule is defined using the following structure inside a FHIR Parameters resource:

{
  "name": "rules",
  "part": [
    {
      "name": "invariant",
      "part": [
        {
          "name": "filter",
          "part": [
            { "name": "structure", "valueString": "<resource-structure-uri>" },
            { "name": "key", "valueString": "<invariant-key>" }
          ]
        },
        { "name": "options", "valueString": "<option>" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Fields:

  • structure: The canonical URI of the resource or profile to which the invariant applies (e.g., http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Patient)

  • key: The invariant key, as defined in the StructureDefinition (e.g., dom-3, ele-1)

  • options: One or more of the following:

    • warning – Demote this invariant to a warning

    • error – Promote or preserve this invariant as an error

Resource Rule

The resource rule allows you to control which profile(s) are considered when validating a resource.

This rule is useful when you want to:

  • Ignore additional profiles declared in meta.profile

Each resource rule is defined using the following structure inside a FHIR Parameters resource:

{
  "name": "rules",
  "part": [
    {
      "name": "resource",
      "part": [
        {
          "name": "filter",
          "part": [
            { "name": "path", "valueString": "<resource-path>" }
          ]
        },
        { "name": "options", "valueString": "stated" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Fields:

  • path: The FHIRPath to the resource being filtered (e.g., Bundle.entry[1].resource[0])

  • options: Must be set to:

    • stated – Only validate against the base profile of the resource type, ignoring any additional profiles in meta.profile

Coded Rule

The coded rule allows you to enable validation of value set bindings that are normally skipped by default, such as those with strength preferred or example.

Each coded rule is defined using the following structure inside a FHIR Parameters resource:

{
  "name": "rules",
  "part": [
    {
      "name": "coded",
      "part": [
        {
          "name": "filter",
          "part": [
            { "name": "id", "valueString": "<element-id>" }
          ]
        },
        { "name": "options", "valueString": "<option>" },
        { "name": "valueSet", "valueString": "<canonical>" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Fields:

  • id: The logical ID or FHIRPath of the coded element to apply the rule to (e.g., Patient.communication.language)

  • options: Optional refinement(s) of what to validate:

    • concepts – Validate only the system/code pair and ignore the display field

    • display - Validate both system/code, and warn if display is not correct

  • valueSet: Canonical of the ValueSet with an existing binding to the element with logical ID id

Advisor Rules Example: Override, Suppress, and Coded Validation

This example demonstrates how Advisor Rules can be used to customize validation behavior in Firely Server. It shows how to:

  • Override the severity of specific issues

  • Suppress known or acceptable issues

  • Enable validation of weak bindings (e.g., preferred or example) using the coded rule

Before Applying Advisor Rules:

By default, weak bindings (such as those on Observation.category or Observation.code) are not validated. Also, issues like extension violations or known warnings are returned at their default severity.

{
  "resourceType": "OperationOutcome",
  "id": "d35f53fb-24fe-4834-9e27-f3e381940283",
  "meta": {
      "versionId": "7fd10d7a-cc0d-425f-954d-d95589ef349b",
      "lastUpdated": "2025-07-16T13:56:50.666181+00:00"
  },
  "issue": [
      {
          "extension": [
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-authority",
                  "valueUri": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-race"
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-line",
                  "valueInteger": 14
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-col",
                  "valueInteger": 21
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-source",
                  "valueString": "BindingValidator"
              }
          ],
          "severity": "warning",
          "code": "informational",
          "details": {
              "coding": [
                  {
                      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/dotnet-api-operation-outcome",
                      "code": "6006"
                  }
              ],
              "text": "Code '2131-1' from system 'urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113883.6.238' has incorrect display 'Other race', should be 'Other Race' (for slice ombCategory)"
          },
          "expression": [
              "Patient.extension[0].extension[0].valueCoding[0], element Patient(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient).extension->Extension(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-race).extension[ombCategory].value[x]"
          ]
      },
      {
          "extension": [
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-authority",
                  "valueUri": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity"
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-line",
                  "valueInteger": 31
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-col",
                  "valueInteger": 21
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-source",
                  "valueString": "BindingValidator"
              }
          ],
          "severity": "warning",
          "code": "informational",
          "details": {
              "coding": [
                  {
                      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/dotnet-api-operation-outcome",
                      "code": "6006"
                  }
              ],
              "text": "Code 'UNK' from system 'http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-NullFlavor' has incorrect display 'Unknown', should be 'unknown' (for slice ombCategory)"
          },
          "expression": [
              "Patient.extension[0].extension[0].valueCoding[0], element Patient(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient).extension->Extension(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity).extension[ombCategory].value[x]"
          ]
      },
      {
          "extension": [
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-authority",
                  "valueUri": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity"
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-line",
                  "valueInteger": 43
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-col",
                  "valueInteger": 21
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-source",
                  "valueString": "BindingValidator"
              }
          ],
          "severity": "error",
          "code": "code-invalid",
          "details": {
              "coding": [
                  {
                      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/dotnet-api-operation-outcome",
                      "code": "6007"
                  }
              ],
              "text": "Code '2029-7' from system 'urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113883.6.238' does not exist in the value set 'Detailed ethnicity' (http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/ValueSet/detailed-ethnicity) (for slice detailed)"
          },
          "expression": [
              "Patient.extension[0].extension[2].valueCoding[0], element Patient(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient).extension->Extension(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity).extension[detailed].value[x]"
          ]
      },
      {
          "extension": [
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-authority",
                  "valueUri": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient"
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-line",
                  "valueInteger": 69
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-col",
                  "valueInteger": 3
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-source",
                  "valueString": "ExtensionSchema"
              }
          ],
          "severity": "error",
          "code": "incomplete",
          "details": {
              "coding": [
                  {
                      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/dotnet-api-operation-outcome",
                      "code": "4000"
                  }
              ],
              "text": "Unable to resolve reference to extension 'http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/ValueSet/us-core-sexual-orientation'."
          },
          "expression": [
              "Patient.extension, element Patient(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient).extension"
          ]
      },
      {
          "extension": [
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-authority",
                  "valueUri": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity"
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-line",
                  "valueInteger": 31
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-col",
                  "valueInteger": 21
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-source",
                  "valueString": "BindingValidator"
              }
          ],
          "severity": "warning",
          "code": "informational",
          "details": {
              "coding": [
                  {
                      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/dotnet-api-operation-outcome",
                      "code": "6006"
                  }
              ],
              "text": "Code 'UNK' from system 'http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-NullFlavor' has incorrect display 'Unknown', should be 'unknown' (for slice ombCategory)"
          },
          "expression": [
              "Patient.extension[1].extension[0].valueCoding[0], element Patient(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient).extension[ethnicity]->Extension(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity).extension[ombCategory].value[x]"
          ]
      },
      {
          "extension": [
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-authority",
                  "valueUri": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity"
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-line",
                  "valueInteger": 43
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-col",
                  "valueInteger": 21
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-source",
                  "valueString": "BindingValidator"
              }
          ],
          "severity": "error",
          "code": "code-invalid",
          "details": {
              "coding": [
                  {
                      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/dotnet-api-operation-outcome",
                      "code": "6007"
                  }
              ],
              "text": "Code '2029-7' from system 'urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113883.6.238' does not exist in the value set 'Detailed ethnicity' (http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/ValueSet/detailed-ethnicity) (for slice detailed)"
          },
          "expression": [
              "Patient.extension[1].extension[2].valueCoding[0], element Patient(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient).extension[ethnicity]->Extension(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity).extension[detailed].value[x]"
          ]
      }
  ]

}

After Applying Advisor Rules:

The following Parameters resource defines Advisor Rules to:

  • Downgrade 6007 issues under Patient.extension to warning

  • Suppress all 6006 issues

  • Enable code validation for Observation.category and Observation.code, even if they use preferred bindings. This rule is only shown here for context to highlight that all rules for all resource types are defined in a single Parameters resource.

{
  "resourceType": "Parameters",
  "parameter": [
    {
      "name": "override",
      "part": [
        {
          "name": "code",
          "valueString": "6007"
        },
        {
          "name": "severity",
          "valueString": "warning"
        },
        {
          "name": "location",
          "valueString": "Patient.extension*"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "suppress",
      "part": [
        {
          "name": "code",
          "valueString": "6006"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "rules",
      "part": [
        {
          "name": "coded",
          "part": [
            {
              "name": "filter",
              "part": [
                {
                  "name": "id",
                  "valueString": "#Observation.category"
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "name": "options",
              "valueString": "concepts"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "rules",
      "part": [
        {
          "name": "coded",
          "part": [
            {
              "name": "filter",
              "part": [
                {
                  "name": "id",
                  "valueString": "#Observation.code"
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "name": "valueSet",
              "valueString": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/ValueSet/us-core-common-sdoh-assessments"
            },
            {
              "name": "options",
              "valueString": "concepts"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Effect on Validation Output:

After applying these rules, the resulting OperationOutcome would look like this:

{
  "resourceType": "OperationOutcome",
  "id": "d35f53fb-24fe-4834-9e27-f3e381940283",
  "meta": {
      "versionId": "7fd10d7a-cc0d-425f-954d-d95589ef349b",
      "lastUpdated": "2025-07-16T13:56:50.666181+00:00"
  },
  "issue": [
      {
          "extension": [
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-authority",
                  "valueUri": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity"
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-line",
                  "valueInteger": 43
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-col",
                  "valueInteger": 21
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-source",
                  "valueString": "BindingValidator"
              }
          ],
          "severity": "warning",
          "code": "code-invalid",
          "details": {
              "coding": [
                  {
                      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/dotnet-api-operation-outcome",
                      "code": "6007"
                  }
              ],
              "text": "Code '2029-7' from system 'urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113883.6.238' does not exist in the value set 'Detailed ethnicity' (http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/ValueSet/detailed-ethnicity) (for slice detailed)"
          },
          "expression": [
              "Patient.extension[0].extension[2].valueCoding[0], element Patient(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient).extension->Extension(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity).extension[detailed].value[x]"
          ]
      },
      {
          "extension": [
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-authority",
                  "valueUri": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient"
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-line",
                  "valueInteger": 69
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-col",
                  "valueInteger": 3
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-source",
                  "valueString": "ExtensionSchema"
              }
          ],
          "severity": "error",
          "code": "incomplete",
          "details": {
              "coding": [
                  {
                      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/dotnet-api-operation-outcome",
                      "code": "4000"
                  }
              ],
              "text": "Unable to resolve reference to extension 'http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/ValueSet/us-core-sexual-orientation'."
          },
          "expression": [
              "Patient.extension, element Patient(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient).extension"
          ]
      },
      {
          "extension": [
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-authority",
                  "valueUri": "http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity"
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-line",
                  "valueInteger": 43
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-col",
                  "valueInteger": 21
              },
              {
                  "url": "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/operationoutcome-issue-source",
                  "valueString": "BindingValidator"
              }
          ],
          "severity": "warning",
          "code": "code-invalid",
          "details": {
              "coding": [
                  {
                      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/dotnet-api-operation-outcome",
                      "code": "6007"
                  }
              ],
              "text": "Code '2029-7' from system 'urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113883.6.238' does not exist in the value set 'Detailed ethnicity' (http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/ValueSet/detailed-ethnicity) (for slice detailed)"
          },
          "expression": [
              "Patient.extension[1].extension[2].valueCoding[0], element Patient(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient).extension[ethnicity]->Extension(http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-ethnicity).extension[detailed].value[x]"
          ]
      }
  ]
}

Allow for Specific Profiles

To enable profile-specific validations, set Level to Full. This ensure validation of the submitted instance against the cardinality constraints as well as any ValueSet-Bindings defined by the profile. Firely Server will validate against all profiles listed under meta.profile claim defined in the instance.

Configuring AllowedProfiles

  • When you leave the AllowedProfiles list empty, Firely Server will permit any resource, provided it passes the general validations set by Parsing and Level.

  • Adding canonical URLs of StructureDefinitions to the AllowedProfiles list instructs Firely Server to perform specific checks:

    1. Profile Existence Check: Firely Server will verify whether the incoming resource declares any of these profiles in its meta.profile element.

    2. Conformance Validation: Firely Server will validate the resource against any profiles it claims to conform to in its meta.profile element. This validation step is governed by the Level setting, not specifically by AllowedProfiles.

Example: If you add the DAF Patient and DAF AllergyIntolerance profiles to AllowedProfiles, Firely Server will only allow resources that declare and conform to these profiles.

Important Notes

  • The resource must explicitly declare conformance to a profile in its meta.profile for Firely Server to validate against it. Firely Server will not try to validate a resource against all the Validation.AllowedProfiles to see whether the resource conforms to any of them, only those that the resource claims conformance to.

  • AuditEvent Logging and AuditEvent Signatures: If enabled, AuditEvent and Provenance resources generated by these processes will also be subject to checks against the AllowedProfiles. It is necessary to include the HL7 core canonical URLs of these resources in AllowedProfiles to ensure they are saved in the database without issues.

{
  "Validation": {
    ...
    "AllowedProfiles": [
      "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/AuditEvent",
      "http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Provenance"
      ...
    ]
  }
}