Form Lab aims to simplify the development and prototyping of SMART on FHIR applications and Structured Data Capture (SDC) forms by providing a lightweight, easy-to-use environment that abstracts away the complexities of full security implementations.
Structured Data Capture (SDC) implementation often presents a significant challenge for developers. One of the main hurdles is that SDC typically requires user context and authentication, which necessitates implementation of SMART on FHIR - a comprehensive security and authorization framework. This dependency can make it difficult to get started with SDC, as you need to handle complex OAuth flows, token management, and security configurations.
Form Lab addresses this challenge by providing a simplified development environment that maintains the SMART on FHIR workflow without the full security complexity. It achieves this through a clever proxy setup:
- The environment accepts SMART on FHIR secured calls (maintaining API compatibility)
- A proxy layer strips away the security requirements
- The backend receives standard FHIR calls
This approach allows developers to:
- Experience the full SDC and SMART launch sequence
- Test form rendering and data capture
- Prototype applications quickly
- Learn the workflow without security overhead
Later, when ready for production, developers can replace the proxy with proper SMART on FHIR security implementations.