# Backwork

> Backwork turns Medicare and commercial payer coverage policies, including prior authorization requirements and policy changes, into structured, source-backed JSON, served through a REST API and an MCP server.

Production serves the operations listed under "Live in production" to live API keys; every request is metered. An operation the production boundary blocks is listed under "Not available in production yet" and marked `x-backwork-availability: unavailable-in-production` in the OpenAPI document; production requests to it return `404` with `COMMERCIAL_SURFACE_UNAVAILABLE`. Retry an error only when its `retryable` field is `true`.

## Docs

- [Introduction](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/index.md): The Backwork API turns Medicare and commercial coverage policies into structured, source-backed JSON
- [Quickstart](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/quickstart.md): Sign up, create a live key, and make your first Backwork API call in a few minutes
- [Build with AI](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/build-with-ai.md): Connect an AI agent to Backwork through MCP or the REST API, and give it the docs as Markdown.
- [Authentication](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/authentication.md): Learn how to authenticate with the Backwork API
- [Pricing and credits](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/pricing.md): Free starter credits, Credits and monthly packs, what each request costs, and what happens when the balance runs out
- [MCP Server](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/mcp.md): Connect Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex, or any MCP client to Backwork through the hosted MCP server. Nothing to install.
- [Code sources](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/code-sources.md): Why each policy code entry has a source, what document and inferred_title_match mean, and how to treat inferred codes
- [Error Handling](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/errors.md): Understanding API errors and how to handle them
- [Rate limits](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/rate-limits.md): Per-minute limits for each pack, the rate-limit headers, and how to handle a 429

## API

- [OpenAPI document](https://backworkhealth.com/api/v1/openapi.json): OpenAPI 3.1; every operation carries its availability and required scopes
- [Full docs as one file](https://backworkhealth.com/llms-full.txt): every docs page as Markdown, unavailable operations last
- [API reference](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api.md): the operations by tag
- [MCP server card](https://backworkhealth.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json): MCP endpoint, transport, and OAuth metadata; tools come from tools/list
- [API catalog](https://backworkhealth.com/.well-known/api-catalog): RFC 9727 links to the machine-readable descriptions

## Live in production

- [getHealth](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/getHealth.md): Health check (`GET /api/v1/health`)
- [listCertifiedReleaseDecisions](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/listCertifiedReleaseDecisions.md): List decisions from a certified release (`GET /api/v1/releases/{releaseId}/decisions`)
- [listPolicies](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/listPolicies.md): Search and list policies (`GET /api/v1/policies`)
- [getPolicy](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/getPolicy.md): Get policy by ID (`GET /api/v1/policies/{id}`)
- [getPolicyChanges](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/getPolicyChanges.md): Get policy change feed (`GET /api/v1/policies/changes`)
- [comparePolicies](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/comparePolicies.md): Compare policies across jurisdictions (`POST /api/v1/policies/compare`)
- [listJurisdictions](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/listJurisdictions.md): List MAC jurisdictions (`GET /api/v1/jurisdictions`)
- [lookupCode](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/lookupCode.md): Look up a medical code (`GET /api/v1/codes/lookup`)
- [batchLookupCodes](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/batchLookupCodes.md): Batch code lookup (`POST /api/v1/codes/batch`)
- [getSpendingByCode](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/getSpendingByCode.md): Get Medicaid spending by code (`GET /api/v1/spending/by-code`)
- [searchDrugFormularyEvidence](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/searchDrugFormularyEvidence.md): Search drug formulary evidence (`GET /api/v1/drugs/formulary`)
- [searchCriteria](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/searchCriteria.md): Search coverage criteria (`GET /api/v1/coverage/criteria`)
- [evaluateCoverage](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/evaluateCoverage.md): Evaluate coverage criteria (`POST /api/v1/coverage/evaluate`)
- [checkPriorAuth](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/checkPriorAuth.md): Check prior authorization requirements (`POST /api/v1/prior-auth/check`)
- [assessPriorAuthReadiness](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/assessPriorAuthReadiness.md): Assess prior authorization packet readiness (`POST /api/v1/prior-auth/readiness`)
- [researchPriorAuth](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/researchPriorAuth.md): Research prior authorization requirements (`POST /api/v1/prior-auth/research`)
- [getPriorAuthResearch](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/getPriorAuthResearch.md): Get prior authorization research status (`GET /api/v1/prior-auth/research/{id}`)
- [validateClaim](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/validateClaim.md): Validate claim coverage risk (`POST /api/v1/claim-validation`)
- [validateClaims](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/validateClaims.md): Validate coverage and denial risk (`POST /api/v1/claims/validate`)
- [scoreClaimDenialRisk](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/scoreClaimDenialRisk.md): Score claim denial risk (`POST /api/v1/claims/denial-risk`)
- [listAgentTools](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/listAgentTools.md): List agent tools (`GET /api/v1/agent/tools`)
- [invokeAgentTool](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/invokeAgentTool.md): Invoke an agent tool (`POST /api/v1/agent/tools/{tool}`)
- [listWebhooks](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/listWebhooks.md): List webhook endpoints (`GET /api/v1/webhooks`)
- [createWebhook](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/createWebhook.md): Create webhook endpoint (`POST /api/v1/webhooks`)
- [updateWebhook](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/updateWebhook.md): Update webhook endpoint (`PATCH /api/v1/webhooks/{id}`)
- [deleteWebhook](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/deleteWebhook.md): Delete webhook endpoint (`DELETE /api/v1/webhooks/{id}`)
- [testWebhook](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/testWebhook.md): Send test webhook (`POST /api/v1/webhooks/{id}/test`)
- [listUnreviewedChanges](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/listUnreviewedChanges.md): List unreviewed policy changes (`GET /api/v1/compliance/unreviewed`)
- [acknowledgeChange](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/acknowledgeChange.md): Acknowledge a policy change (`POST /api/v1/compliance/ack`)
- [bulkAcknowledgeChanges](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/bulkAcknowledgeChanges.md): Bulk acknowledge policy changes (`POST /api/v1/compliance/ack/bulk`)
- [getComplianceStats](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/getComplianceStats.md): Get compliance statistics (`GET /api/v1/compliance/stats`)

## Optional

- [Agent tools](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/agent-tools.md): Architecture, tool design, and evaluation guidance for Backwork's controlled agent access layer.
- [Try it in the sandbox](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/sandbox.md): Get a free test key with one command and call the API against synthetic data
- [Scale SLA](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/sla.md): The service level Backwork commits to for organizations on the Scale pack
- [Source checks](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/source-checks.md): When Backwork last fetched a policy, the hash of what it fetched, and the sampled accuracy audits measured for the policy's source
- [Go CLI](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/sdks/go.md): Command-line tool for Backwork with single binary distribution
- [SDKs and HTTP clients](https://backworkhealth.com/docs/sdks.md): Backwork has no published SDKs yet. Call the REST API with your language's HTTP client, or generate a typed client from the OpenAPI document.