> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.altohealth.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart (5 minutes)

> Process your first medical document in under 5 minutes

## Overview

This guide walks you through making your first API calls to Alto Health. You'll upload a medical referral document and trigger automated pathway execution to process it.

<Info>
  **Prerequisites:**

  * Your Alto Health API credentials (organization ID, platform API key, authentication token)
  * A sample medical document (PDF or image)
  * A configured pathway in your Alto Health account
  * Basic knowledge of REST APIs
</Info>

## Two Ways to Process Documents

Alto Health offers two approaches for processing documents:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion icon="bolt" title="Run Automation Automatically (Recommended - Fastest)">
    **What it does:** Upload your document and Alto Health automatically processes everything.

    **Steps required:**

    1. Upload document
    2. Wait for results (via webhook or polling)

    **Best for:** Production systems where you want the fastest, simplest integration. Just upload and let Alto Health handle the rest.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="hand" title="Run Automation Manually">
    **What it does:** Upload your document, then explicitly trigger automation via API call.

    **Steps required:**

    1. Upload document
    2. Call the automation endpoint manually
    3. Wait for results (via webhook or polling)

    **Best for:** Workflows where you need control over when automation starts, or when you want to perform additional operations between upload and processing.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Note>
  This quickstart shows the **Manual** approach to demonstrate all available API endpoints. For the autonomous approach, simply skip Step 2 after uploading your document.
</Note>

## Complete Workflow

We'll build a simple workflow that:

1. Uploads a medical referral document
2. **(Optional - Manual only)** Triggers automated pathway execution
3. Receives results via webhook or polling

### Workflow Overview

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TD
    A[Upload Document] -->|Autonomous| B[Run Automation Automatically]
    A -->|Manual| C[Run Automation Manually]
    B --> D{Awaiting Results}
    C --> D
    D -->|Webhook| E[Receive Webhook Notification]
    D -->|Polling| F[Poll Status Endpoint]
    E --> G[Get Results]
    F --> G

    style A fill:#e1f5ff
    style B fill:#d4f1d4
    style C fill:#fff4e1
    style E fill:#e7f5e7
    style F fill:#e7f5e7
    style G fill:#f0e7ff
```

<Note>
  **Autonomous (Green path):** Fastest approach - upload and Alto Health automatically handles extraction, rules, and actions.

  **Manual (Yellow path):** Upload, then explicitly trigger automation for more control.

  **Get results via:**

  * **Webhook (Recommended):** Alto Health automatically sends results to your endpoint when processing completes
  * **Polling:** Your service periodically checks the status endpoint until completion
</Note>

### Step 1: Upload a Document

Upload a medical referral document to Alto Health using the Upload Document endpoint.

<Card title="Upload Document" icon="upload" href="/api-reference/endpoint/document-upload">
  See complete endpoint documentation with code examples in Python, JavaScript, cURL, and C#
</Card>

<Tip>
  Save the `record_id` from the response. You'll need it if you're using manual automation (Step 2).
</Tip>

<Info>
  **Using Autonomous mode?** You're done! Alto Health will automatically process your document. Skip to "What Happens Next?" to learn how to receive your results via webhook or polling.
</Info>

### Step 2: Run Automation Manually (Optional)

<Warning>
  **Skip this step if using Autonomous mode.** With autonomous automation, processing starts automatically after upload. Only complete this step if you need manual control over when automation starts.
</Warning>

Trigger the automated pathway to process the document using the record ID from Step 1.

<Card title="Run Automation Manually" icon="play" href="/api-reference/endpoint/run-automation">
  See complete endpoint documentation with code examples and pathway types
</Card>

<Note>
  The pathway executes asynchronously. Results will be delivered via:

  * **Webhook** (if configured) - Alto Health POSTs results to your endpoint
  * **Polling** - Query the status endpoint periodically

  See the [Webhooks guide](/guides/webhooks) for setting up webhook notifications.
</Note>

## What Happens Next?

After uploading your document (and optionally triggering automation manually):

1. **Automated Processing** - Alto Health automatically:
   * Extracts clinical data from the document
   * Evaluates rules and conditions based on your configured pathways
   * Executes configured actions (notifications, routing, triage recommendations, etc.)
   * Updates record status

2. **Receive Results** - Choose your preferred method:
   * **Webhook (Recommended)**: Configure a webhook URL to receive automatic notifications when processing completes
   * **Polling**: Query your system to check pathway completion status

<Tip>
  **Fastest workflow:** Use **Autonomous mode** with **Webhooks** for real-time data extraction and triage recommendations. Just upload your document and receive results instantly via webhook - no manual intervention needed!

  See the [Webhooks guide](/guides/webhooks) for setup instructions.
</Tip>