DocumentReference

Last updated: 11 Mar 2026

DocumentReference #

The DocumentReference model represents references to documents stored in Canvas, such as uploaded PDFs, scanned files, and other clinical documents. Each document reference can link to a file stored in S3 and provides secure access via presigned URLs.

Basic Usage #

from canvas_sdk.v1.data import DocumentReference

# Get a specific document reference
doc_ref = DocumentReference.objects.get(id="d2194110-5c9a-4842-8733-ef09ea5ead11")

# Get all document references
all_docs = DocumentReference.objects.all()

Filtering #

By patient #

from canvas_sdk.v1.data import DocumentReference

patient_docs = DocumentReference.objects.for_patient("b80b1cdc2e6a4aca90ccebc02e683f35")

By status #

from canvas_sdk.v1.data import DocumentReference, DocumentReferenceStatus

current_docs = DocumentReference.objects.filter(status=DocumentReferenceStatus.CURRENT)

By category or type #

from canvas_sdk.v1.data import DocumentReference

docs = DocumentReference.objects.filter(category__code="clinical-note")

Accessing Document Files #

The document_url property returns a presigned S3 URL for securely accessing the document file. If no S3 file is present, it falls back to the document_absolute_url field.

from canvas_sdk.v1.data import DocumentReference

doc_ref = DocumentReference.objects.exclude(document="").first()

# Returns a presigned S3 URL (valid for 1 hour)
url = doc_ref.document_url

Attributes #

DocumentReference #

Field Name	Type
id	UUID
dbid	Integer
created	DateTime
modified	DateTime
document	String
document_absolute_url	String
document_content_type	String
business_identifier	String
originator	CanvasUser
subject	CanvasUser
type	DocumentReferenceCoding
category	DocumentReferenceCategory
status	DocumentReferenceStatus
date	Date
encounter	Encounter
team	Team
related_object_document_title	String
related_object_document_comment	String
document_url	String (property) — presigned S3 URL or absolute URL

DocumentReferenceCoding #

A coding entry representing the type of a document reference.

Field Name	Type
dbid	Integer
system	String
version	String
code	String
display	String
user_selected	Boolean

DocumentReferenceCategory #

A coding entry representing the category of a document reference.

Field Name	Type
dbid	Integer
system	String
version	String
code	String
display	String
user_selected	Boolean

DocumentReferenceStatus #

An enum representing the status of a document reference.

Member	Value	Description
CURRENT	current	Current
SUPERSEDED	superseded	Superseded
ENTERED_IN_ERROR	entered-in-error	Entered in Error