Patient Chart Summary Custom Section

Last updated: 24 Apr 2026

Overview #

The PatientChartSummaryCustomSection effect allows plugin developers to supply the content for a custom section in the patient chart summary. It is returned by a PatientChartSummaryCustomSectionHandler in response to a request for the section’s content.

Content can be provided as an inline HTML string or as a URL to a hosted page. An icon must always be supplied — it is shown in the chart summary header when the section is collapsed.

from canvas_sdk.effects.patient_chart_summary_custom_section import PatientChartSummaryCustomSection
from canvas_sdk.templates import render_to_string


# Serve content as an inline HTML string
PatientChartSummaryCustomSection(
    content=render_to_string("templates/my_section.html"),
    icon="📋",
)

# Serve content from a hosted URL
PatientChartSummaryCustomSection(
    url="/plugin-io/api/my_plugin/my-section",
    icon_url="/plugin-io/api/my_plugin/icon.png",
)

Structure #

Attributes #

Attribute	Required	Type	Description
`content`	required (if `url` is not provided)	`str` \| `None`	Inline HTML content to render in the section. Mutually exclusive with `url`.
`url`	required (if `content` is not provided)	`str` \| `None`	URL of the page to load in the section iframe. Mutually exclusive with `content`.
`icon`	required (if `icon_url` is not provided)	`str` \| `None`	Text or emoji displayed as the section icon when collapsed. Mutually exclusive with `icon_url`.
`icon_url`	required (if `icon` is not provided)	`str` \| `None`	URL of an image to use as the section icon when collapsed. Mutually exclusive with `icon`.

Validation #

Exactly one of content / url must be provided, and exactly one of icon / icon_url must be provided. Providing both fields in a pair or neither will raise a ValidationError when .apply() is called.

Examples #

Inline HTML content #

Return a rendered HTML template as the section content.

from canvas_sdk.effects import Effect
from canvas_sdk.effects.patient_chart_summary_custom_section import PatientChartSummaryCustomSection
from canvas_sdk.handlers.patient_chart_summary_custom_section_handler import PatientChartSummaryCustomSectionHandler
from canvas_sdk.templates import render_to_string


class MySectionHandler(PatientChartSummaryCustomSectionHandler):
    SECTION_KEY = "my_section"

    def handle(self) -> list[Effect]:
        return [
            PatientChartSummaryCustomSection(
                content=render_to_string("templates/my_section.html"),
                icon="📋",
            ).apply()
        ]

URL-based content #

Load the section content from a hosted endpoint. This is useful when the section is a standalone page served by a Simple API handler.

from canvas_sdk.effects import Effect
from canvas_sdk.effects.patient_chart_summary_custom_section import PatientChartSummaryCustomSection
from canvas_sdk.handlers.patient_chart_summary_custom_section_handler import PatientChartSummaryCustomSectionHandler


class MySectionHandler(PatientChartSummaryCustomSectionHandler):
    SECTION_KEY = "my_section"

    def handle(self) -> list[Effect]:
        return [
            PatientChartSummaryCustomSection(
                url="/plugin-io/api/my_plugin/my-section",
                icon_url="/plugin-io/api/my_plugin/icon.png",
            ).apply()
        ]

Passing data to the template #

Use render_to_string with a context dictionary to inject dynamic data into the HTML template.

from canvas_sdk.effects import Effect
from canvas_sdk.effects.patient_chart_summary_custom_section import PatientChartSummaryCustomSection
from canvas_sdk.handlers.patient_chart_summary_custom_section_handler import PatientChartSummaryCustomSectionHandler
from canvas_sdk.templates import render_to_string
from canvas_sdk.v1.data.patient import Patient


class MySectionHandler(PatientChartSummaryCustomSectionHandler):
    SECTION_KEY = "my_section"

    def handle(self) -> list[Effect]:
        patient = Patient.objects.get(id=self.target)

        return [
            PatientChartSummaryCustomSection(
                content=render_to_string(
                    "templates/my_section.html",
                    {"patient_name": patient.first_name},
                ),
                icon="📋",
            ).apply()
        ]