BridgeLab
v0.2.2 · Open Core · MIT

HL7/FHIR made simple.

A modern message editor for healthcare integration. Handles 10 MB messages with base64 payloads, speaks MLLP and HTTP in both directions, validates against the HL7 standard and runs on every desktop you use.

Download View on GitHub
  • < 2sopen a 10 MB message
  • < 300 MBpeak RAM, base64 included
  • 5UI languages (EN/IT/FR/ES/DE)

Built for the work integration teams actually do

⚡

Large-message ready

SIMD-accelerated streaming parser with on-demand field truncation. Open multi-megabyte ORU^R01 messages with base64 attachments in under two seconds. The editor never shows you 10 MB of raw text.

🔗

Client & listener, bidirectional

Send via MLLP / HTTP / HTTPS, listen on any port with auto-ACK and a live inbox. Connection profiles are saved per-protocol. Everything works offline against your own test servers.

🔍

Validation & FHIRPath

Structural, field-level and data-type validation out of the box. FHIRPath evaluator for Bundles, Observations, Patients. Your own rules drop in as declarative JSON plugin packs — no recompile.

🛡️

PHI anonymization

21 built-in PHI fields across PID/NK1/IN1/GT1 with sensitivity-aware masking. Extend the catalogue with regional PHI via plugin packs. Structure is preserved so anonymized messages remain valid.

📄

Field Inspector

Right-click any field in the editor or the tree to see the HL7 schema-derived name, type, cardinality, length limits and current value. Schema-aware tree optionally shows every possible field, not just the populated ones.

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i18n + cross-platform

UI in English, Italian, French, Spanish and German. Native installers for Windows (NSIS + MSI), macOS (DMG) and Linux (.deb, .rpm, AppImage) — with .hl7 file association and language selector.

📐

XSD schema export

Generate a standards-compliant XSD for any HL7 v2 message type in one click. Drop it into Astraia, BizTalk, XMLSpy or any XML-based pipeline that expects a hand-authored schema. Four common messages in v2.5 are free; the full catalogue and other versions come with Pro.

Why a new HL7 editor in 2026?

Integration engineers are squeezed between free tools that stopped updating years ago and enterprise products priced for nine-figure hospital systems. BridgeLab targets the middle.

Tool FHIR support macOS / Linux Large messages XSD export Price Actively maintained
BridgeLab Yes Yes 10 MB, smoothly Yes Free core, paid Pro Yes (2026)
7edit No No Slow Yes ~$300-500 / seat No (~2015)
HL7 Inspector No Java-only Struggles No Free (GPL) Minimal
HAPI TestPanel No Java-only Struggles No Free (MPL) Minimal
HL7 Spy View only No Good Partial ~$8,745 / year Yes
Plugin packs

Your rules — dropped in as JSON.

Every hospital has custom ADT quirks, Z-segments, regional PHI fields. BridgeLab reads declarative JSON packs from a user folder and merges them into the validator and the anonymizer. No code execution, no sandbox surprises.

  • Six check types: not_empty, regex, one_of, max_length, min_length, contains
  • Component-level narrowing via the component field
  • Extra PHI fields with sensitivity-aware masking
  • Live reload without restarting the app
  • Per-pack enable/disable, persisted across sessions
Read the plugin docs → 
"rule_id": "ACME-PID-001",
"severity": "error",
"segment": "PID",
"field": 3,
"check": { "type": "not_empty" },
"message": "PID-3 must be populated"

Download

Pick your platform. Installers include the MIT license page and a language selector. Starts with a 7-day Pro trial; the free tier stays usable for real work forever.

Windows
.msi / .exe (NSIS)
x64 · 10+
macOS
.dmg
Apple Silicon & Intel · 10.15+
Linux
.AppImage / .deb / .rpm
x64 · glibc 2.31+

Prefer the terminal? brew tap, winget and an AUR package are on the roadmap. For now, grab the binary or build from source.

Frequently asked

Is the core really free for commercial use?

Yes. The core is MIT-licensed and stays fully usable for production integration work. Pro and Enterprise tiers unlock cloud features (team test case library, SOAP with WSDL, priority support) but nothing that blocks day-to-day HL7 work.

Can I point BridgeLab at a real live feed?

That is the primary use case. Start a listener on port 2575, send HL7 via MLLP from your feed, see received messages in the inbox and open any of them in a new editor tab. Auto-ACK is configurable per listener.

How do you handle 10 MB messages with base64 PDFs?

The Rust backend uses a streaming zero-copy parser with field-level truncation. The editor receives truncated text ({...N bytes} markers) so Monaco is never asked to render megabytes. Expansion is on-demand via right-click or per-field.

Does it work offline?

Fully. Parsing, validation, MLLP and HTTP targeting local hosts, anonymization, export, CLI — none require network access. License activation happens online once, then validation works offline via Ed25519-signed tokens.

What about PHI and data residency?

BridgeLab processes every message locally. Nothing leaves your machine unless you explicitly send it via the Communication panel. Telemetry is off by default and, when enabled, carries only anonymous usage counters.

How do plugins work?

Drop a JSON file in <config>/BridgeLab/plugins/validation/ or /anonymization/. The app loads it at startup or on demand via Settings → Plugins. No code runs — plugins are declarative rules. See PLUGINS.md.

Which HL7 versions are supported?

v2.3 through v2.8 for segment / field schemas. Custom (Z-) segments parse and edit cleanly, they just fall back to raw values in the Field Inspector unless you ship a plugin pack for them.

Is there a CLI?

Yes — bridgelab-cli validate, info, anonymize, to-json, batch. Outputs JSON or JUnit XML so you can wire it into CI.