---
title: Introduction | Avara
description: Wire Viewer into your PACS, RIS, or EHR. Work through API keys, webhooks, study creation, and users in order.
---

This guide is for Viewer only. If you have reporting, this guide is not for you — go to the [AutoScribe integration](/integration/autoscribe/introduction/index.md). Clinical Platform does not require a separate integration; start from the [Clinical Platform overview](/clinical-platform/overview/index.md).

This is the integration path for IT, PACS, and RIS teams. You will create an API key, choose only the webhooks your workflow needs, implement those handlers, push studies from your system when you are not on Avara PACS, and invite the people who will view studies.

You can still create and manage studies in the Viewer dashboard. Use the API when you want that work to happen from your PACS, RIS, or EHR instead of by hand.

Work through the steps below in order. Skip a webhook endpoint if you do not need it — pick from the two Viewer profiles, not every AutoScribe event.

## Integration steps

1. **Create an API key** — In the Viewer dashboard, generate a key with the right study scope and user permissions. Save the key when it is shown; you will not be able to view it again. Full walkthrough: [API Config](/integration/viewer/api-config/index.md).

2. **Decide which webhooks to configure** — Endpoints depend on whether DICOM is archived outside Avara or in Avara PACS. Start here, not by implementing every event: [What webhooks should I configure](/integration/viewer/what-webhooks-should-i-configure/index.md).

3. **Implement those webhooks** — Verify signatures with `unwrap()`, then handle only the events you enabled. Examples are grouped by language: [Node.js](/integration/viewer/webhooks/nodejs/index.md), [TypeScript](/integration/viewer/webhooks/typescript/index.md), [Python](/integration/viewer/webhooks/python/index.md), [Java](/integration/viewer/webhooks/java/index.md), [C#](/integration/viewer/webhooks/csharp/index.md).

4. **Create studies from your system** — Required if you are a PACS company (or platform) **not** using Avara PACS: this is how exams appear in Viewer. Customers on Avara PACS can skip it. [Create studies](/integration/viewer/create-studies/index.md).

5. **Invite your users** — Grant staff access so they can open studies. [Inviting users](/viewer/inviting-users/index.md).

How the viewer fetches pixels — presigned blob URLs, not DICOMweb — is on [Loading Viewer Data](/integration/loading-viewer-data/index.md).

For every operation the SDKs expose, see the [API Reference](https://docs.avarasoftware.com/api).