Open Source

Heural Hermes

SNOMED CT terminology server for healthcare.

One Docker command. Complete REST API. Multilingual search. Production-ready.

Docker GPLv3 SNOMED CT

Docker Hub Free consultation

From weeks to minutes

Implementing a SNOMED CT server from scratch is a project in itself. Heural Hermes reduces it to a single command.

Without Heural Hermes

1. Download SNOMED CT release (requires NRC access)
2. Install Java, configure JVM and dependencies
3. Import RF2 data (hours of processing)
4. Build search indexes
5. Configure HTTP server and endpoints
6. Configure health checks and monitoring

Weeks of work

With Heural Hermes

1. docker run — everything included

Data preloaded

Indexes built

API ready

Health checks included

30 seconds

Quick Start

Two steps. A complete SNOMED CT server.

Start the server

docker run -d \
  --name heural-hermes \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  fastslack/heural-hermes:latest

Query the API

curl "http://localhost:8080/v1/snomed/search?term=diabetes&limit=5"

Response application/json

{
  "items": [
    {
      "conceptId": "73211009",
      "term": "Diabetes mellitus",
      "semanticTag": "disorder",
      "active": true
    },
    {
      "conceptId": "44054006",
      "term": "Type 2 diabetes mellitus",
      "semanticTag": "disorder",
      "active": true
    }
  ],
  "total": 42,
  "limit": 5
}

Everything you need for SNOMED CT

A complete, self-contained, production-ready server.

Complete SNOMED CT

Full International Edition preloaded. Over 350,000 concepts, descriptions, relationships and refsets ready to query.

Multilingual Search

Native indexed descriptions in multiple languages. Search by clinical terms as used by healthcare professionals worldwide.

High Performance

Optimized Lucene 10 indexes + LMDB storage. Millisecond responses even with the complete database.

Cross-mapping

Built-in mappings to ICD-10, ICD-O, CIE and other coding systems. Effortless interoperability between terminologies.

ECL v2.2

Full Expression Constraint Language support. Advanced semantic queries over the SNOMED CT hierarchy.

Complete REST API

RESTful endpoints for search, navigation, cross-mapping and ECL. Documented, predictable and integration-ready.

Self-contained

Everything in one Docker container: application, SNOMED CT data and indexes. No external databases, no additional dependencies.

Security v3

Built on Hermes v3 with Java 21 and Jetty 12. Latest upstream version with performance and security improvements.

REST API

Clear and predictable endpoints. Immediate integration with any system.

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	`/v1/snomed/search`	Search concepts by term with semanticTag, module and limit filters
GET	`/v1/snomed/concepts/{id}`	Get a concept by SCTID with descriptions and relationships
GET	`/v1/snomed/concepts/{id}/descriptions`	List all descriptions (FSN, synonyms) for a concept
GET	`/v1/snomed/concepts/{id}/relationships`	Navigate IS-A, part-of relationships and concept attributes
GET	`/v1/snomed/crossmap/{id}`	Get mappings to ICD-10, ICD-O and other coding systems
POST	`/v1/snomed/ecl`	Evaluate ECL v2.2 expressions over the concept hierarchy
GET	`/v1/health`	Server status, version, loaded edition and basic metrics

Use Cases

SNOMED CT is the global standard for clinical terminology. Heural Hermes makes it accessible.

Hospitals & Clinics

Electronic health records with standardized SNOMED CT coding. Fast search for diagnoses and procedures.

Health Ministries

National health platforms with unified terminology. Report standardization across institutions.

Laboratories

Lab result coding with SNOMED CT. LOINC integration via automated cross-mapping.

Telemedicine

Fast APIs for remote consultation platform integration. Real-time diagnosis autocomplete.

Interoperability

Bridge between systems with different coding standards. Translate between SNOMED CT, ICD-10, CIE and local terminologies.

Clinical Research

Cohorts and clinical studies with standardized terminology. ECL queries for precise population selection.

Tech Stack

Battle-tested technologies. No surprises.

Java 21 Jetty 12 Lucene 10 LMDB Docker Ubuntu 24.04 SNOMED CT GPLv3

Regional Editions

Preconfigured Docker images with the SNOMED CT edition you need.

🇦🇷

Argentina

Argentina Edition with local Ministry of Health extensions

fastslack/heural-hermes:ar

🇪🇸

Spain

Spain Edition with SNS descriptions and extensions

fastslack/heural-hermes:es

🇨🇱

Chile

Chile Edition with MINSAL extensions

fastslack/heural-hermes:cl

🌐

International

Complete International Edition from SNOMED International

fastslack/heural-hermes:latest

Need another edition? Contact us to configure a custom image with your national edition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a SNOMED CT license to use Heural Hermes?

Yes. SNOMED CT requires a usage license. Member countries of SNOMED International have access through their National Release Centers (NRC). Heural Hermes is the server, but SNOMED CT data requires authorization from the corresponding NRC.

What SNOMED CT editions does it support?

The Docker image includes the International Edition by default. We also offer custom editions for various countries and an extended International edition. Contact us to configure the edition you need.

What is the difference with Snowstorm?

Heural Hermes is based on Mark Wardle's Hermes project, which is a lightweight and self-contained server. Unlike Snowstorm (which requires Elasticsearch), Hermes uses embedded Lucene and LMDB, resulting in much simpler deployment: a single Docker container with no external dependencies.

How many resources does it need?

The container needs approximately 2 GB of RAM and 5 GB of disk with the International Edition. It starts in less than 30 seconds and responds to queries in milliseconds thanks to pre-built Lucene indexes.

Can I use this in production?

Yes. Heural Hermes is designed for production environments. The Docker image includes health checks, structured logging, and is built on Java 21 LTS with Jetty 12. We recommend running it behind a reverse proxy (nginx) with HTTPS.

What is the relationship with the original Hermes project?

Heural Hermes is based on Hermes, created by Mark Wardle and licensed under EPL-2.0. Our fork adds the preconfigured Docker image, support for regional editions, and distribution via Docker Hub. We maintain the upstream code and respect the original license.

Implement SNOMED CT today

Schedule a free consultation or download the Docker image and get started in minutes.

Free consultation Docker Hub Hermes upstream

Heural Hermes is based on Hermes, created by Mark Wardle and licensed under Eclipse Public License v2.0. SNOMED CT is a registered trademark of SNOMED International.