Welcome to the Google Health API! This new API leverages Google OAuth, providing a more secure, user-friendly, and scalable solution for accessing and managing health data. Here are some of the benefits: - **Enhanced Security**: The new API aligns with Google's current security recommendations and best practices for API design and implementation, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities. - **Consistency**: The new API follows modern API design principles, offering a more consistent and intuitive developer experience. - **Future-proofing** - **Scalability**: The new API is designed to scale to meet future demands, supporting a growing number of users and data types. - **Maintainability**: Adopting a standardized approach makes it easier to maintain and update apps, reducing technical debt. - **Access to new features**: Migrating to the new API provides access to new features and functionalities as they are released, ensuring apps stay current and benefit from the latest advancements. - **Compliance**: The new API is kept up-to-date with the latest Google security and privacy standards, reducing the effort required to keep apps compliant. - **Data privacy**: The Google OAuth system is designed to comply with various data privacy regulations (for example, GDPR and HIPAA), simplifying the compliance burden on developers. ## How to start? Before you start developing, see our [Developer Checklist](https://developers.google.com/health/developer-checklist), which provides a list of steps to help you launch your integration with the Google Health API. How you get started also depends on the type of developer you are. ### New developer **If you have no experience with Google APIs or Google Cloud, or need a refresher**, the easiest and fastest way to get started is by going through one of our codelabs. We offer REST codelabs using either Visual Studio Code or the OAuth 2.0 Playground, as well as a gRPC-specific Python codelab where you learn how to retrieve client stubs and compile Protocol Buffer definitions. [REST Codelab (VS Code)](https://developers.google.com/health/codelabs/make-your-first-api-call) [REST Codelab (OAuth 2.0 Playground)](https://developers.google.com/health/codelabs/make-your-first-api-call-using-oauth2-playground) [gRPC Codelab (Python)](https://developers.google.com/health/codelabs/make-your-first-api-call-using-grpc) ### Fitbit developer **If you are an existing Fitbit Web API developer,** you might want to read the migration guide first. It highlights all the differences between the Fitbit Web API and the Google Health API and should provide the guidance you need to start planning your migration. This guide also highlights best practices and UI samples to assist with guiding your users through the re-authentication process. After that, either do the codelab, or verify that your Google Cloud setup is complete, before you start development with one of our data type guides. [Read the Migration Guide](https://developers.google.com/health/migration) [Complete the Google Cloud setup](https://developers.google.com/health/setup) ## Choose a protocol The Google Health API supports both REST and RPC protocols to provide developers with a scalable and high-performance foundation for health data integration. ### REST REST is an API design approach based on standard web concepts and human-readable formats like JSON. It is particularly well-suited for building public APIs and web applications because it is browser-friendly and widely supported. Its primary strength lies in its simplicity and accessibility for external developers. ### gRPC RPC is a high-performance system that uses a compact binary format known as Protocol Buffers to facilitate machine-to-machine communication. It is ideal for internal microservices, mobile-to-backend communication, and real-time updates due to its efficiency and support for advanced features like streaming. RPC is the preferred choice for high-performance scenarios or when strict interface contracts are required. For more information, see [gRPC vs REST: Understanding gRPC, OpenAPI and REST and when to use them in API design](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/api-management/understanding-grpc-openapi-and-rest-and-when-to-use-them). ## AI assistance and developer tools You can use Gemini, Google's AI assistant, and built-in developer tools across this site to accelerate your Google Health API workflow. While browsing, use Gemini chat and Code Explain in the **Info Panel** to summarize complex guides, clarify data types and scopes, or adapt code samples to your language. You can also test live requests in the APIs Explorer and use the JSON responses as prompt context to generate parsing logic. If you develop with AI-powered tools such as Antigravity, Cursor, Claude Code, or custom agents, you can export any page as Markdown or integrate the [Developer Knowledge MCP Server](https://developers.google.com/knowledge/mcp) to give your environment direct access to Google Health API documentation. Use these workflows to generate client code or troubleshoot errors. To learn more, see [AI assistance and developer tools](https://developers.google.com/health/ai-assistance-and-developer-tools). ## Resources Beyond getting started, this site features comprehensive resources to assist with development and migration. - **Support** : Need assistance? Get access to community forums and our public Issue Tracker on the [Support page](https://developers.google.com/health/support). - **Google Health API Parity Tool** : [Use this tool](https://developers.google.com/health/migration/parity-tool) to compare endpoints and functionality between the Fitbit Web API and the Google Health API. It also features a context file you can use directly with an LLM, or as part of an Agents.md file in your preferred AI tool. - **API reference** : Complete [REST](https://developers.google.com/health/reference/rest) reference documentation. > [!TIP] > **Tip:** Have questions about the content on this page? Use the AI assistance and developer tools to get explanations and clarify your understanding. See [AI assistance and developer tools](https://developers.google.com/health/ai-assistance-and-developer-tools) to learn more.