Generate Realistic Test Data

Prerequisites

Pidgeon CLI installed (dotnet tool install --global Pidgeon.CLI --version 0.1.0-beta.1)
Optionally: a vendor profile from real sample messages

Generate your first messages

Start with a basic HL7 ADT admission message:

pidgeon generate ADT^A01 --count 5

This produces 5 synthetic ADT^A01 messages with realistic patient demographics, encounter data, and properly structured segments (MSH, EVN, PID, PV1).

Use --seed 42 for reproducible output — the same seed always generates the same messages.

Multi-standard generation

Pidgeon auto-detects the standard from the message type. You can also specify it explicitly:

pidgeon generate ADT^A01 --count 3
pidgeon generate ORU^R01 --count 3
pidgeon generate ORM^O01 --count 3

pidgeon generate Patient --count 3
pidgeon generate Bundle --count 1

pidgeon generate NewRx --count 3
pidgeon generate RxFill --count 3

HL7 v2 and FHIR R4 generation are free. NCPDP SCRIPT is closed by default — install the member-supplied standards package first (pidgeon data install ncpdp-script --accept-license, NCPDP membership required).

Use vendor profiles for realistic patterns

Real-world messages vary by EHR vendor. Use vendor profiles to match specific patterns:

Analyze sample messages

If you have real messages (de-identified), analyze them to create a profile:

pidgeon config analyze --samples ./epic-er-samples --save epic_er

Generate with the profile

pidgeon generate ADT^A01 --vendor epic_er --count 10

Generated messages now match the field population patterns, segment ordering, and value sets from your samples.

Validate against the profile

pidgeon validate --file generated.hl7 --profile epic_er

Batch generation with output files

Save generated messages to files for use in integration testing:

# Single file with all messages
pidgeon generate ADT^A01 --count 100 --output ./test-data/adt-batch.hl7

# JSON format for FHIR
pidgeon generate Patient --count 50 --format json --output ./test-data/patients.json

# NDJSON for streaming
pidgeon generate ORU^R01 --count 200 --format ndjson --output ./test-data/labs.ndjson

Common message type combinations

Here are typical combinations for integration testing scenarios:

Scenario	Message Types	Description
ED Visit	ADT^A01, ORU^R01, ADT^A03	Admit, lab results, discharge
Pharmacy	ORM^O01, RDE^O11	Order, dispense
Lab Order	ORM^O01, ORU^R01	Order, result
Immunization	VXU^V04	Vaccination record
Billing	DFT^P03	Charge posting

Next steps

Validate your generated messages to catch structural issues
Build multi-step scenarios with the Workflow Wizard
Set up vendor profiles for environment-specific testing

Getting Started

Install

Desktop Apps

Post (Testing Tool)

Flock (Population Engine)

Loft (Observability)

Guides & Tutorials

Support

Generate Realistic Test Data

Prerequisites

Generate your first messages

Multi-standard generation

Use vendor profiles for realistic patterns

Batch generation with output files

Common message type combinations

Next steps

​Prerequisites

​Generate your first messages

​Multi-standard generation

​Use vendor profiles for realistic patterns

​Batch generation with output files

​Common message type combinations

​Next steps

Prerequisites

Generate your first messages

Multi-standard generation

Use vendor profiles for realistic patterns

Batch generation with output files

Common message type combinations

Next steps