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R

REDCapR

INFRA · APIS
Velocity0.0

Interaction Between R and REDCap

github.com/ouhscbbmc/redcapr ↗

The REDCap API client finished its breaking cleanup and settled into CRAN-compliance mode.

redcapr-packageapi-clientcran-compliancetibble-migrationresearch-data
◆Current state
REDCapR is a mature R client for the REDCap research data-capture API, and its release stream shows a package that has already made its consequential changes. The last two releases (1.5.0, 1.6.0) exist purely to satisfy CRAN checks — dropping native pipes from non-essential code, keeping examples from touching an external server. The functional surface has been stable since early 2025.
◆Where it's heading
The arc runs from a deliberate interface break in 1.2.0 — read functions returning tibbles, the *_collapsed parameter family deprecated — through 1.4.0 broadening API coverage into REDCap's file repository, and then into pure maintenance. Test infrastructure has been getting more attention than features: a redirection layer so users can point the suite at their own server, a multilevel-model test project. That is the signature of a package whose maintainer is defending stability rather than expanding scope.
◆Prediction
Expect continued CRAN-compliance releases at roughly quarterly cadence; any new feature work is most likely further coverage of REDCap endpoints the package does not yet wrap, following the file-repository pattern.

◆Recent moves

  1. 10mo ago

    CRAN compliance fix: examples no longer hit an external server

    A CRAN-compliance release: an example was reaching an external test server, which CRAN forbids. The accompanying multilevel-model test project is internal test infrastructure, continuing the maintainer's pattern of investing in the suite rather than the API.

    View source ↗
  2. 1y ago

    Native pipes removed to keep pre-4.1 R support

    Another CRAN-checks release. Native pipes were pulled out of non-essential package code so REDCapR keeps running on R versions before 4.1.0, and a second example stopped calling a server. No user-visible behaviour changes.

    View source ↗
  3. 1y ago

    Development version bump to 1.4.0.9000

    A development version bump tagged minutes after the 1.4.0 release. It carries no changes of its own and marks the start of the next development cycle.

    View source ↗
  4. 1y ago

    File repository listing lands in the API client

    The one recent release with new API surface: redcap_file_repo_list_oneshot() lets callers enumerate files and folders in a REDCap file repository, an endpoint family the package had not covered. The rest is CRAN housekeeping — vignettes no longer evaluated on CRAN, alt text on figures. Note the body is cumulative, restating the 1.3.0 and 1.2.0 notes below its own.

    View source ↗
  5. 1y ago

    Test suite gains a bring-your-own-server redirection layer

    Test-suite work only: a redirection layer so contributors can run the suite against their own REDCap server, plus a CRAN-only test skip. Invisible to anyone using the package.

    View source ↗
  6. 1y ago

    Read functions return tibbles; the collapsed-parameter family is deprecated

    ⚡ SPARK

    The interface break the rest of this window is downstream of. Every main read function switched from data.frame to tibble returns, and the *_collapsed parameter family was deprecated in favour of plain character vectors. Everything since has been compliance work on top of this settled shape.

    View source ↗