Boxwood installation
Boxwood runs on each user's computer. Your organization creates the Azure resource, owns the API key, and enters it directly into Boxwood. Ironwood does not need to receive that key.
Your computer will show a security warning.
Boxwood's installers are not code-signed yet. Windows may say it protected your PC or does not recognize the publisher. macOS may say it cannot verify the developer or check the app for malicious software. This is expected for the installer from our private download page. The exact steps for continuing safely are below.
Walkthrough video
The video gives you the route. The written instructions below contain the exact checks and compliance notes.
Decide who owns Azure for the organization. That person should control billing, the resource, and key rotation.
Creates the subscription and resource, deploys the models, records the BAA evidence, and distributes the credential inside the organization.
Installs the app and enters the Azure resource name and API key on their own computer.
Ask the Azure owner for the resource name and Key 1 or Key 2 through the organization's approved password manager. Do not send the key to Ironwood.
Part 1
You should have: Boxwood installed and the first-run form asking for a local username, password, Azure resource name, and Azure API key.
Part 2
Do this while signed in to the organization's Azure account. The organization—not Ironwood—owns the subscription, resource, billing relationship, and credential.
Open portal.azure.com. Confirm the subscription is active and the legal customer is the covered entity, business associate, or other organization that should own this workload.
Use an organization account when possible. Record the agreement type and retain a redacted billing or subscription screenshot for the compliance file.
In the Azure portal, choose Create a resource and search for Azure OpenAI. Select Create.
Choose the subscription, create or select a resource group, choose a region where the required models are generally available, enter a unique resource name, and use the Standard S0 tier.
The resource name is the short name you entered here. Boxwood does not want the full endpoint URL.
| Deployment name | Used for |
|---|---|
| gpt-5.6-sol | Default |
| gpt-5.6-terra | Lower-cost option |
| gpt-5.6-luna | Lowest-cost option |
Use generally available model versions and a deployment geography the organization has approved. Boxwood refers to the deployment name, so the names must match exactly.
For Standard deployments, choose the organization's preferred model-version upgrade policy. “Once the current version expires” avoids an early change while still preventing a retired version from simply stopping. This can update a compatible version inside a deployment; it does not create a new model family such as GPT-6.
Open the Azure OpenAI resource, then Resource Management → Keys and Endpoint. Copy the resource name and either Key 1 or Key 2.
Put the key into the organization's approved password manager. Do not paste it into email, ordinary chat, a shared document, or a support message to Ironwood.
In Azure Cost Management, create a monthly budget for the Boxwood resource group and send actual-cost and forecast alerts to the Azure owner. A budget warns the organization; it does not automatically stop usage.
You should have: One organization-owned Azure OpenAI resource, three correctly named deployments, the short resource name, one API key, and a budget alert.
Microsoft references: create an Azure OpenAI resource and deploy a model, model upgrade policies, and Azure budgets.
Part 3
Microsoft states that its HIPAA BAA is incorporated through the Product Terms and Data Protection Addendum for qualifying covered entities and business associates using in-scope services. There is ordinarily no separate Azure BAA to sign. That does not make the workload compliant by itself.
Record the legal Azure customer, active agreement, subscription, and confirmation that the organization has not opted out of the HIPAA BAA.
Download the current BAA and Azure Compliance Offerings or service-scope evidence from the Microsoft Service Trust Portal. Keep the version and review date.
Save redacted evidence of the resource region, Azure OpenAI service, model versions, deployment types, and general-availability status. Do not include keys.
Default Azure abuse monitoring can store flagged content for possible human review. Modified abuse monitoring is a separate approval. Before production PHI, the organization should document that it accepts the default posture or obtain modified monitoring or written Microsoft/legal confirmation.
Public web search is not a PHI destination. Boxwood applies a private-data check before search, but users should still keep patient, client, account, and private case identifiers out of search prompts.
Microsoft references: Azure and HIPAA, data and privacy, and abuse monitoring. Last checked July 27, 2026.
Part 4
Choose a username and a unique password of at least eight characters. This account belongs to this computer.
Paste the short Azure resource name and Key 1 or Key 2 into the first-run form. Boxwood stores the credential on that computer; Ironwood does not receive it.
In Settings, keep Sol as the default or choose Terra or Luna to lower usage costs. Each user can see their estimated monthly usage there.
Before using confidential data, ask Boxwood to create a folder named boxwood-setup-test and a file named ready.txt containing “Boxwood is connected.” Confirm the file exists.
Install Boxwood on each licensed user's computer. For the early rollout, the Azure owner distributes the same Azure resource name and key through the organization's password manager. If a user leaves or the key is exposed, rotate the Azure key and replace it in Boxwood Settings on every computer.
You should have: Boxwood running on each computer, connected directly to the organization's Azure resource, and verified with synthetic data.
Send the step number and the exact error. Do not send an Azure key, password, patient record, client file, or screenshot containing confidential data.