---
title: "Migration from features to explanations in /match responses"
url: "https://www.opensanctions.org/changelog/29/"
id: "29"
date_created: "2025-08-26T14:54:28.536Z"
date_effective: "2026-03-02"
breaking: true
categories: ["Hosted API","yente"]
---

# Migration from features to explanations in /match responses

We have begun a two-step migration in the /match API response format that affects users relying on the `features` and `matcher` fields.

1. The `matcher` field in `/match` responses will be removed after February 27, 2026. Equivalent information is available via the `/algorithms` route (free to use).

2. A new `explanations` field has been added that is a strict superset of `features`. In addition to the partial scores produced by each component of the matching system, it includes textual descriptions of the matching decisions from each of these subsystems. These descriptions are designed for display in analyst workbenches or can be passed to generative AI tools to help interpret screening alerts. The `features` field will be removed after February 27, 2026. Users should update their applications to consume `explanations` before this date.