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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.

Effective December 31, 2025, the secondary KYB data API at api.graph.opensanctions.org will be shut down and no longer supported.

We’ve made this decision to focus on improving and expanding the core OpenSanctions dataset and API. If you are using the KYB/Graph API, please plan to transition before the end of the year. We encourage you to reach out if the impact of this change is severe for your business.

We are planning an upgrade to the technology stack powering the OpenSanctions API in the coming days. While new functionality will be described in a separate announcement, users of the system might notice small changes in matching results. They can be a result of:

• Improved company type suffix/prefix matching (LLC, OAO, OJSC, etc.).
• More precise retrieval of matching candidates with very generic names (A B C Limited), and of names across different scripts (Putin and بوتين).
• Fix of a bug in logic-v1 in which certain match scores for organizations could vary between requests.
• Implicit support for a broader range of jurisdictions (eg. Alberta is recognized as Canada).

Of course, it is our goal to keep matching results stable over time. The result of rolling out these improvements to some of the existing matching systems, however, should strictly improve precision and reduce false positive burden for existing users.

A new version of the API will remove the regression-v2 scoring algorithm, but leave regression-v1 in place for now. regression-v2 is a historic scoring method that is discouraged for screening use (it's intended use is internal de-duplication of entities in our database).

A new regression-v3 scoring mechanism is now being developed and will be released, but not recommended for screening use. Any requests that are sent to the API using regression-v2 will be re-written to use regression-v3 in the future.

This release updates various dependencies, introducing new fields in the followthemoney schema and bringing in security patches for the web stack dependencies.

We're also implementing the Reconciliation API's Data Extension protocol for the first time, allowing users to enrich OpenRefine tables with new columns using the API.

See more: https://github.com/opensanctions/yente/releases/tag/v4.2.0