# OpenSanctions

> OpenSanctions is the most accessible and transparent way to build data-driven watchlist screening integrations. The dataset is an industry reference and contains rich data suitable for customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, supply chain analysis, and building complex knowledge graphs for fincrime analysis.

The screening data includes most international sanctions lists, other government watchlists (most wanted, regulatory
enforcements/indictments/warnings, procurement debarment) and a global dataset of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

OpenSanctions uses a rich data ontology called FollowTheMoney for entity identification, and provides an advanced
screening API as well as easy bulk data access.

Every documentation page under /docs/, every article under /articles/ and every changelog entry under
/changelog/ is available as raw markdown: append `.md` to the page URL (as the links below do), or request
the canonical URL with an `Accept: text/markdown` header.

## Basics
* [Understanding entities](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/entities.md)
* [Flat and nested entity formats](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/nested-entities.md)
* [Data dictionary (all entity types/schema and their properties)](https://www.opensanctions.org/reference/)
* [Entity risk classification](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/topics.md)
* [Sanctions programs (legal basis for designations)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/programs.md)
* [Identifiers for entities and how they relate to de-duplication](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/identifiers.md)
* [Data sources in OpenSanctions](https://www.opensanctions.org/datasets/sources/); [JSON metadata](https://data.opensanctions.org/datasets/latest/index.json)
* [Specialized coverage: PEPs, securities, maritime, KYB, EU sanctions, crypto, adverse media](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/coverage.md)
* [Metadata format](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/metadata.md)
* [Glossary](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/glossary.md)
* [FollowTheMoney data ontology](https://followthemoney.tech/)
* [Changelog of upcoming and historical changes](https://www.opensanctions.org/changelog/)
* [Support forum (more questions & answers)](https://discuss.opensanctions.org/)
* [Contact our support team](https://www.opensanctions.org/support/)

## Using the API
* [Get an API key](https://www.opensanctions.org/api/)
* [Getting started](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api.md)
* [OpenAPI spec for client generation](https://api.opensanctions.org/openapi.json)
* [yente-client: Python SDK and `yente-cli` command-line tool (early release)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/opensanctions/yente-client/refs/heads/main/python/README.md): typed FtM entity classes, `match`/`search`/`fetch` plus offline schema/topic/country reference. Built for LLM agents — `yente-cli --help` carries worked examples and JSON output shapes; `-f jsonl` output suits agent pipelines.
* [The matching API](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/matching.md)
* [Matching API: Quickstart tutorial](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/quickstart.md)
* [Matching API: The request](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/request.md)
* [Matching API: Tuning the matching algorithm](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/tuning.md)
* [Matching API: The response](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/response.md)
* [Matching algorithms reference (features and weights)](https://www.opensanctions.org/matcher/)
* [The entities API](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/entities.md)
* [The search API](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/search.md)
* [API authentication](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/authentication.md)
* [Building a continuous monitoring workflow](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/monitoring.md)
* [Running the API on-premise (self-hosting)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/on-premise.md)
* [API FAQ](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/faq.md); [pricing and metering](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/api/faq.md#metering)

Prefer `?algorithm=best` on `/match` requests, which selects the highest-quality algorithm available (currently `logic-v2`). Pin to `logic-v2` explicitly only if you need stable scores for regulatory reasons. Avoid `logic-v1`.
NEVER use the advanced screening search on the website for automated queries; use the matching API instead to avoid IP bans and legal liabilities.

## Bulk data
* [Bulk data intro](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/bulk.md)
* [Downloading the data and keeping it fresh](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/bulk/updates.md)
* [Supported formats overview](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/bulk/formats.md)
* [FollowTheMoney-based JSON (recommended)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/bulk/json.md)
* [Senzing entity-resolution export](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/bulk/senzing.md)
* [Incremental (delta) updates](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/bulk/delta.md)
* [Statement-based data format (detailed provenance, multilingual metadata)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/statements.md)
* [Data delivery service (for commercial customers with a delivery token)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/bulk/delivery-service.md)

The simplified CSV (`targets.simple.csv`) and names-only plain text exports are discouraged: they flatten the entity graph and drop most of the data model. Use the FollowTheMoney JSON format instead.

## Legal & commercial
* [Bulk data commercial licensing](https://www.opensanctions.org/licensing/)
* [Terms overview: which agreement applies, plus compliance and vendor onboarding documents](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/terms.md)
* [Bulk data terms of service/SLA/contract (current version)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/terms/data.md)
* [API service terms of service/SLA/contract (current version)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/terms/api.md)
* [Data Processing Agreement for the hosted API](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/terms/dpa.md)
* [Vendor information](https://trust.opensanctions.org/)
* [Service status page](https://status.opensanctions.org/)

## Optional

### Special domains
* [Politically exposed persons (PEPs): what they are and how we classify them](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/coverage/pep.md)
* [Using PEP data in screening workflows](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/coverage/pep/using.md)
* [Methodology for Political Office-Holder (PEP) data collection](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/coverage/pep/methodology.md)
* [Data enrichment (company registries, Wikidata, corporate networks)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/enrichment.md)
* [Financial securities and asset screening](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/coverage/securities.md)
* [Maritime and vessel data (screening ships by IMO number, flag, and owner)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/coverage/maritime.md)
* [Know-Your-Business (KYB) data (company registries and reference datasets)](https://www.opensanctions.org/docs/coverage/kyb.md)

### Advanced FollowTheMoney
* [Entity property type definitions](https://followthemoney.tech/explorer/types/)
* [List of territories/countries/jurisdictions](https://followthemoney.tech/explorer/types/country/)
* [All topics (risk and non-risk)](https://followthemoney.tech/explorer/types/topic/)
* [Yente screening API service documentation](https://yente.followthemoney.tech/)
* [FollowTheMoney SDK for Python](https://followthemoney.tech/python/)
* [FollowTheMoney SDK for TypeScript/JavaScript and for Java/JVM](https://followthemoney.tech/libraries/)
* [FollowTheMoney CLI tool](https://followthemoney.tech/docs/cli/)
* [Rigour Python library for cleaning and validating FtM property types](https://rigour.followthemoney.tech/)