# OFAC Sanctions Screening (SDN List) (`cheerful_term/ofac-sanctions-screening`) Actor

Screen a list of people, companies or vessels against the US Treasury OFAC SDN list and its aliases, downloaded fresh each run. Returns, per name, whether there is a potential match, the score, and the SDN entry, type, programs and remarks.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/cheerful_term/ofac-sanctions-screening.md
- **Developed by:** [Aidan Jude](https://apify.com/cheerful_term) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Automation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$3.00 / 1,000 screened names

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## OFAC Sanctions Screening (SDN List)

Screen a list of people, companies or vessels against the US Treasury OFAC SDN list and its aliases, downloaded fresh each run. Returns, per name, whether there is a potential match, the score, and the SDN entry, type, programs and remarks.

### Why use it

Fuzzy matching on normalized names (punctuation and legal suffixes stripped, word order ignored) against every SDN name and alias. A potential match is a reason to review, not a determination.

### Who it's for

- Fintechs, marketplaces and exporters screening counterparties
- Compliance teams batch-checking vendor lists
- AI agents running a KYC step

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `names` | **Names to screen**. One per line. |
| `minScore` | **Minimum match score (0-1)**. Similarity threshold. 0.85 is a sensible default. |
| `maxItems` | **Max results**. Stop after this many results. Each result is one billed event. |

Example input:

```json
{
  "names": [
    "Banco Nacional de Cuba",
    "Acme Widgets LLC"
  ],
  "minScore": "0.85",
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

### Output

One dataset item per result. A real item from a test run:

```json
{
  "query": "Banco Nacional de Cuba",
  "isPotentialMatch": true,
  "bestScore": 1.0,
  "matches": [
    {
      "score": 1.0,
      "matchedName": "BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA",
      "sdnName": "BANCO NACIONAL DE CUBA",
      "uid": 306,
      "type": "entity",
      "programs": "CUBA",
      "remarks": "a.k.a. 'BNC'."
    }
  ],
  "listSource": "OFAC SDN + aliases (sanctionslistservice.ofac.treas.gov), fetched at run time"
}
```

Download as JSON, CSV, Excel or via the Apify API.

### Pricing

Pay per result: **$0.003 per screened name** ($3 per 1,000). No monthly fee. Set a max charge on the run and it stops there. AI agents can run it with agentic payments where Apify enables them.

### Data source

Fetched live at run time from the public source: https://sanctionslistservice.ofac.treas.gov/api/publicationpreview/exports/sdn.csv

Public records only. Nothing is fetched behind a login.

### Limits

- Screens the SDN list only (not the consolidated non-SDN lists). Results are potential matches for human review.

### Use it from code or an AI agent

```bash
curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/cheerful_term~ofac-sanctions-screening/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"names": ["Banco Nacional de Cuba", "Acme Widgets LLC"], "minScore": "0.85", "maxItems": 100}'
```

Part of a set of public-records actors by cheerful_term: https://apify.com/cheerful_term

# Actor input Schema

## `names` (type: `array`):

One per line.

## `minScore` (type: `string`):

Similarity threshold. 0.85 is a sensible default.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many results. Each result is billed as one event.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "names": [
    "Banco Nacional de Cuba",
    "Acme Widgets LLC"
  ],
  "minScore": "0.85",
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "names": [
        "Banco Nacional de Cuba",
        "Acme Widgets LLC"
    ],
    "maxItems": 100
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("cheerful_term/ofac-sanctions-screening").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "names": [
        "Banco Nacional de Cuba",
        "Acme Widgets LLC",
    ],
    "maxItems": 100,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("cheerful_term/ofac-sanctions-screening").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "names": [
    "Banco Nacional de Cuba",
    "Acme Widgets LLC"
  ],
  "maxItems": 100
}' |
apify call cheerful_term/ofac-sanctions-screening --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,cheerful_term/ofac-sanctions-screening"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/geD5rxy4oOxIamJkV/builds/0ZQoKlNz8msXFKedx/openapi.json