https://github.com/moov-io/watchman
AML/CTF/KYC/OFAC Search of global watchlist and sanctions
https://github.com/moov-io/watchman
aml bis bis-denied-persons cip csl ctf dpl kyc ofac sanction-lists sanctions sectoral-sanctions-identifications
Last synced: 4 months ago
JSON representation
AML/CTF/KYC/OFAC Search of global watchlist and sanctions
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/moov-io/watchman
- Owner: moov-io
- License: apache-2.0
- Created: 2019-01-02T20:22:14.000Z (over 7 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2026-02-02T22:15:31.000Z (4 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-02-03T11:35:23.747Z (4 months ago)
- Topics: aml, bis, bis-denied-persons, cip, csl, ctf, dpl, kyc, ofac, sanction-lists, sanctions, sectoral-sanctions-identifications
- Language: Go
- Homepage: https://moov-io.github.io/watchman/
- Size: 45.1 MB
- Stars: 431
- Watchers: 16
- Forks: 113
- Open Issues: 23
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
- Codeowners: .github/CODEOWNERS
Awesome Lists containing this project
- awesome-fintech - Watchman
README
[](https://github.com/moov-io)
Project Documentation
·
API Endpoints
·
API Guide
·
Community
·
Blog
[](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/moov-io/watchman/pkg/search#Client)
[](https://github.com/moov-io/watchman/actions)
[](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/moov-io/watchman)
[](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/moov-io/ach/master/LICENSE)
[](https://slack.moov.io/)
[](https://hub.docker.com/r/moov/watchman)
[](https://deepwiki.com/moov-io/watchman)
# moov-io/watchman
Moov's mission is to give developers an easy way to create and integrate bank processing into their own software products. Our open source projects are each focused on solving a single responsibility in financial services and designed around performance, scalability, and ease of use.
## What is Watchman?
Moov Watchman is a high-performance sanctions screening and compliance tool that helps businesses meet their regulatory obligations. It provides an HTTP server and [Go library](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/moov-io/watchman/pkg/search#Client) for searching against multiple global sanctions and screening lists.
## Key Features
- **Geocoding**: Using one of the supported providers.
- **Senzing Support**: Import data files in [senzing format](https://www.senzing.com/docs/entity_specification/) and get search responses as senzing entities.
- **Comprehensive Coverage**: Integrates multiple global watchlists in one unified system
- **High-Performance Search**: Optimized for speed and accuracy using advanced matching algorithms
- **Flexible Integration**: HTTP API and Go library for easy integration into your systems
- **Automated Updates**: Regular refreshes of watchlist data to ensure compliance
## Included Lists
Watchman integrates the following lists to help you maintain global compliance:
| Source | List |
|---------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| OpenSanctions | [Any senzing dataset from OpenSanctions](https://www.opensanctions.org/datasets/) |
| US Treasury | [Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)](https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-list-service) and Non-SDN list |
| US Government | [Consolidated Screening List (CSL)](https://www.trade.gov/consolidated-screening-list), [FinCEN 311](https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/terrorism-and-illicit-finance/311-actions) |
### Future Lists
The v0.50+ series of Watchman has revamped its search engine. The following lists are being re-added into Watchman.
| Source | List |
|--------|------|
| European Union | [Consolidated Sanctions List](https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/consolidated-list-of-persons-groups-and-entities-subject-to-eu-financial-sanctions?locale=en) |
| United Kingdom | [OFSI Sanctions List](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-consolidated-list-of-targets/consolidated-list-of-targets#contents) |
| United Kingdom | [Sanctions List](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-sanctions-list) (Disabled by default) |
## v2 Endpoints (v0.50+ series and beyond)
The v0.50+ series of Watchman has introduced a new v2 search endpoint and removed the older endpoint. This was done to offer a unified response model, improve overall performance, and work towards a stable v1.0 release.
We encourage you to try out the new Watchman and [report any issues or requests in slack](https://slack.moov.io) (`#watchman` channel).
## Project status
Moov Watchman is actively used in multiple production environments. Please star the project if you are interested in its progress. If you have layers above Watchman to simplify tasks, perform business operations, or found bugs we would appreciate an issue or pull request. Thanks!
## Usage
The Watchman project implements an HTTP server and [Go library](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/moov-io/watchman/pkg/search#Client) for searching against Watchman.
Government lists are downloaded (and refreshed), parsed, prepared, normalized, and indexed in-memory. Searches operate concurrently and do not require an external database or connection.
### Docker
We publish a [public Docker image `moov/watchman`](https://hub.docker.com/r/moov/watchman/) from Docker Hub or use this repository. No configuration is required to serve on `:8084`. We also have Docker images for [OpenShift](https://quay.io/repository/moov/watchman?tab=tags) published as `quay.io/moov/watchman`. Lastly, we offer a `moov/watchman:v2-static` Docker image with files from 2019. This image can be useful for faster local testing or consistent results.
Start the Docker image [using a tag](https://hub.docker.com/r/moov/watchman/tags):
```
docker run -p 8084:8084 moov/watchman
```
Run a search for an individual or business:
```
curl -s "http://localhost:8084/v2/search?name=Nicolas+Maduro&type=person&limit=1&minMatch=0.75" | jq .
```
```json
{
"entities": [
{
"name": "Nicolas MADURO MOROS",
"entityType": "person",
"sourceList": "us_ofac",
"sourceID": "22790",
"person": {
"name": "Nicolas MADURO MOROS",
"altNames": null,
"gender": "male",
"birthDate": "1962-11-23T00:00:00Z",
"deathDate": null,
"titles": [
"President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela"
],
"governmentIDs": [
{
"type": "cedula",
"country": "Venezuela",
"identifier": "5892464"
}
]
},
"business": null,
"organization": null,
"aircraft": null,
"vessel": null,
"contact": {
"emailAddresses": null,
"phoneNumbers": null,
"faxNumbers": null,
"websites": null
},
"addresses": null,
"cryptoAddresses": null,
"affiliations": null,
"sanctionsInfo": null,
"historicalInfo": null,
"sourceData": {
"entityID": "22790",
"sdnName": "MADURO MOROS, Nicolas",
"sdnType": "individual",
"program": [
"VENEZUELA",
"IRAN-CON-ARMS-EO"
],
"title": "President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela",
"callSign": "",
"vesselType": "",
"tonnage": "",
"grossRegisteredTonnage": "",
"vesselFlag": "",
"vesselOwner": "",
"remarks": "DOB 23 Nov 1962; POB Caracas, Venezuela; citizen Venezuela; Gender Male; Cedula No. 5892464 (Venezuela); President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."
},
"match": 0.7784062500000001
}
]
}
```
### Data persistence
By design, Watchman **does not persist** (save) any data about the search queries or lists pulled from external sources. Watchman can store ingested files (the individual records) in
a MySQL or PostgreSQL database for concurrent access. External lists that are downloaded on startup (and refreshed periodically) are only kept in memory. No encryption of data in-memory
is performed.
## Configuration
Watchman recommends [file-based configuration](https://moov-io.github.io/watchman/config/) but supports environmental variable options.
### FAQ
#### Reporting hits to OFAC
OFAC requires [reporting of positive hits](https://ofac.treasury.gov/ofac-reporting-system) and has a [voluntary self-disclosure](https://disclosure.ofac.treas.gov/) portal. Work with your Financial Institution for complete details.
#### Useful resources
- [OFAC Sanctions Search Page](https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/)
- [Subscribe for OFAC email updates](https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USTREAS/subscriber/new)
- [When should I call the OFAC Hotline?](https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/contact-ofac/when-should-i-call-the-ofac-hotline#:~:text=If%20it's%20hitting%20against%20OFAC's,the%20match%20is%20hitting%20against.)
- [BIS Denied Persons List with Denied US Export Privileges (DPL)](https://bis.data.commerce.gov/dataset/Denied-Persons-List-with-Denied-US-Export-Privileg/xwtd-wd7a/data)
- [BIS Entity List](https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/policy-guidance/lists-of-parties-of-concern/entity-list)
- [Sectoral Sanctions Identifications (SSI)](https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/consolidated-sanctions-list/sectoral-sanctions-identifications-ssi-list)
- [US Sanctions Search FAQ](https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/faqs#basic)
## Getting help
channel | info
------- | -------
[Project Documentation](https://moov-io.github.io/watchman/) | Our project documentation available online.
Twitter [@moov](https://twitter.com/moov) | You can follow Moov.io's Twitter feed to get updates on our project(s). You can also tweet us questions or just share blogs or stories.
[GitHub Issue](https://github.com/moov-io/watchman/issues) | If you are able to reproduce a problem please open a GitHub Issue under the specific project that caused the error.
[moov-io slack](https://slack.moov.io/) | Join our slack channel (`#watchman`) to have an interactive discussion about the development of the project.
If you find a security issue please contact us at [`security@moov.io`](mailto:security@moov.io).
## Supported and tested platforms
- 64-bit Linux (Ubuntu, Debian), macOS, and Windows
## Contributing
Yes please! Checkout our [issues for first time contributors](https://github.com/moov-io/watchman/contribute) for something to help out with.
Building Watchman's source code follows standard Go commands. You can use `make build` to compile the code and `make check` to run linters and tests.
Run `make install` to setup [gopostal](https://github.com/openvenues/gopostal) / [libpostal](https://github.com/openvenues/libpostal) for Watchman.
## Related projects
As part of Moov's initiative to offer open source fintech infrastructure, we have a large collection of active projects you may find useful:
- [Moov Fed](https://github.com/moov-io/fed) implements utility services for searching the United States Federal Reserve System such as ABA routing numbers, financial institution name lookup, and FedACH and Fedwire routing information.
- [Moov Image Cash Letter](https://github.com/moov-io/imagecashletter) implements Image Cash Letter (ICL) files used for Check21, X.9 or check truncation files for exchange and remote deposit in the U.S.
- [Moov Wire](https://github.com/moov-io/wire) implements an interface to write files for the Fedwire Funds Service, a real-time gross settlement funds transfer system operated by the United States Federal Reserve Banks.
- [Moov ACH](https://github.com/moov-io/ach) provides ACH file generation and parsing, supporting all Standard Entry Codes for the primary method of money movement throughout the United States.
- [Moov Metro 2](https://github.com/moov-io/metro2) provides a way to easily read, create, and validate Metro 2 format, which is used for consumer credit history reporting by the United States credit bureaus.
## License
Apache License 2.0 - See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.