OFAC screening technology overview

Screening technology spans APIs, MCP servers, SDKs, enterprise platforms, and open-source tools, all reading the same SDN list.

TL;DR

TL;DR: You can screen with a simple API, an MCP server, a language SDK, an enterprise platform, or an MIT-licensed open-source tool, but they all answer the same question: ALLOW or BLOCK.

APIs and MCP servers

The simplest option is a screening API. One HTTP call submits a counterparty and returns a clean ALLOW or flagged BLOCK decision in under 100 ms. The same logic is available as an MCP server you install with pip install sanctions-mcp, which lets AI agents and coding tools such as Claude Code or Cursor call screening directly.

SDKs and open-source tools

SDKs package the API for a specific language or framework, and open-source, MIT-licensed screening code can be self-hosted, which appeals to teams that want to run the data on their own infrastructure. The tradeoff is that you become responsible for keeping the list current yourself.

Enterprise platforms

Enterprise platforms bundle screening with case management, alerting, and audit workflow for larger organizations. Across all of these the underlying data is the same: the US Treasury SDN list of 19,218 names plus 947 OFAC-listed crypto wallets, refreshed hourly. Choose by how the tool fits your existing payment flow, not by brand.

Choosing a deployment model

Pick a deployment model by who owns the data. Use a hosted API when you want zero maintenance and hourly-synced lists. Use an MCP server when AI agents or coding tools need to call screening directly. Self-host the MIT-licensed code when your compliance policy requires the list to live in your own infrastructure.