argus-screen

Screen Terminal is an HTTP API that checks a name against PEP, sanctions, entity, enforcement and watchlist records. This repo holds the API spec, short client examples and a small MCP server. The screening engine and the data are not in this repo.

• API docs: https://screen.unbackoffice.com/docs

• Coverage, meaning every country and list and when each last refreshed: https://screen.unbackoffice.com/coverage

• Tiers: https://screen.unbackoffice.com/tiers

• Free key: https://screen.unbackoffice.com/key (sign in with Google or an email link)

Try it

export SCREEN_API_KEY=...   # your key

curl -s https://screen.unbackoffice.com/v1/screen \
  -H "X-API-Key: $SCREEN_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Vladimir Putin", "dob": "1952-10-07", "country": "RU"}'

No key yet? The home page at https://screen.unbackoffice.com has a shared demo key in a ready-to-run curl command (5 calls a day per IP).

Related MCP server: mcp-sanctions-screening

Endpoints

Base URL https://screen.unbackoffice.com. Send the key in the X-API-Key header.

dob is best as YYYY-MM-DD. DD/MM/YYYY, 7 Oct 1952, YYYY-MM and YYYY are also read. An unreadable date is ignored, never counted as a mismatch. Companies and vessels go in name too.

The full spec is in openapi.json.

Response

Trimmed. Real responses carry more per match: positions, other names, sources, an explanation and the evidence.

{
  "result_band": "strong",
  "match_count": 1,
  "sanctions_band": "strong",
  "pep_band": "strong",
  "watchlist_band": "none",
  "by_type": {
    "sanction": {"band": "strong", "match_count": 1, "top_score": 1.0, "top_name": "Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin"},
    "pep":      {"band": "strong", "match_count": 1, "top_score": 1.0, "top_name": "Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin"},
    "watchlist": {"band": "none", "match_count": 0, "top_score": null, "top_name": null}
  },
  "matches": [
    {
      "person_id": "…",
      "name": "Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin",
      "country": "RU",
      "date_of_birth": "1952-10-07",
      "match_score": 1.0,
      "match_band": "strong",
      "risk_types": ["sanction", "pep"],
      "pep_classification": "sanctioned",
      "matched_on": ["name", "country", "dob"],
      "signals": {"matched_name_form": "canonical"},
      "weak_aliases": [],
      "generated_aliases": []
    }
  ],
  "dob_check": {"input": "1952-10-07", "status": "ok", "read_as": "1952-10-07", "note": null},
  "screened_at": "2026-11-10T09:30:00Z",
  "data_as_of": "2026-11-10T01:00:00Z"
}

• Bands, highest first: strong (treat as a hit), possible (send to an analyst), weak (low similarity or a conflicting detail such as date of birth), none.

• result_band is the highest band of any match. Route on sanctions_band, pep_band and watchlist_band, because a sanctions hit can rank below a stronger PEP namesake.

• by_type gives the band, count and top match for each type: sanction, pep, rca, watchlist, debarment, regulatory, adverse_media, soe, other.

• matches is best first. match_score runs from 0 to 1.

• Sanctions hits are shown at every band so you can review them under your own policy.

• screened_at is when the screen ran. data_as_of is how fresh the lists were.

A batch returns count, with_matches, with_sanctions_matches, with_pep_matches and results, one result per name in order.

A match is a lead to review. It is not a finding about the person.

Limits

• A free key has 100 screens with a work email, 25 with a personal one. They don't expire or reset. One name is one screen, so a batch of 20 uses 20.

• A batch is all or nothing. If the key can't cover every name, nothing is screened or charged.

• Invalid requests (422) are not charged.

• Rate limits: 30 requests a minute per key and 60 a minute per IP. Over that you get 429.

• More screens: https://screen.unbackoffice.com/tiers

Errors are JSON with a detail field, e.g. {"detail": "invalid X-API-Key"}.

Examples

Both read SCREEN_API_KEY, screen one name and print the bands and the top matches.

# Python 3.9+, needs requests
pip install requests
python examples/python/screen.py "Vladimir Putin" --dob 1952-10-07 --country RU

# TypeScript, Node 18+, no dependencies
npx tsx examples/typescript/screen.ts "Vladimir Putin" 1952-10-07 RU

MCP server

A stdio MCP server that wraps the API, so an MCP client can screen names. It runs straight from GitHub with npx. Each name it screens uses one screen from your key.

Tools:

• screen_name: name, optional dob, country, kind (person, company or vessel) and full. Returns the bands and the top matches, or the whole response with full: true.

• screen_batch: queries, 1 to 50 items with the same fields as screen_name.

kind is not an API field. It only changes what is sent, as on the website: for a company or vessel the date of birth is left out, and for a vessel the country too.

Claude Code

claude mcp add argus-screen -e SCREEN_API_KEY=your-key -- npx -y github:sect0rial/argus-screen

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json) and Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project) take the same block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "argus-screen": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "github:sect0rial/argus-screen"],
      "env": { "SCREEN_API_KEY": "your-key" }
    }
  }
}

Restart the client after editing the file.

From a clone:

npm install
npm run build          # compiles mcp/src to mcp/dist (mcp/dist is committed, so npx needs no build step)
npm run verify         # starts the server, runs initialize and tools/list, calls screen_name once

SCREEN_API_URL overrides the base URL. It defaults to https://screen.unbackoffice.com.

openapi.json

Saved from the live service and pretty-printed:

curl -s https://screen.unbackoffice.com/openapi.json | python3 -m json.tool --indent 2 --no-ensure-ascii > openapi.json

Fetched on 10 November 2026. The live document is the reference if the two differ.

What is not here

The screening engine, the matching rules and the list data run on Screen Terminal's servers. They are not in this repo and not under its licence.

Licence

The code in this repo is MIT licensed. See LICENSE.