Screen vendors against SAM.gov exclusions using the v4 API

Steps

1. Register for a SAM.gov system account and request an API key with entity information scope at sam.gov; entity registration takes about 10 business days and raises your rate limit to 1,000 requests per day.
2. Send a GET request to https://api.sam.gov/entity-information/v4/exclusions with your api_key query parameter and filter parameters such as ueiSAM or legalBusinessName to identify the vendor.
3. Parse the JSON response; a non-empty entityData array indicates an active exclusion — inspect the exclusionType, excludingAgencyName, and activeDate fields for details.
4. For bulk screening, use the format=CSV or format=JSON parameter with a download token to request an extraction file; poll the extraction status endpoint until the file is ready, then download and compare against your vendor list.
5. Log each check with a timestamp and the raw API response so you can demonstrate due diligence in procurement audits.
6. Schedule automated daily re-checks for any vendor with an active contract, since exclusion status can change between award and performance.