> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.middesk.com/monitor-activity/watchlists/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.middesk.com/_mcp/server.

# Monitor watchlist hits

> Learn how to monitor watchlist hits for subscribed businesses on Middesk's Identity Platform.

This guide describes how to monitor a business for new watchlist hits on Middesk's Identity Platform.

Watchlist Monitoring helps you stay compliant when the business name (including DBAs) or an associated person (both submitted and discovered) matches a watchlist **after** the business was initially verified.
When a new watchlist hit is found, Middesk updates the business record and sends a `watchlist_result.created` webhook event so you can review and take action.

## Prerequisites

Before you begin:

* Ensure that you can authenticate against the Middesk API, create businesses, and ingest Middesk results with [webhooks](../quickstart)

## Learn the monitoring lifecycle

Here's the typical lifecycle of monitoring for watchlist hits:

1. A business gets created with the [POST /businesses endpoint](/api-reference/business-verification/businesses/create-a-business).

2) The business is subscribed to Watchlist Monitoring (using the `watchlist_result` event type).
3) Middesk monitors the business for new watchlist results.
4) Middesk sends a webhook event to registered webhook endpoint(s) when it detects a new watchlist hit (`watchlist_result.created`).
5) The client application ingests and evaluates the change in the business record.

For a full list of webhook events, see [Webhook events](../monitor-activity/events). For details on the watchlist data model, see the [Watchlist object](/reference/watchlist).

## Monitor watchlist hits

#### Submit a business

Start by [submitting a business for verification](/api-reference/business-verification/businesses/create-a-business).

> **Note**
>
> For best matching, submit the most complete business profile you can (business name, address, and any known associated people).

#### Subscribe a business

You can enable monitoring on Middesk businesses using four different strategies.

#### With an automatic monitoring subscription

Automatically subscribe all businesses when a business verification order completes.

#### With a policy action

[Policies](/use-rulesets-policies) provide a rule-based system for automation within the Middesk platform. Use a custom policy action to subscribe businesses when certain conditions are met.

![Policies for monitoring](/_fern-img/39a734314ddf42bec89970c541494d5a2ed34f67c836a1cc57b21a72c7ee52f5.webp)

#### With the API

Use the [POST /monitor API](/api-reference/business-verification/monitoring/create-a-monitor-for-a-business) to create, update, and delete business monitors for fine-grained control within your application.

```json
{
  "event_types": ["watchlist_result"]
}
```

#### With the Dashboard

Manually enable monitoring on a business with a completed business verification order on the **Monitoring** tab of the Middesk [Dashboard](https://app.middesk.com/).

> **Get a demo**
>
> Contact your account manager or [contact sales](https://www.middesk.com/contact-sales) to inquire about access.

> Learn how to monitor watchlist hits for subscribed businesses on Middesk's Identity Platform.