Use the Content Provenance API to check whether an image or audio file contains
supported OpenAI provenance signals. Send a file to
POST /v1/content_provenance_checks to receive the completed verification
results in the same response. Use these signals in content review,
fact-checking, labeling, and trust and safety workflows.
To check a file in your browser, use the web tool at openai.com/verify.
For request parameters and response schemas, see the Content provenance API reference.
A not_detected result means the tool didn’t find supported signals in the
uploaded file. Content may still have been generated by OpenAI if its metadata
was stripped or shows evidence of tampering, its watermark was degraded, it
came from a legacy generation model, or it was created before provenance
signals were available. The tool doesn’t currently detect content generated by
another company’s AI model, so a not_detected result doesn’t rule that out
either.
What content provenance checks
Content provenance checks supported files for the following signals:
| Signal | Applies to | What it checks |
|---|---|---|
| C2PA Content Credentials | Images | Signed metadata with issuer and AI-use details |
| SynthID | Images and audio | A watermark embedded directly in supported media |
C2PA metadata provides more context about a file’s origin. Editing, converting, or sharing a file can remove its metadata. A SynthID watermark is part of the image or audio itself and may survive some transformations.
The API checks for supported OpenAI signals. It isn’t a general-purpose AI detector and doesn’t identify content generated by every AI system. Visible watermarks and labels are separate from the provenance signals checked by the API.
Verify a file
Send an image or audio file as the file field with the OpenAI SDK. The SDK
builds the multipart request and reads your API key from the OPENAI_API_KEY
environment variable: