---
title: "Identify Authenticator Instances by Instance Description"
slug: "oca-ig-identify-authenticator-instances-by-instance-description"
updated: 2025-07-04T10:09:39Z
published: 2025-07-08T14:14:51Z
canonical: "docs.onespan.com/oca-ig-identify-authenticator-instances-by-instance-description"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.onespan.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Identify Authenticator Instances by Instance Description

You can add a description to a multi-device licensing (MDL) authenticator instance. With this description, you can identify the instances that are connected to a specific authenticator and delete any instances you no longer require. You can update the instance description and use it as a criterion for authenticator queries.

> The description field is limited to a maximum of 255 characters!

The description is exposed on the OneSpan Trusted Identity platform API.

Add a description to an authenticator with these API endpoints:

- [POST /users/register](https://community.onespan.com/products/onespan-cloud-authentication/sandbox#/Users/userRegisterUsingPOST)
- [POST /registrations](https://community.onespan.com/products/onespan-cloud-authentication/sandbox#/Provisioning/registrationUsingPOST)

Update the description with this API endpoint:

- [PATCH /authenticators/{serialNumber}](https://community.onespan.com/products/onespan-cloud-authentication/sandbox#/Authenticators/updateAuthenticatorDataUsingPATCH)

> This is an optional feature of OneSpan Cloud Authentication!