# POST /v1/projects/{}/locations/{}/endpoints/{}:explain stops working

Calls to POST /v1/projects/{id}/locations/{id}/endpoints/{id}:explain on Vertex AI stop working on March 16, 2027.

On March 16, 2027, the endpoint POST /v1/projects/{id}/locations/{id}/endpoints/{id}:explain will be shut down and calls to it will fail. The capability has been deprecated as of March 16, 2026, with no new features being added before it is fully sunset.

## What to use instead

Use open source explanation libraries such as SHAP or LIME instead.

- API: Vertex AI (aiplatform.googleapis.com)
- Kind: Endpoint removal
- Announced: March 16, 2026
- Takes effect: March 16, 2027
- Calls after that day: fail
- Calls it hits: `POST /v1/projects/{id}/locations/{id}/endpoints/{id}:explain`
- Source: [Announcement](https://docs.cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/docs/deprecations)
- Verified: November 6, 2026, against Vertex AI's own pages
- Page: https://www.okapi.bot/providers/vertex-ai/breaking-changes/post-v1-projects-locations-endpoints-explain-stops-working/

## Vertex AI's words

> Vertex Explainable AI is deprecated. Beginning on March 16, 2026, no new features will be added. On March 16, 2027, the capability will be fully sunset and APIs will no longer be available.

Okapi finds the calls this change hits in your repo and opens the pull request with the fix: https://github.com/apps/okapi-agent