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By default, entity matching requires an exact match for one of the entity entries.
This works well for single-word entity entry values and synonyms
but may present a problem for multi-word values and synonyms.
For example,
consider a ball entity
that should be matched for the following end-user expression parts:
"ball"
"red ball"
"ball red"
"small ball"
"ball small"
"small red ball"
"small ball red"
"red small ball"
"red ball small"
"ball small red"
"ball red small"
For a match to occur,
you normally need to define an entity entry value and synonyms for each of these permutations.
However, with fuzzy matching enabled,
the ordering of the words in a value or synonym does not matter.
The following will trigger a match for all of the examples above:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-07 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eEntity matching typically requires an exact match for entity entries, which can be problematic for multi-word values and their various permutations.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFuzzy matching, when enabled, allows for word order flexibility within multi-word entity values or synonyms, simplifying the matching process.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can enable fuzzy matching for an entity through the Dialogflow CX console by checking the "Fuzzy matching" option during entity creation or through the API by setting \u003ccode\u003eEntityType.enableFuzzyExtraction\u003c/code\u003e to true.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFuzzy matching should not be enabled for regexp entities or for entities that require matching strict values like IDs or identification numbers.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Fuzzy matching\n\nBy default, entity matching requires an exact match for one of the entity entries.\nThis works well for single-word entity entry values and synonyms\nbut may present a problem for multi-word values and synonyms.\nFor example,\nconsider a *ball* entity\nthat should be matched for the following end-user expression parts:\n\n- \"ball\"\n- \"red ball\"\n- \"ball red\"\n- \"small ball\"\n- \"ball small\"\n- \"small red ball\"\n- \"small ball red\"\n- \"red small ball\"\n- \"red ball small\"\n- \"ball small red\"\n- \"ball red small\"\n\nFor a match to occur,\nyou normally need to define an entity entry value and synonyms for each of these permutations.\nHowever, with fuzzy matching enabled,\nthe ordering of the words in a value or synonym does not matter.\nThe following will trigger a match for all of the examples above:\n\n- \"ball\"\n- \"red ball\"\n- \"small ball\"\n- \"small red ball\"\n\nCreate a fuzzy matching entity\n------------------------------\n\n### Console\n\n1. Open the [Dialogflow CX console](https://dialogflow.cloud.google.com/cx/projects).\n2. Choose your GCP project.\n3. Select your agent.\n4. Select the **Manage** tab.\n5. Click **Entity Types**.\n6. Click **Create**.\n7. Check **Fuzzy matching**.\n8. Complete remaining fields.\n9. Click **Save**.\n\n### API\n\nSet the `EntityType.enableFuzzyExtraction` field to true.\n\n\nGo to the EntityType API reference \n**Select a protocol and version for the EntityType reference:**\n\nClose\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nLimitations\n-----------\n\nThe following limitations apply:\n\n- Fuzzy matching cannot be enabled for [regexp entities](/dialogflow/docs/entities-regexp). These features are mutually exclusive.\n- Fuzzy matching should not be enabled for entities which are used to match strict values like IDs, national identification numbers, and so on."]]
