API Quick Start

Get up and running with the Trading Platform API in under 10 minutes. This guide covers authentication, your first request, and response handling.

Base URL

All API requests are made to:

https://api.tradingplatform.com/v1

For sandbox/testing:

https://sandbox.api.tradingplatform.com/v1

Authentication

The Trading Platform API uses API keys for authentication. Every request must include your API key in the headers.

Getting Your API Keys

1. Log into your Trading Platform account
2. Navigate to Settings → API Access
3. Click Generate New API Key
4. Select permissions:
   • Read - View account data and market information
   • Trade - Place and manage orders
5. Copy and securely store your API Key and Secret

Authentication Headers

Include these headers with every request:

X-API-Key: your_api_key_here
X-API-Signature: computed_hmac_signature
X-API-Timestamp: unix_timestamp_ms

Computing the Signature

The signature is an HMAC-SHA256 hash of the request payload. Here's how to compute it:

// TypeScript Example
import crypto from 'crypto';

function createSignature(
  apiSecret: string,
  timestamp: string,
  method: string,
  path: string,
  body: string = ''
): string {
  const message = timestamp + method.toUpperCase() + path + body;
  return crypto
    .createHmac('sha256', apiSecret)
    .update(message)
    .digest('hex');
}

# Python Example
import hmac
import hashlib

def create_signature(
    api_secret: str,
    timestamp: str,
    method: str,
    path: str,
    body: str = ''
) -> str:
    message = f"{timestamp}{method.upper()}{path}{body}"
    return hmac.new(
        api_secret.encode(),
        message.encode(),
        hashlib.sha256
    ).hexdigest()

Your First Request

Let's make a simple request to get your account information. This confirms your authentication is working correctly.

Get Account Information

curl -X GET "https://api.tradingplatform.com/v1/account" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key" \
  -H "X-API-Signature: computed_signature" \
  -H "X-API-Timestamp: 1704067200000"

Successful Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "id": "acc_123456789",
    "email": "trader@example.com",
    "balance": 10000.00,
    "equity": 10250.50,
    "margin_used": 500.00,
    "margin_free": 9750.50,
    "margin_level": 2050.10,
    "currency": "USD",
    "leverage": "1:100",
    "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"
  },
  "timestamp": "2026-01-04T12:00:00Z"
}

Response Format

All API responses follow a consistent format for easy parsing.

Success Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": { ... },          // Response payload
  "timestamp": "ISO8601",   // Server timestamp
  "request_id": "string"    // Unique request identifier
}

Error Response

{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "INVALID_API_KEY",
    "message": "The provided API key is invalid or expired",
    "details": { ... }      // Additional error context
  },
  "timestamp": "ISO8601",
  "request_id": "string"
}

Common Error Codes

Rate Limiting

API requests are rate limited to ensure fair usage and system stability.

Rate limit headers are included in every response:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 45
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1704067260

SDK Installation

We provide official SDKs for popular languages. Use them to simplify authentication and request handling.

TypeScript/JavaScript

npm install @tradingplatform/sdk
# or
yarn add @tradingplatform/sdk

import { TradingClient } from '@tradingplatform/sdk';

const client = new TradingClient({
  apiKey: process.env.API_KEY,
  apiSecret: process.env.API_SECRET,
  sandbox: true // Use sandbox environment
});

// Get account info
const account = await client.account.get();
console.log(account.balance);

// Get positions
const positions = await client.positions.list();

// Place an order
const order = await client.orders.create({
  symbol: 'EURUSD',
  side: 'buy',
  type: 'market',
  quantity: 0.1,
  stopLoss: 1.0950,
  takeProfit: 1.1100
});

Python

pip install tradingplatform-sdk

from tradingplatform import TradingClient

client = TradingClient(
    api_key=os.environ['API_KEY'],
    api_secret=os.environ['API_SECRET'],
    sandbox=True
)

# Get account info
account = client.account.get()
print(f"Balance: {account.balance}")

# Get positions
positions = client.positions.list()

# Place an order
order = client.orders.create(
    symbol='EURUSD',
    side='buy',
    type='market',
    quantity=0.1,
    stop_loss=1.0950,
    take_profit=1.1100
)

Testing with Sandbox

Always test your integration in the sandbox environment before going live.

Sandbox Features

• Virtual funds - $100,000 demo balance
• Real market data - Live prices with simulated execution
• Same API - Identical endpoints and responses
• No risk - Perfect for development and testing

Quick Reference

Common API endpoints you'll use frequently:

Next Steps

Now that you've made your first API request, explore these topics:

• API Endpoints - Complete endpoint reference
• Code Examples - Ready-to-use code samples
• Webhooks - Real-time event notifications
• Technical FAQ - Common questions answered