broker-gotchas

name

broker-gotchas

description

Per-broker quirks for DaxAlgo Terminal's four SDK-based IBrokerClient backends — Interactive Brokers (TWS API), NinjaTrader 8 (NTDirect P/Invoke), cTrader (Spotware Open API 2.0 protobuf), and Alpaca (REST + WebSocket via Alpaca.Markets NuGet). (The no-SDK REST/WS backends — Ironbeam, LSE, Upstox, Binance, Coinbase, Bybit, Kraken, OKX — aren't covered here; mirror Infrastructure/Binance or /IronBeam.) Use BEFORE editing anything under src/TradingTerminal.Infrastructure/Ib/, /Ninja/, /CTrader/, or /Alpaca/, or when diagnosing connection/threading/error-code issues against a specific broker. Skip for broker-neutral code (Core, UI, repository layer).

Broker Gotchas

Each backend has its own footguns. The seam (IBrokerClient) hides them from the rest of the app — keep them hidden.

Interactive Brokers

• TWS handles its own 2FA. API socket has no separate 2FA step. Don't add 2FA prompts to the login screen.
• ClientId must be unique across all simultaneously connected clients (Excel, Bookmap, another instance). Error 326 = collision.
• Default ports: 7497 TWS Paper, 7496 TWS Live, 4002 Gateway Paper, 4001 Gateway Live.
• Real client compiles only when HAS_IBAPI is defined (set by Infrastructure.csproj when CSharpAPI.dll resolves from lib/, MSBuild prop, or C:\TWS API\). Code touching IBApi.* must be inside #if HAS_IBAPI.
• The TWS API is not on NuGet. Don't suggest dotnet add package IBApi.
• EWrapper callbacks are on the IB reader thread. Always marshal to UI dispatcher inside MarketDataRepository before touching observable collections.
• Error 502 = TWS not running / wrong port. Error 200 = no security found for contract. Error 326 = clientId collision.
• The IB client is wired purely by build-time DLL resolution (HAS_IBAPI) — there's no UseRealClient switch and no synthetic IB fallback. For offline runs use the always-registered Simulated broker instead. (The UseRealClient key still in appsettings.json is vestigial and ignored.)

When in doubt, escalate to the ib-api-expert subagent.

NinjaTrader 8

• NT must be running first. NTDirect.Connected(0) returns 0 only when NT 8 is up with Tools → Options → AT Interface → AT Interface enabled.
• Real client compiles only when HAS_NTAPI is defined (set when NTDirect.dll resolves from lib/, MSBuild prop, or %USERPROFILE%\Documents\NinjaTrader 8\bin64\). Code touching NTDirect must be inside #if HAS_NTAPI.
• NTDirect doesn't expose historical bars. RequestHistoricalBarsAsync synthesizes them with a warning log. Don't promise real history without a NinjaScript bridge add-on.
• NTDirect doesn't expose L1 sizes via the simple Bid/Ask calls. Tick.BidSize/AskSize are 0 in NT mode.
• Polling, not callbacks. Tick stream polls Bid/Ask at 200 ms; bar stream aggregates polled LastPrice.
• NT defaults to false (must be explicitly enabled in appsettings.json).

cTrader

• Always wired — the cTrader.OpenAPI.Net NuGet package restores unconditionally. There's no HAS_CTRADERAPI gate.
• Real client requires OAuth credentials (clientId + clientSecret + accessToken + ctidTraderAccountId). When missing, ConnectAsync reports ConnectionState.Failed with a clear log. Don't add a synthetic fallback in the DI graph; the Failed state IS the affordance.
• Access tokens expire (~30 days). Surface refresh failures as a clear error pointing at OAuth — don't suppress them.
• Wire prices are ulong scaled by 10^Digits per symbol. We resolve Digits lazily via ProtoOASymbolByIdReq on first subscribe.
• Trendbars use relative encoding (Low + DeltaOpen/DeltaHigh/DeltaClose). Reconstruct OHLC then divide by 10^Digits.
• Per-call correlation via clientMsgId + a Dictionary<string, TaskCompletionSource<IMessage>>. Spot events bypass the request/response router; subscribers filter the OpenClient's stream by SymbolId directly.
• Depth events (ProtoOADepthEvent) follow the same pattern — filter on SymbolId, but cast (long)e.SymbolId because depth events declare it as uint64 (unlike spots' int64).
• Depth (L2) wired via ProtoOASubscribeDepthQuotesReq + ProtoOADepthEvent. Events carry NewQuotes (add/replace by Id) and DeletedQuotes (remove by Id). Each ProtoOADepthQuote has either Bid or Ask set (not both) — route to the right side's Dictionary<ulong, DepthLevel>. After each event, emit a consistent top-N DepthSnapshot.
• Spot tick enrichment: top-of-book size comes from the depth cache, not the spot event itself (commit ad68d9e). If a strategy needs L1 sizes from cTrader, subscribe to depth alongside spots.
• No trade tape. SubscribeTradesAsync throws NotSupportedException — the protocol has no per-print trade channel. Not fixable. Trade-tape strategies must check broker capability at Continue and route through IB instead.

Alpaca

• Always wired — Alpaca.Markets NuGet restores unconditionally. No HAS_ALPACAAPI gate.
• Auth = API key + secret. No OAuth. IsLive toggle picks Environments.Live vs Environments.Paper.
• Three asset classes multiplexed by Contract.SecType:
  • "STK" → stock data client + stock streaming client.
  • "CRYPTO" → crypto data client + crypto streaming client.
  • "OPT" → not yet supported (Alpaca's options SDK is still stabilising).
• Live stock stream pinned to IEX — the SDK default targets SIP, which the free/paper plan can't subscribe to (HTTP 403 — entitlement wall). We rebase the data-stream endpoint to /v2/iex so the same code works on free accounts. Don't revert this.
• Eager auth on both streams. ConnectAndAuthenticateAsync is called for stock + crypto streams during ConnectAsync so first-subscribe doesn't pay the auth round-trip. If auth fails (AuthStatus != Authorized), throw — don't silently leave a half-connected client.
• No L2 depth. SubscribeDepthAsync throws NotSupportedException. Strategies that need depth must route through IB or cTrader.
• No OMS yet. PlaceOrderAsync / CancelOrderAsync throw NotSupportedException like the other brokers. The trading client is constructed but not wired for orders.
• Trade tape is wireable. Alpaca's WebSocket has a native trade channel with taker_side. It's the highest-leverage next SDK broker to add trade-tape support to (tape is already wired on IB, Binance, and Ironbeam; Alpaca/NT/cTrader still throw).
• Instrument discovery pins data feed to IEX in Infrastructure/Alpaca/ (commit 805462b).

Cross-broker rules

• IBrokerClient.ConnectAsync takes no params. Each impl reads its own IOptions<XxxOptions>. The login form pushes user-supplied values into options before flipping the selector.
• Reconnect uses exponential backoff (1s → 30s cap). New broker calls must assume the connection can drop mid-call; surface failures as ConnectionState transitions, don't crash.
• View-models never see EClientSocket / NTDirect / OpenClient. If you're tempted to import a broker SDK type into UI or Core, stop and re-read the layer graph.
• IBrokerClient.PlaceOrderAsync / CancelOrderAsync / OrderEvents exist on the interface but all three real clients throw NotSupportedException. That's the seam OMS will fill — don't pretend it works.