broker

name	broker
description	Complete reference for the broker CLI. Use when translating trading intentions into exact `broker` commands. Covers all commands, flags, defaults, workflows, and error handling.

Broker CLI

broker is a CLI that provides programmatic access to a brokerage account (Interactive Brokers or E*Trade). The daemon is already running — use the commands below to trade.

Output Format

Every command returns JSON with this envelope:

{"ok": true, "data": {...}, "error": null, "meta": {"schema_version": "v1", "command": "...", "request_id": "...", "timestamp": "..."}}

On error, ok is false, data is null, and error contains:

{"code": "ERROR_CODE", "message": "...", "details": {...}, "suggestion": "..."}

The suggestion field, when present, tells you what to do next. The request_id in meta can be used to correlate commands in the audit log.

Order Types

The order type is determined by which price flags you provide:

Flags	Order type
(none)	market
--limit	limit
--stop	stop
--limit + --stop	stop-limit
broker order bracket	bracket (entry + take-profit + stop-loss)

Decision Flags (Required)

Every order submission (buy, sell, bracket) requires three decision flags. Orders without them are rejected.

• --decision-name "Title Case Name" — title-case, single-line, plain text
• --decision-summary "Single line summary" — single-line, plain text
• --decision-reasoning "## Markdown reasoning" — long-form markdown thesis

These are stored in the fund observability repo as decision records. Write substantive reasoning — it becomes the audit trail for every trade.

Workflows

Research a trade

broker quote AAPL
broker history AAPL --period 30d --bar 1d
broker chain AAPL --expiry 2026-03 --type call
broker snapshot --symbols AAPL

Dry-run then place an order

# Preview the order without submitting
broker order buy AAPL 50 --limit 180 --dry-run \
  --decision-name "AAPL Accumulation" \
  --decision-summary "Adding to AAPL on pullback to 180 support" \
  --decision-reasoning "## Thesis\nAAPL pulled back to 180 support with RSI oversold."

# If ok=true, submit for real (same command without --dry-run)
broker order buy AAPL 50 --limit 180 \
  --decision-name "AAPL Accumulation" \
  --decision-summary "Adding to AAPL on pullback to 180 support" \
  --decision-reasoning "## Thesis\nAAPL pulled back to 180 support with RSI oversold."

Safe retry with idempotency

broker order buy AAPL 50 --limit 180 --idempotency-key "aapl-buy-20260222" \
  --decision-name "AAPL Accumulation" \
  --decision-summary "Adding to AAPL on pullback to 180 support" \
  --decision-reasoning "## Thesis\nAAPL pulled back to 180 support with RSI oversold."
# Safe to retry — daemon deduplicates by idempotency key within the duplicate window.

Verify an order

broker order status <CLIENT_ORDER_ID>   # check status
broker fills --symbol AAPL              # confirm execution

Monitor portfolio

broker snapshot                         # positions + balance + exposure in one call
broker positions
broker balance
broker exposure --by sector
broker pnl --today

---

Command Reference

Market Data

broker quote

Snapshot quotes for one or more symbols.

broker quote SYMBOL [SYMBOL...] [--intent best_effort|top_of_book|last_only]

• --intent: Quote intent. Default: best_effort.
  • best_effort — returns whatever data is available (delayed fallback if live unavailable)
  • top_of_book — requires bid+ask; warns if incomplete
  • last_only — only last trade price

broker watch

Continuously refresh quote fields until interrupted (Ctrl+C).

broker watch SYMBOL [--fields CSV] [--interval DURATION] [--intent best_effort|top_of_book|last_only]

• --fields: default bid,ask,last,volume. Allowed: symbol, bid, ask, last, volume, timestamp, exchange, currency
• --interval: default 1s. Examples: 250ms, 1s, 2m

broker chain

Fetch option chain for a symbol.

broker chain SYMBOL [--expiry YYYY-MM] [--strike-range LOW:HIGH] [--type call|put] \
  [--limit N] [--offset N] [--fields CSV] [--strict/--no-strict]

• --strike-range: default 0.9:1.1 (near the money)
• --limit: max entries to return. Default: 200
• --offset: offset into filtered results. Default: 0
• --fields: comma-separated. Allowed: symbol, right, strike, expiry, bid, ask, implied_vol, delta, gamma, theta, vega
• --strict/--no-strict: treat empty chain results as errors

broker history

Fetch historical bars.

broker history SYMBOL --period PERIOD --bar BAR [--rth-only] [--strict/--no-strict]

• --period (required): 1d, 5d, 30d, 90d, 1y
• --bar (required): 1m, 5m, 15m, 1h, 1d
• --rth-only: restrict to regular trading hours
• --strict/--no-strict: treat empty history as error

broker capabilities

Query what market data types the connected provider supports.

broker capabilities [SYMBOL...] [--refresh]

• Without symbols: uses daemon probe list (default: AAPL)
• --refresh: force fresh probe via provider API

---

Orders

broker order buy

Place a buy order. Market by default unless --limit and/or --stop is set.

broker order buy SYMBOL QTY [--limit PRICE] [--stop PRICE] [--tif DAY|GTC|IOC] \
  [--dry-run] [--idempotency-key KEY] \
  --decision-name "Title" --decision-summary "Summary" --decision-reasoning "Reasoning"

• QTY: must be > 0 (supports fractional)
• --tif: default DAY
• --dry-run: preview the order without submitting
• --idempotency-key: stable key for safe retries (maps to client_order_id)
• Decision flags are required for submitted orders (not required for --dry-run)

broker order sell

Place a sell order. Same flags as buy.

broker order sell SYMBOL QTY [--limit PRICE] [--stop PRICE] [--tif DAY|GTC|IOC] \
  [--dry-run] [--idempotency-key KEY] \
  --decision-name "Title" --decision-summary "Summary" --decision-reasoning "Reasoning"

broker order bracket

Place a bracket order (entry + take-profit + stop-loss). Interactive Brokers only.

broker order bracket SYMBOL QTY --entry PRICE --tp PRICE --sl PRICE \
  [--side buy|sell] [--tif DAY|GTC|IOC] \
  --decision-name "Title" --decision-summary "Summary" --decision-reasoning "Reasoning"

• --entry, --tp, --sl: all required
• --side: default buy
• --tif: default DAY

broker order status

Show status for one order.

broker order status ORDER_ID

broker orders

List orders.

broker orders [--status active|filled|cancelled|all] [--since YYYY-MM-DD]

• --status: default all

broker cancel

Cancel one order or all open orders.

broker cancel ORDER_ID
broker cancel --all [--confirm]

• Do not pass ORDER_ID with --all.
• --confirm may be required for --all.

broker fills

List fills / execution history.

broker fills [--since YYYY-MM-DD] [--symbol SYMBOL]

---

Portfolio

broker snapshot

Fetch positions, balance, and exposure in one request.

broker snapshot [--symbols COMMA_SEPARATED] [--exposure-by symbol|sector|asset_class|currency]

• --symbols: comma-separated symbols for quote snapshot. Defaults to current position symbols.
• --exposure-by: default symbol

broker positions

broker positions [--symbol SYMBOL]

broker pnl

broker pnl [--today | --period 7d | --since YYYY-MM-DD]

• Choose only one. Defaults to --today.

broker balance

broker balance

broker exposure

broker exposure [--by symbol|sector|asset_class|currency]

• Default --by: symbol

---

Audit

broker audit orders

broker audit orders [--since YYYY-MM-DD] [--status active|filled|cancelled|all]

broker audit commands

broker audit commands [--source cli|sdk|ts_sdk] [--since YYYY-MM-DD] [--request-id ID]

broker audit export

broker audit export --output PATH [--format csv] [--table orders|commands] \
  [--since YYYY-MM-DD] [--status STATUS] [--source SOURCE] [--request-id ID]

• --output: required
• --format: csv only
• --table: default orders

---

Utility

broker schema

Query daemon command schemas. Useful for discovering parameter types and valid values.

broker schema [COMMAND]

• Without argument: list all commands
• With argument (e.g. quote.snapshot): return schema for that command

---

Error Handling

Error Code	Exit	What to do
DAEMON_NOT_RUNNING	3	Run broker daemon start
IB_DISCONNECTED	4	Verify IB Gateway/TWS is running, wait and retry
IB_REJECTED	1	Check order params (symbol, qty, price)
INVALID_SYMBOL	1	Check symbol with broker quote
INVALID_ARGS	2	Check command syntax with -h
TIMEOUT	10	Retry the command
INTERNAL_ERROR	1	Retry; if persistent, check broker daemon status

Fund Observability

When configured, decisions and fills auto-sync to a git-backed fund repo. The --decision-name, --decision-summary, and --decision-reasoning flags on orders become markdown files in the repo's decisions/ directory. Fills append to fills.json. This happens automatically — no manual management needed.