Placing Orders

Learn how to execute trades on Hyperliquid using Atract's seamless trading interface.

Overview

Atract enables you to trade perpetual futures on Hyperliquid L1 with two modes:

  • Personal Trading: Trade with your own Hyperliquid wallet balance

  • Vault Trading: Trade with investor capital through funded vaults

All orders execute directly on Hyperliquid, benefiting from fast execution and low fees.

Prerequisites

  • Connected Hyperliquid wallet (see Hyperliquid Setup)

  • Authorized agent wallet for seamless trading

  • USDC balance (either in your wallet or vault)

Order Types

Market Order

Executes immediately at the best available price.

When to use:

  • You want guaranteed execution

  • Speed is more important than price precision

  • Entering/exiting positions quickly

Example:

Symbol: BTC
Side: Buy
Size: 0.1
Type: Market

Limit Order

Executes only at your specified price or better.

When to use:

  • You want price control

  • You're not in a rush to enter/exit

  • You want to provide liquidity (ALO orders)

Example:

Symbol: BTC
Side: Buy
Size: 0.1
Price: 50000
Time in Force: GTC (Good 'Til Canceled)

Time in Force Options

GTC (Good 'Til Canceled)

  • Order stays active until filled or manually canceled

  • Default option for most limit orders

IOC (Immediate or Cancel)

  • Fill as much as possible immediately

  • Cancel any unfilled portion

  • Good for partial fills acceptable

ALO (Add Liquidity Only)

  • Only executes if order adds liquidity to the order book

  • Guarantees maker fee rebate

  • Order is canceled if it would take liquidity

Placing an Order (Personal Mode)

Step 1: Select Asset

  1. Open the trading terminal

  2. Click the asset selector in the top bar

  3. Choose your asset (BTC, ETH, SOL, etc.)

Result: Chart and order panel update for selected asset.

Step 2: Configure Order

  1. Select order Side (Buy or Sell)

  2. Enter Size (amount to trade)

  3. For limit orders, set Price

  4. Choose Time in Force (GTC, IOC, or ALO)

  5. Toggle Reduce Only if closing a position

Important:

  • Size must be within position limits for the asset

  • Price must be within reasonable bounds (±20% of mark price)

  • Check available balance before submitting

Step 3: Review & Submit

  1. Review order details in the panel

  2. Check estimated fees and margin requirements

  3. Click Submit Order

Result: Order is signed by your agent wallet and sent to Hyperliquid. You'll see confirmation within seconds.

Step 4: Monitor Order

Open orders appear in the Orders tab below the chart.

Order States:

  • Submitted: Sent to exchange

  • Resting: Active limit order waiting for fill

  • Filled: Order completely executed

  • Canceled: Order canceled manually or by system

Placing an Order (Vault Mode)

When trading with vault capital, additional safety checks apply.

Step 1: Select Vault

  1. In the trading terminal, click Vault Mode toggle

  2. Select the vault you want to trade with from the dropdown

  3. Verify vault status is ACTIVE

Result: Order panel shows vault balance instead of personal balance.

Step 2: Pre-Trade Checks

Before each vault trade, Atract automatically verifies:

  • Vault is not paused

  • Vault is not closed

  • Deal deadline has not passed

  • Vault has sufficient balance

  • Balance data is fresh (updated within last 10 minutes)

If any check fails, the order is rejected with a clear reason.

Step 3: Configure & Submit Order

Follow the same steps as personal trading (Steps 2-4 above).

Additional Considerations:

  • Orders use up to 80% of vault balance (20% reserve for safety)

  • All trades are logged in the vault audit trail

  • Risk limits (drawdown) are checked continuously by the oracle

Step 4: Post-Trade Verification

After execution, Atract checks if vault state changed during the trade (race condition detection):

  • If vault was paused/closed during execution, a critical event is logged

  • Trade still executes (can't be reversed), but you'll be notified

Advanced Features

Reduce-Only Orders

Purpose: Close part or all of an existing position without opening a new one.

When to use:

  • Taking profits

  • Cutting losses

  • Unwinding a position

How it works:

  • Order only executes if it reduces your position size

  • If you have no position, order is rejected

  • Cannot increase position size

Example:

Current Position: Long 1.0 BTC
Reduce-Only Sell: 0.5 BTC
Result: Position reduced to Long 0.5 BTC

Order Modification

Limit orders can be modified while resting:

  1. Find the order in the Orders tab

  2. Click Modify

  3. Change price or size

  4. Submit modification

Note: Modification cancels the original order and places a new one.

Order Cancellation

To cancel a resting order:

  1. Find the order in the Orders tab

  2. Click Cancel

  3. Confirm cancellation

Result: Order is removed from the book. Cancellations are free.

Order Fees

Hyperliquid uses a maker/taker fee model:

Maker Fees (adding liquidity):

  • ALO orders: Maker rebate (~0.0025%)

  • Limit orders that rest: Maker rebate

Taker Fees (taking liquidity):

  • Market orders: ~0.025%

  • IOC orders: ~0.025%

  • Limit orders that execute immediately: ~0.025%

See Hyperliquid fee schedule for exact rates.

Troubleshooting

Issue: "Insufficient balance" error

Solution:

  • Personal mode: Deposit more USDC to your Hyperliquid wallet

  • Vault mode: Reduce order size or wait for PnL to improve

Issue: "Vault paused" error

Cause: Vault hit drawdown limit and was auto-paused by risk controls.

Solution:

  • Wait for oracle to update balance (max 60 seconds)

  • If still paused, risk limits have been breached

  • See Risk Controls for details

Issue: "Balance data too stale" error

Cause: Vault balance hasn't been updated by oracle in over 10 minutes.

Solution:

  • Wait 1-2 minutes and try again

  • If persists, check oracle service status with admin

Issue: Order rejected with "Size too large"

Cause: Order size exceeds maximum position size for the asset.

Solution:

  • Reduce order size

  • Check Hyperliquid position limits for the asset

Issue: "Invalid price" error

Cause: Limit price is too far from current market price.

Solution:

  • Check current mark price

  • Set limit price within ±20% of mark price

Best Practices

Risk Management:

  • Start with small position sizes

  • Use limit orders for better price control

  • Set reduce-only orders for profit targets

Vault Trading:

  • Monitor drawdown limits

  • Don't use full balance (keep safety buffer)

  • Check vault status before large trades

Order Types:

  • Use market orders for urgency

  • Use limit orders for precision

  • Use ALO orders to save on fees

Next Steps

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